A man once came to Rav Ahrele of Belz zy”a and gave him the name of a family member who was very sick. The Rebbe told him to go see a small-town doctor, who did not even have a medical diploma. This unlicensed doctor prescribed a certain medication, and the sick person was healed.
When another member of this man’s family got sick, he again went to the Rebbe, who sent him to the same doctor. Again, the doctor prescribed a medication and the sick person got better.
When this happened a third time, he thought to himself: Why do I have to go to the Rebbe? I know that he will just send me to the same doctor, so I might as well just go to the doctor on my own. He went to the doctor and got a prescription, but it did not help. Instead, the illness got worse and the patient was near death.
The man ran to the Rebbe and told him what had occurred and the Rebbe said to him, “The Gemara says: ‘(We learn) From here that a doctor has permission to heal.” When he said the words “from here”, he banged on his table, indicating that the doctor’s abilities come “from here”, i.e., from the Rebbe’s house.
“Since you didn’t come here,” the Rebbe said, “the doctor could not help you.”
