With today’s technological advances, new medications, and advanced medical research, we can be fooled into thinking that we are the sole masters of our fate. Hashem is in the equation, yes but certainly not completely.
However, every once in a while, we get a wakeup call. We hear a story or experience a miracle recovery ourselves – and then the equation changes. In Vienna in the early 1900’s, there lived a chassid with a simple unwavering faith in his Rebbe, R. Yisroel Chortkover. This chassid, a tailor, had a customer who was very ill and could not seem to get better despite the fortunes of money he spent on the best doctors in Europe. No one could even tell him what his diagnosis was!
The chassid had pity on his wealthy customer, who was an “enlightened” non-observant Jew. “Please go to my Rebbe”, he said. “He is known as a miracle worker. As a last resort, the wealthy man decided to go together with his friend the chassid to the miracle-working Rebbe. They journeyed far, but eventually entered the Rebbe’s chambers in Galicia.
After speaking for a little while, the Rebbe suggested the name of a local doctor to visit. The wealthy man listened, but soon after arriving at the doctor, he couldn’t help but notice that the doctor the Rebbe recommended was far from a distinguished healer – he was quite the simple physician.
Refusing to complete the appointment, the wealthy man headed back to his friend the chassid and complained. “Your miracle Rabbi recommended that I visit this clearly inferior doctor. I cannot! The chassid pleaded with him to head back to the doctor and follow his directive. The Rebbe was definitely to be trusted. The man's situation was deteriorating day by day, so he had very little to lose.
The simple doctor prescribed a few medicines, the patient complied and, lo and behold – the wealthy man was cured. Heading back to his friend, the wealthy man was baffled. “How had the best doctors of Europe failed, while this simple doctor healed me? I must talk once again to this Rebbe!”
R. Yisroel Chortkover, smiled softly and answered the miraculously-healed patient who returned to him. “The Torah says ‘rapoh yerapeh – the doctor will heal. Our Rabbi’s say ’From here we see that doctors are given permission to heal.’”
With that, the Rebbe once again blessed the man, and bid him well. The gabbai waited until the Rebbe was alone to ask him exactly what he meant by this. The holy Chortkover said, “Meekahn, from here, from this house, the doctor was given permission to heal. Remember, it is not the doctor who heals, but the prayers we pray. Baruch Hashem, I davened, and Hashem listened. From these prayers, meekahn, from right here, the salvation started. Hashem is the ultimate healer, our prayers the great catalyst.”
The inner workings of the world are mostly hidden to us, but every once and a while, if we merit it – we get a glimpse of the truth.
Written by R’ Avrohom Hillel Reich based on a lesson and story by Harav Ben Tziyon Sneh Shlita
