Against Divine Will? – Parshat Mishpatim

I never stop to wonder at the depth of the Torah and the messages it tries to relate to us – whether in conjunction with logotherapy or not. Sometimes it is confusing, sometimes it is extremely insightful and helpful, and at times it is downright challenging.

So it is with great wonder and trepidation I approach the following concept. Even though the Torah uses its words sparingly, at least twice the Torah points out that we are to be careful with our lives and even forego other mitzvot in order to live.1 This in itself shows how highly the Torah holds the sanctity of human life.

In our parsha, Parshat Mishpatim the Torah discusses the legality of a situation in which two people quarrel and one of them gets injured. The injured party is to be compensated to the point of returning to full health. Yet the Torah adds the words that "he shall be healed".2 Why is this necessary? Why did the Torah feel the need again to give us special permission to seek out and/or provide medical assistance? Shouldn’t it be obvious? Tosefot explain that the special wording adds another dimension to the story. We might have thought that only if the wound was man-inflicted, as is the case here, would there be permission but if the wound was "natural", or in other words, divinely caused, there would be no such permission. So, someone might say, "If God wants me to get sick, I should try and find out why and repent rather than run to clinics and doctors." Therefore, there is a special language used to show that even in this situation the doctor may treat the patient.3

Over the generations, there were different opinions about how much we should go to doctors and in which situations and whether it was theologically acceptable even with the aforementioned permission. Even the Rambam and the Ramban, who were themselves doctors, did not rely on the above verse for allowing wholesale medical assistance. Nowadays, when we see even the greatest Jewish leaders receiving the best medical attention and the Chazon Ish wrote about the importance of seeking medical attention, we seek medical advice as a matter of course.4 Rabbi Soloveichik adds that we are constantly being encouraged to improve our world – whether in regards to our health, rerouting rivers, preventing natural disasters when possible. We are expected then to seek proper medical attention.5

With the greater medical knowledge acquired aver the past century there is less of a question. Medicine is much less guesswork than it used to be. There are even treatments for some cancers which, until Dr. Marie Curie, were just theories and now there are various well-researched treatments which cure cancer. There are proven, natural ways to battle cancer as well.

Perhaps the question comes down to this: how do we deal with what the world or God gives us? What are we being asked to do with this situation? How we respond to the situation says much about us.6 Do we fall into despair because we do not understand the cause or do we call upon our inner strength to figure out what we can do. We do not ask why am I sick but what is incumbent upon me while having this ailment. That is our response to ourselves.

Not only is that not against the divine will – that may be exactly what we are being asked to do.

In memory of my mother, Hentcha Leah bat Yitzchak Lipa, hk"m

Notes

  1. Devarim 4:15; Vayikra 18:5 are just two examples where the Torah implores us to be careful with our lives
  2. Shemot 21:18-9
  3. Baba kama 85a
  4. The Chazon Ish is quoted in Tzitz Eliezer 17:2. Also mentioned in a lecture by Rabbi Daniel Glatstein on the OU app, "Can you go to the Doctor?"
  5. Rabbi Soloveichik was quoted in the book Perakim Bemachshevet Harav by Rabbi Avraham Besdin, p. 21
  6. Dr Viktor Frankl talks about our response-ability. As humans we can choose how we respond to that which befalls us

 

Have A Great Shabbat!laughing

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