By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D.
SAN DIEGO — This week’s parasha, Beshalach, includes an impactful pasuk, “And He said, ‘If you hearken to the voice of the Lord, your God, and you do what is proper in His eyes, and you listen closely to His commandments and observe all His statutes, all the sicknesses that I have visited upon Egypt I will not visit upon you, for I, the Lord, heal you.’” Rashi says: “Simply put, I am the Lord your physician, who teaches you Torah and mitzvot so that you will be spared illness, much as a physician would instruct his patient not to eat certain things because they may lead to his getting sick.” Rashi’s perhaps more accurate translation of the end of this pasuk is not “I am the Lord that heals you,” but rather, “I am the Lord thy physician.” We are not simply Hashem’s “people” but his “patients” as well.
Does your physician heal you from illness or prevent you from becoming ill in the first place? Maimonides, Moses ben Maimon [known to English speaking audiences as Maimonides and Hebrew speaking as Rambam] (1138–1204) is the greatest Jewish philosopher of the medieval period and is still widely read today. He informs us: “The greatest of all physicians is the Lord, of Whom it is said ‘I am the Lord thy physician.’ As proof of this, it is written ‘I will not place upon you the illnesses which I have placed upon ancient Egypt.’ Who is truly the good doctor? Not the person who heals the sick from their diseases, but rather the one who helps the person from becoming sick and sees to it that he maintains his health.” Further, the Malbim tells us “A physician, like a master, ‘demands obedience,’ but only for the purpose of securing the patient’s welfare.” But let’s not forget my acronym for securing a patient’s welfare – CEC. Not, not continuing education credit, but “care, empathy, and compassion.”
Hashem, we see in Beshalach, prescribes for us a lifestyle of Torah and mitzvot to help guard us from “illness,” including spiritual and physical suffering. The Ibn Ezra sees Hashem’s transformation of the bitter waters in the parasha, as an example of His healing powers and of the healing that comes to those who are in a covenantal relationship with Him.
In the Mi Shebeirach prayer, we say for those who are ill or recovering from an illness or accident when the Torah is read, we ask Hashem for blessing, compassion, restoration, and strength. We say, “HaKadosh Baruch Hu will send him/her, speedily, a complete healing —healing of the soul and healing of the body —along with all the ill, among the people of Israel and all humankind, soon, speedily, without delay, and let us say Amen.” When we ask, “May the Source of Strength who blessed the ones before us, help us to find the courage to make our lives a blessing,” we are drawn into a covenantal, spiritual, observant relationship with Hashem. We are reminded of Hashem’s compassion, his physician-healer role in our lives, his desire to see us made whole, and we acclaim Him as our source of health and illness.
It’s mighty difficult to sing while confined within onerous circumstances, particularly health challenges. As we read in this week’s parasha, only after we were freed, we were able to recognize Hashem as the G-d of creation at the Red Sea. Welcome to “Shabbos Shirah — the “Sabbath of Song.” A time to become infused with greater emunah.
Beshalach tells us: “Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to God … I shall sing to God for God is exalted.” The Az Yashir Moshe is our song for our healthy future, our expression of rejoicing from the innermost parts of our soul.
It seems through song that we may best recognize and celebrate Hashem as the ultimate creator of the world. When we sense the presence of Hashem in the world, when we sense His presence in the Bible, and when we sense His presence in sacred deeds, according to Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, when we pray, learn, and perform mitzvot, we bring our Healer closer to us.
We, the Children of Israel, crossed the Sea of Reeds and felt a) yir’ah, awe, b) emunah, faith/trust, and c) broke out in a song, shirah. These words are in our hearts daily, words that offer us the opportunity to re-experience freedom, and to strengthen our sense of awe and trust,
מִֽי־כָמֹ֤כָה בָּֽאֵלִם֙ יְהֹוָ֔’’ה? מִ֥י כָּמֹ֖כָה נֶאְדָּ֣ר בַּקֹּ֑דֶשׁ, נוֹרָ֥א תְהִלֹּ֖ת, עֹ֥שֵׂה פֶֽלֶא׃
“Who is like You, God — majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, Worker of Wonders?” While we were confined, we had physical and spiritual constriction, which the Torah refers to as kotzer ruach. It is only when we are filled with full spirit that we can freely sing.
Chazal tell us in Sanhedrin 91b, “One who sings shirah in this world will merit to sing it in the next world.” And the Chofetz Chaim teaches in the Mishnah B’rurah, siman 51 s”k 17, that one who says shirah with simchah merits to have his sins, his aveiros, forgiven.
As we sing the words with our heart, with genuinely positive emotion, with true simchah, we fill our spirituality with emunah, and build our connection with Hashem. Today, spirituality has become quite a pop focus for cultivating emotional health. In our tradition, we derive insight into how to build our spirituality. We say the words in the shirah, “This is my God, and I will glorify Him,” words said by the Jewish nation at the time of the crossing of the Red Sea, at a moment of ultimate closeness to Hashem. Rashi tells us on the word ve’anveihu, “and I will glorify Him,” that it means “I will build Him a sanctuary.”
This shira points directly at one theme that we would be wise to grasp in order to enrich our lives through the darkness so many are experiencing with health concerns today.
Rav Samuel Raphael Hirsch interprets the word ve’anveihu, “I will make myself a sanctuary,” meaning that we make ourselves holy. One simple word in the Torah brings such richness to our lives when we look deeply within. Divide the words v’anveihu into two words, ani vehu, I and Him and we see the real sign to develop heightened spirituality by emulating Hashem and his attributes. Imagine a world, a community, a synagogue, with more grace, compassion, kindness, and forgiveness. Perhaps that’s the pinnacle, the apex, of spirituality. Living with true wonder, seeing miracles daily in our lives, fuels our sense of holiness and can stir a greater sense of religious significance in our every footstep. In our culture of hedonistic materialism and instant gratification, it is vital to absorb the ability to overcome our constricted spirituality, our kotzer ruach, for ours is a generation that often loses faith at the slightest disappointment. It’s never too late to begin this religious, spiritual journey and it is always too soon to stop.
The themes of living a better, healthier life that leap from this week’s reading highlight the importance of living with self-efficacy, agency, autonomy, self-discovery, trust, and obedience in personal growth and liberation.
We learn inside the parasha about how faith and trust in Hashem, even in difficult times, can be healing. The Israelites overcame many obstacles in their journey through the desert but were able to overcome them with the help of Hashem. This serves as a reminder to persevere and overcome obstacles in our own lives. Another element of health, gratitude, is seen as the Israelites sang a song of gratitude to Hashem after crossing the Red Sea. We are reminded to be thankful for the blessings in our lives and to show gratitude, something contemporary medicine has elevated as crucial for physical and emotional health. This can be applied to creating health in a contemporary marriage, where couples would be wise to be grateful for the good times and memories they have shared together and to create new memories. Freedom in our own lives, whether it be from negative health habits, unhealthy relationships or other forms of oppression are also seen in parasha Beshalach, as the Israelites were able to gain their freedom from slavery in Egypt. Recall that the Israelites were told to remember events of their liberation from Egypt and to observe Passover as a reminder of this event, pointing us towards the health benefits of remembering our past and learning from it as we move forward and thrive. Faith, trust, and gratitude – key elements of His healing. Indeed, the national anthem of Israel, HaTikva, is inspired by the positive, healthy themes of freedom and hope in Beshalach.
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Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D., prepares a weekly D’var Torah for Young Israel of San Diego, where he and his family are members. They are also active members of Congregation Adat Yeshurun. He may be contacted via michael.mantell@sdjewishworld.com
That I might dwell in the experience of care empathy and compassion in with and through others and well as with myself … affirming the goodness of humanity and its elevation to the “kingdom of God”.