Parshas Mishpatim: Can You Go to the Doctor?

this Torah class is brought to you by Torah anytime.com [Applause] okay welcome everyone to the here in Hills tah tells us from here we learn that a is given permission to heal why does a doctor need permission to heal there's no ping the mik that an accountant has permission to do your taxes there's no P mik that a construction worker is allowed to build buildings why does a doctor need permission interesting the Torah is going on the doctor but not on the patient so there is a famous comment of the ran in and the ran says that an Ideal World an ideal world like probably most of us instinctively feel an ideal world is a world without doctors but says without the rule is when CL are perfect whether individual or then their Affairs are not conducted in a natural process not physically not with their land not nationally and not individually in other words when we're doing the right thing then we don't have to deal with the vicissitudes of nature why the bread will be good the water will be good after all sickness is merely a result of bad food bad water will remove illness the parhas of you won't need doctors you won't have to keep yourself healthy you w you know who your doctor is so says in an Ideal World you don't need doctors's your doctor that's what sikim used to do in the era of Prophecy they didn't go to doctors but rather they would get sick when they would do even if a sin would occur and therefore they would get sick they would not seek out doctors they wouldn't open up a book and seek out a specialist and have to deal with insurance companies right by the way n they took your insurance right Rak Rak they would go to the navi by the way there's a different is this a reference to or is a reference it says about either even when he was Ill he didn't seek out rather he sought out the doctors wants to make a from this when he was sick there a when he was sick he didn't seek but rather he sought out the doctors says ran if going to a doctor was common then let it just say the against him was he didn't go to Hashem the fact that it says Tiner number one is he didn't go to Hashem Tiner number two is he went to the doctors that means even if you don't go to Hashem there's still an additional time of going to the doctors there he did two things wrong he didn't turn to God and he did turn to the doctors if it was common practice go why mention the doctors the only infraction was he didn't says this would be analogous to somebody saying the guy didn't eat mat on we could just stop there but if you say he ate how many things did he do wrong a he didn't fulfill the positive command of eating mats and B he violated the isra of eating so here it says he didn't seek at hasem he did go to the that means he did two two things wrong he says if you go to a you ain't going to the doctors if you're a God-fearing observant Jew what business do you have going to a doctor didn't Hashem promise promis if you do the right thing I'll give you healthy food you won't be sick anyway why would you have to go to the doctor the doctors their only ability is tell you eat this or don't eat that but if the already promises healthy food you don't need the doctors and brings just skip down one line tells us the 22 years RAB served as R never summoned the blood Letter to his house now in the olden days they used to believe and it could be it's still true that all illness was a result of the sickness of the blood so if you let the blood that would alleviate any ailment one would have now there are two ways of doing it you could uh go to the actor you could make a house call a very a person he would make a house call when when RAB was the rash R did not want to exercise any power he would not allow the blood Letter to come to his house instead he would go to the blood Letter's house that's the simple meaning of the gamar but that would have absolutely nothing to do with this piece in the ran if the ran would be learning that Kamar that way the ran by the way what the joke I didn't say the joke right what is what you went to the doctor why why is he sick it's a virus vir a virus okay I got it out fin I but but but the the Taz explains that the r holds that the meaning of this gar is that the 22 years that RAB served as rash exhibited such humility that Hashem rewarded him he didn't have to go to the doctor so you see that sonone on a high enough level he doesn't busy himself at doctors but if he goes to the doctor he announces to the community that he's a sinner what can you do that's part of the Rua part of the Rua was the the busha right um and says ran this is the meaning skip down one line really it is not the correct process to go to a doctor it's already Common Place had people not gone started going to doctors they would only get sick if they didn't what could we do it's one of these men hug you have a mug yeah it's one of those Min hug him so hasem says you want a Min you start going to doctors so I'll go along with it I'll make you sick no problem you want to go to doctors then I'll give you reasons to go to doctors says raan Hashem so to speak forsook man to some extent to the vi vicissitudes of nature now here's the key says ran nowhere does a t give R to the patient to go to the doctor no was ever given to a doesn't say it's that if you have Anar who knocks on your door and he says I'm sick so you would think the doctor's hands are tied he's not how to heal after all the the person who went to the doctor is doing the wrong thing no the T says that even though the patient is doing the wrong thing the doctor still has the right to heal him but nowhere does the ever give to the to go to the doctor in the first place there for oh good quote we're going we're going to see that I'm happy you asked the question where go we're going to see okay so he says he says um nowhere is given to the person who's sick to be cured but once he's sick and he's coming to be healed why because he has this bad Minh and this guy who has the bad he doesn't belong to the community of God those who are connected to God they don't deal with doctors they deal with Hashem himself but those who don't want to partake in the re the doctors their hands are not tied Hashem said look the guy is on a very low level deal with him right this guy's also a n but not not a Hebrew n right he's a so he's a so you could heal him now why would you think the doctor should not he says not because you would think a doctor should not cure him he he maybe he's going to make things worse so you don't so the T says don't worry about that the doctor doesn't have to say look it's not my business to heal him the should heal him because has given permission to the doctor the Cure but end but when God is pleased with a man he has no business going to the doctor so people like to hear this lot of people they don't like going to the doctor well the ran is in an Ideal World you don't go to the doctor you go to the na'vi in an Ideal World illness is caused directly by sin and Raa is is caused directly by ch right and then we have one thing leads to the next by the way in in this he says a similar to the raan why is the focusing on why is the focusing on says no is given to the the obligation on the to have and not to go to the doctor and when he goes to the doctor he's committing treachery against me has on him and he allows the doctor to cure him so you'll ask so then what are doctors for asked right what are the doctors for so there's a well-known story from the vill that the brother of the vill was once ill and a certain R wanted to take him to the doctor come on and the go said said the go said doctors hashem's the doctor so the doctor said so why did Hashem make doctors for did hasem make doctors for nothing so the go said so why did hasem make K hasem made also again this is not to be to doctors I'm just reporting the facts of the story The Go says why did has make so he said for for for so the going said that the doctors are also for them doctors are not for Jews doctors were never made for Jewish people that's the story by the way if you say that's not that's not a nice story that's not a nice story you're comparing doctors to again I'm not I'm not making any Insidious analogies I'm just reporting the fact I'm just a reporter I'm just telling you there's another version of the story that you might find to be a little bit more pleasant in the in the Le he brings down this story where um the go said we Jewish people don't go to doctors and the doctor said so why did Hashem make doctors and the go said so why didem so maybe that that that analogy so either we have two of the story again one in the one one in the and one in the either way the vill was not very fond of Jewish people going to doctors okay a lot of go look for je doctors there you go why are most doctors Jewish most doctors are Jewish they want Jewish doctors I hear more forgot okay this is of the and the that permission was given to the doctor no permission was given to the patient comes a whole slew of other reim we'll begin with the izra ver and the izra makes the following there are two types of illnesses there two types of one is and one is an external wound or an internal wound says izra doctors are given permission to heal boo boos external runes right if you scratch yourself or you cut yourself open you need stitches or you have a wound on the outside and the doctor looks at it he he sees what he sees he's able to look at it and deal with it but someone goes to the doctor and he says doc something hurts on the inside so the doctor you know lie down and he starts tapping on you to see exactly I don't know what seems to me that what's going on over here based on the way the tests come back based on basically you're guess you're guessing right yeah it's called Educated guesswork it's not it's not a science like mathematics or physics it's not a absolute discipline it's educated guesswork God never gave somebody gave any human being the ability or the right to guess what the fate of somebody should be if it's black and white on the outside the doctor could see it he has permission to heal any internal ailment you're not allowed to go to the doctor says look at number six izra and this week's par could only cure external in other words the is bothered by the following s we have a by is criticized for going to the doctor and on the other hand in it says the doctor has permission to cure right really we should have started with this the we should have started this share with the following contradiction there's a PK in this week's para doctors are aure and there's a PK by Assa that he's criticized for going to the doctors so the ran reconciles the that you're not allow to go to the doctor but if you do the doctor could cure you reconciles it differently the in this week's para that doctors could cure that had external wounds the by that was a criticized for going to the doctor talking about internal wounds how how does she classif I speak about touching and coming up with an idea if doctor knows that these 15 symptoms combined mean that something is wrong the inside sure something's wrong what exactly is wrong know from from from taking care of an honest doctor would never tell you he knows 100% or or he's a surgeon you're opening somebody up at the outside is the inside okay we'll deal with that also good point or maybe with technology you could see the same way you could see the outside you could see the inside as well so let's see um the is that we just read is found in also inra talks about and on the second line he says a do a little bit of a different a doctor could only cure someone if they're injured by man somebody goes over to somebody and he gives him a clap so that's not coming directly from Hashem obvious everything is but that's coming that's a different different but anytime a person injured they be but if someone comes up comes down with an ailment which is clearly straight you go back where you got it from so similar but not exactly the same comment that says there's a difference between external and internal differentiates between now it could be is usually an external wound is usually an internal wound but sometimes could be external as well somebody comes up with some kind of Mysterious Skin ailment on the outside that's sh but it's it's it's external okay on the I and break leg that you would say is not that was be right but it's still external right so right that'll be the opposite right exactly right good this makes the same as and he takes note of the following Nuance in di ver where the two pays are do in other words they have a dog in it not ver ver not Fe says whenever you talk about being cured by man it always has a whenever the cures with a f why not says the fourth line because when you go to the doctor even if it works it always hurts either the medicine makes you nauseous or you lose your appetite or pay you got to pay or you got to pay big bucks but the cures they no side effects there no doesn't hurt your wallet no insurance you don't have to deal with all of the difficulties of dealing with the doctor says no Co right and noay and no co- and the worst of all is they make you sit in the waiting room you have to swallow bitter medicine why because when when sends listen very carefully to this what what quoting when it always has good side side benefits there's no sadness with it what's the after gives side he comes to cure and he comes and there side benefits okay says that that this wrong profession right let's say somebody had a stomach ache and they went to the hardware store go look at you yeah what can I do have a stomach a what are you doing in the hardware store says to go to a doctor for internal ailment you're in the wrong you're in the wrong location wrong place comes the says what's the double means even if you go to the doctor and he cures you and you come back the next week with the same thing he's to cure you again and again and again like every time we have a double us right right so but then the says there are two types of there's a and a the your doctor is Hashem like it says your doctor is the regular doctor says the a doctor only has permission to cure you from external wounds says ifem gave permission to the doctor to cure so why does the mission say at the end of K the best of doctors right somebody wants to tell me I'm I'm upset I don't think he's a good doctor good don't go to a good doctor good doctors don't end up in good in good places better to go to a Bad Doctor why say because they have no business curing anything other than external wounds says why it says the only gives permission to cure external ones you break your arm has a burn the doctor could see it and he could utilize a discipline that is measurable it's a it's an absolute discipline like mathematics right mathematics is different than philosophy exctly philosophy is you're dreaming up different ideas mathematic 1 plus one is two you could prove it you take one thing you take another thing this equals two you could prove it external medicine is like math internal medicine is like um ancient philosophy it's guess work it's guess work but they start making most of the time they murder people he says so we have the of the that doctors were never given permission to cure internal wounds comes was the at the end of 19th century by the way after his he had NOA of going into raas he was a w wood Merchant and saw this this individual was he wanted to give him SM I don't want SM he does he didn't want to be but ultimately he got from the from and he was a very sympathetic psake whenever somebody would come to him for aak or D so he would explain his position to the losing party and he would say do you understand do you understand if the person said I didn't understand the M would say I'm sure you have a relative that's bring him to me I'll explain to him what my what my position was in the number of he brings different that were revealed to him in uh in different dreams says a very interesting idea and I think some of you are saying this he's talking about to what level do We Trust doctors so on the third line on page two by an external wound you could believe a doctor but if you they tell you something about what's going on internally don't trust them paraphrasing it's like bones it's like somebody were to tell you guest the the uh gender of the baby right everybody's favorite p time I it's for sure a boy it's for sure a girl why because you know the most ridiculous far in the world why they know for sure what the gender is says says the you don't believe a doctor about internal and he says the place says this idea says this idea says but nowadays you have ultrasound you have xray right then the inside is like the outside then you have to then a doctor is given not only to cure external but internal as well now RAB said this is not a full-fledged license cuz there are very very very many things that even with all of the technology they do not see it's educated guesswork so again this is an extension in other words times have changed the reason why most say doctors were never given authority to cure the inside is because it's guesswork and it's not an absolute discipline so with the with the Cutting Edge technology there are certain um aspects that now have entered the realm of H an absolute discipline but nevertheless it has not opened up medicine to um to the extent that they would like it to be open to that is that then would be the of the maram in other words what they claim is that B that now that we could uh see the internal organs so then a doctor would be given R to cure that as well not every doctor has the ability to to look at at x-ray that's another thing it's a skill to be able to real radiologist you have to trust the radiologist his his educated guess correct in other words it's still and sometimes there are between Radiologists one guy says one guy one says something else they look at Fe SC they look at that you know right right so it's not an absolute picture sometimes just W colors of of of waves okay so bottom line is so far we have two we have the ran the ran says in Ideal World you don't go to the doctor the says says doctors are for external wounds and possibly even for internal if you're able to see it comes the m m was and he says we don't passing like the ran we don't we don't pass like he says not only do we not pass like we don't passing like the or or we don't follow them before the yeah that that correct that we don't he says if you're going to follow them that you're only allowed to go to the doctor for external why do you have many garas full of medicinal practices if you're not allowed to use medicine then why do you have different medicinal um practices why do you have a gamar in in that we just right why does the G say you're not allowed to live in a city that doesn't have a doctor went to the he wasn't going to the doctor because he had a scratch did the write a for the says that was the doctor of rebi rebi had an illness that was not an external illness it was a makus that came from so that rebi and did the wrong thing says like like like and what does it mean doesn't mean it's discretionary but it's aah and it's and the more they do and if they don't want to cure you they're a murderer and therefore concludes don't refrain from going to the doctor don't say you know what I'm not going to take my medicine I'm just going to say I'm going to say to him you can't let go of you you cannot just trust in wow that's a strong statement you must follow the directions of the doc says the right one one thing this is a and all these other is a doctor do right question is who curing why you know because he was a Doctor by um we don't have it on the sheet but the in writes the ran when the ramban talks about the idic world he's not talking about the world of reality we don't live in the ideal world you're right in the ideal world when we're all theoretically if we would be on the highest level and then we would have no business going to a doctor but unfortunately we don't live in the ideal world and as individuals we're not living in the ideal frame of mind and the ideal level of and therefore on our on our small levels then we do have to go um by the way he also writes he quotes the Ezra that a doctor is only allowed to cure external and he says on the seventh line sixth Line This of the is not the of this is not the doctors have been given permission to heal every illness whether it's internal or external we'll see further but comes of and R didn't trust anyone certainly not doctors and R says know the brings down that if the doctor tells somebody to take medicine and they don't want to we force them says they're not so fast it depends what kind of medicine who says that you for the brings down from the in brings down the name of the the doctor says take your meds and the patient said no I'm going to take uh nutritional supplements I'm going to I'm going to go to the Alps and breathe in the fresh air we force them to take their meds say not so fast that's onlyu what's ruos definite medicine medicine that's tried and tested then we say um you have to take but what what if the reason why the patient doesn't want to take the medicine is because it's like uh it's speculative medicine it's medicine guesswork medicine it's experimental experimental then we don't we don't force him what if the patient says you know what this medicine makes me more ill than it makes me better we don't force them to take he says or um behind then the if the doctor himself says look we're not sure we think it's going to help then the person doesn't want to take them he's a smart guy why trust in a doctor if anything the medicine is going to hurt you again he makes the same differentiation it's external wound and the doctor says look I know um through experience that every time somebody puts on this medicine the the wound is cured then you need to follow suit but any speculative experimental you do not force any to take this is like this is like the greatest place they agree let's just um comes you want to know how we so you have various is speaking in the ideal world you have all these that say doctors can only cure externally but again we saw the and the the is doctors have been given permission to cure externally and internally says the um I'm sorry let's go to number 16 the after quoting the ran the ran says that um going to the doctor should not be in the House of says at the end of number 16 nowadays you can't rely on Miracles and the ill person should is is obligated to conduct himself in a regular way to call the doctor and a person really has no authority to say you know what I'm above that I'm above the I learn in the I I I don't need that nobody's allowed to Generations they went to doctors says he doesn't say it is but it's to to try to say they're above such a thing either it's or it's being but rather now says the I'm not saying the doctors do anything the doctors are not curing you the hasem is curing you but you still need to conduct yourself externally in a way where it looks like you're you're you're going through the motions of the average person but but we have we you don't put you have no faith in the doctor no trust in the doctor you go there you sign in you pay the bill but you're just paying money you should know it just it just what in that's right and a little bit of a different terminology than the who says no you go to the doctor that's very strong I don't think he means uh don't have trust inem and it means in the way you act you can't TR trust in hasem what he means is you can't say I know I know what you're saying but to write a L like this very either he what he means is don't say I trust in so I'm not going to go it's got to be a it has to be a to it can't be I can't believe like that let's see says um in one of his letters in the he basically says the same thing again as and the and the he says my opinion on the third line he says taking care of one's health health whether it's exercise whether it's proper diet says it's a Mitzvah I went to Victor Miller say it's a Mitzvah to do exercise where the in the what's the helps yeah we learned from there you desecrate right you desecrate one shab to keep many shab so say let's make a if you're allow to desecrate many shab to keep many more shab you have to exercise to be able to keep many more shabas you he if you could desecrate a shabas to live longer certainly you could take some time off also to keep your health but say in his opinion in his opinion Brios is aah and like one of the many to maintain the that hasem put into this world he says there were many they didn't even go to Jewish doctors they went to says if you look around nature there are many plants and herbs that were created for a fua there's a whole discipline of medicine to know how to administer properly ah even though says there is such a says there does exist an approach in where you could rise above nature certainly to rise above extra says like everything else in life it's a tight rope and it's a balance going too much to the right and saying you know what I just trust in hem that's also not the going too much to left to investigate every single medicinal practice and doctor and technique that's also too much but a person has to develop the right balance where you do the you go to the doctor and you put your faith and your trust in the that says is a and and then you have the the famous words of the that somebody once came to the go and he said that that the RO said the doctor said there's no hope there's no way to cure the person and the person has a very Bleak uh Outlook says only going doctors were given permission to heal they were never given permission to give up hope that was never given to the doctors but not so let's just end with the who's the true the is the the G of is not only is we the he also doesn't charge too much either nobody should ever have to need the doctors everyone should have good health K you've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by Torah anytime.com