On Monday, July 24, Rabbi Aryeh Leibowitz of Sha’alvim gave the first of the five night shiurim as part of Beth Abraham of Bergenfield’s Nine Days’ learning program. The next three shiurim took place the next three nights, and the last one will take place on Sunday evening, July 30 (Erev Tisha b’Av). These shiurim are part of an entire daytime kollel program for the Nine Days for high-school- and college-aged men, but the night shiurim are open to the entire community.
The shiur was titled “The Best of Doctors Go to Gehenom,” and just like all the learning that day, was in the zechut for a refuah for Sara bat Tziporah.
Rabbi Leibowitz started off reading the mishnah in Kiddushin that is the source of the shiur’s title. He then explained what could be wrong with being a doctor according to Rashi, who says that either doctors see themselves as the cause of the healing and forget to see God, or they occasionally kill people, or they disregard the medical needs of the poor.
He spoke about three basic attitudes toward doctors found in the Rishonim. The first was against doctors, of which the most famous proponent was the Ramban. The Ramban says if people were really serving God they wouldn’t need doctors: “There is no place for doctors in the house of those who do the will of God.” However, Rabbi Leibowitz pointed out that the Ramban’s student, the Rashba, says in multiple places that the Ramban himself was a doctor, and most interpretations of the Ramban shelve this view on doctors until the End of Days, when everyone will be on the level to rely only on God. On the other hand, some opinions believe that it is possible for a truly incredible person to behave according to this Ramban, and argue that his opinion doesn’t only apply at the End of Days. Rabbi Leibowitz paraphrased Rav Shlomo Wolbe, who said that even if this is true, “There is nobody out there now or for many, many, many generations who were able to look to this Ramban and were able to say that their behavior is on such a high level that they don’t need a doctor. This Ramban is speaking about an ideal, a possible existence.” In any case, the Ramban paskens in his halachic sefer that one is obligated to go to a doctor.
The second opinion was a middle ground, that some wounds can be cured by doctors, namely external wounds, but internal wounds should be left for Hashem. Rabbi Leibowitz gave three possible interpretations of this opinion. First, internal wounds will cause the doctor to kill you because he will cut you open, but external wounds are easier to treat. This opinion doesn’t have a theological problem with doctors; it is just doubtful of the safety of internal medicine. The second is that external wounds means inflicted by man, whereas internal means inflicted by God. Man should only heal the wounds that are his own fault, but if God is punishing someone with an internal disease, one should rely on God to take that away. That is more theologically against doctors interfering with God’s role as healer. Rabbi Leibowitz suggested a third one, that internal means psychological and external means physical.
The opinion of there being certain times when it is appropriate to go to doctors and other times when it is not is disputed by several other Rishonim. Tosafot proves that people must go to doctors for both internal and external wounds, using a pasuk in Mishpatim that has a double language of healing to include both types of healing. The Rambam has the most forceful argument for doctors. He says: Claiming it is a lack of faith to take medicine for an illness or visit a doctor is analogous to saying it is a lack of faith to eat food to cure one’s hunger, which is clearly ridiculous. The Shulchan Aruch even paskens that if one can succeed in medicine, it is a mitzvah to become a doctor. The Bach and other commentaries say that for patients nowadays, not only are you allowed to go to doctors and take medicine when necessary, it is actually an obligation to do so.
Rabbi Leibowitz ended with a midrash that put things into hashkafic perspective. The midrash says that when it says in Mara that God tested the Jews, it means He gave them medical knowledge, and that was the test. Rabbi Leibowitz explained, “Having life and death in your hands is certainly a tremendous nisayon (test) both for the patient and for the doctor. When the doctor sees his healing abilities and when the patient sees after a surgery the brilliance of a doctor…it’s very hard to sometimes see God within that enterprise.” Rabbi Leibowitz blessed everyone that when necessary we should be able to have the best doctors who do great mitzvot and help heal us, and also recognize that Hashem Is the true healer.
By Sara Schapiro
Bergenfield’s Sara Schapiro is a recent graduate of Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for girls and an incoming freshman at Stern College for Women.
