This week’s parsha begins with the mitzvah of bikur cholim (visiting the sick) when Yosef visits Yaakov.

Our sages teach that visiting the sick is not just a nice thing to do. Visiting the sick actually helps them heal faster. The Talmud teaches “Whoever visits one who is sick takes away 1/60th of his pain” (Nedarim 39b). Following this, if multiple people visit a sick person, they can all help in taking away sickness. Also, if they visit multiple sick people, they can take away even more sickness with their visit. In these cases, it helps to think about “parts of sickness”; that is how many times the 1/60ths of sickness are taken away.

Here’s a question:

One day you and three of your friends did the mitzvah of bikur cholim and visited some patients in a hospital. Together, you took away 48 parts of sickness. The following day, you heard that six other students went to visit the same patients. How many parts of sickness did they take away together?

Solution: The answer is 72 parts. The number of patients you and your friends visited in the hospital is 12. That’s because you were four people together and 48/4=12. This means the six other students took away 6 x 12=72 parts of sickness. Shabbat Shalom!