Shemoneh Esrei 28: Daily Gifts

 רפאנו ה’ ונרפא...כי א-ל מלך רופא נאמן ורחמן אתה

Heal us, Hashem – then we will be healed…for You are G-d, King, the faithful and compassionate Healer

The following story (not an exact quote) appeared last week in Emunah Daily, a most inspiring daily e-mail, written and orated by HaRav David Ashear.

Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Lugassi tells the story of a 50-year-old Israeli man who began losing his eyesight.  He was sent by his Israeli physicians to an American specialist.  After examining the man, the specialist determined that the vision in one eye could not be saved, while the vision in the other eye could be saved through surgery.  The procedure was scheduled for several days later.

That night, the man thought to himself, “This is a very dark time in my life, but now I am able to show my true love for Hashem.  “He started thanking Hashem for giving him eyesight in both eyes for the previous 50 years.  For two hours, he cried tears of gratitude, thanking Hashem for allowing him to see his children, his wife, and the beauty of the world.  With intense emotion, he expressed his gratitude and genuine appreciation for the great gift of eyesight.  He then asked Hashem to continue giving him his eyesight for many more years.

When he returned to the doctor for his surgery, the doctor checked his eyes and was stunned.  “I have never seen anything like this in my life,” he said.  The eye that the doctor had given up on had improved and he was able to operate on both eyes.  Baruch Hashem, this man now sees perfectly with both eyes.

The word “נאמן–ne’eman (faithful)” in our brachah refers to the constancy of Hashem keeping us in good health.  Every day that we enjoy good health is a new blessing.  Unfortunately, as we see all too often, nothing that we have today is guaranteed for tomorrow or even later today.  The companion word “רחמן–rachaman (compassionate)” refers to Hashem’s compassion protecting us from those things that we eat – or do – that can harm our health [HaRav Avraham, son of the Gra].

In fact, this is another meaning (different from what we discussed last week) in “כי תהלתנו אתה–ki s’hilaseinu Atah (for You are our praise),” earlier in the brachah.  When things are moving along “normally,” we tend to forget to contemplate and recognize the great chesed and goodness of Hashem in granting us a new day of good health.  Let us appreciate the great gift daily.

The flow of our brachah is that we ask Hashem to heal and save us, “ki s’hilaseinu Atah” – because, as in the story we began with, we regret not having thanked Hashem properly for all the years that our limbs and organs have been functioning properly without issue.  We now say to Hashem: You are our praise; we recognize the great chesed and goodness that You have bestowed upon us all these years, and in the merit of our returning to You through this recognition, we ask that You heal and save us [Yalkut Katan].

Thus, we have two great fundamentals contained in the three words “ki s’hilaseinu Atah.”  Only Hashem can heal and save us, and we must recognize and express our thanks to Him daily for the good health in the multitude of various body parts and brain functions that we enjoy daily.