Parshiot Ki Tisa - Parah, 5773, 2013:

                   Judaism and the Concept of Freedom

                                   Rabbi David Etengoff

Dedicated to the sacred memories of my mother, Miriam Tovah bat Aharon Hakohen, father-in-law, Levi ben Yitzhak, sister-in-law, Ruchama Rivka Sondra, sister, Shulamit bat Menachem, Shifra bat Chaim Alter, and Yehonatan Binyamin ben Mordechai Meir Halevi, and the refuah shlaimah of Yosef Shmuel ben Miriam.

Now the tablets were G-d's work, and the inscription was G-d's inscription, engraved on the tablets. (Sefer Shemot 32:16, this and all Bible translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach)

Rabbi Yehoshuah ben Lavi noted: It says in Sefer Shemot 32:16: “And the tablets were the work of G-d, and the writing was the writing of G-d (charut) engraved upon the tablets.” Do not read the [non-vocalized] word as charut (engraved), instead read it as cheirut (freedom). [This is so] since there is no one who is truly free except for one who engages in Torah study. Moreover, anyone who involves himself with Torah on an ongoing basis will be elevated… (Pirkei Avot 6:2)

Rabbi Yehoshuah ben Lavi’s Midrashic-level understanding of our verse equates engagement in, and loyalty to, the Torah with the highest heights of human freedom. This, in turn, leads us to ask a crucial question: “What is the Torah’s idea of freedom?” I believe that our understanding of the Torah’s concept of freedom may be advanced by two terms developed by Sir Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997), in his 1958 Inaugural Lecture delivered before the University of Oxford. In this lecture, published under the title “Two Concepts of Liberty,” Berlin uses the terms “liberty” and “freedom” interchangeably (Isaiah Berlin, Four Essays on Liberty, Oxford University Press, 1971, page, 121). In the course of his discussion, he identifies and defines “negative freedom” and “positive freedom.” He begins by noting that: “Like happiness and goodness, like nature and reality, the meaning of this term [freedom] is so porous that there is little interpretation that it seems able to resist.” He suggests the following definition for negative freedom:

I am normally said to be free to the degree to which no man or body of men interferes with my activity. Political liberty in this sense is simply the area within which a man can act unobstructed by others. If I am prevented by others from doing what I could otherwise do, I am to that degree unfree; and if this area is contracted by men beyond a certain minimum, I can be described as being coerced, or it may be, enslaved. …Coercion implies the deliberate interference of other human beings within the area in which I could otherwise act. You lack political liberty or freedom only if you are prevented from attaining a goal by human beings (page, 122).

In stark contrast, he defines positive freedom in the following manner:

I wish my life and decisions to depend on myself, not on external forces of whatever kind. I wish to be the instrument of my own, not of other men’s acts of will. I wish to be a subject, not an object; I wish to be somebody, not nobody; a doer-deciding, not be decided for, self-directed and not acted upon by external nature or by other men as if I were a thing, or an animal, or a slave incapable of playing a human role, that is of conceiving goals and policies of my own and realizing them…. I wish, above all, to be conscious of myself as a thinking, willing, active being, bearing responsibility for my choices and able to explain them by references to my own ideas and purposes (page, 131).

I believe that we can utilize Berlin’s concept of negative freedom to help us understand what the servitude in Egypt, and the Exodus therefrom, represented. As slaves to Pharaoh, we were “unfree,” coerced. We were trapped in a ceaseless cycle of misery and angst wherein others interfered with our most basic activities. We were obstructed by our taskmasters and prevented from attaining nearly all of our goals. The Exodus from Egypt, therefore, allowed us to enter into negative freedom, wherein: “no man or body of men interferes with my activity.” In short, we were no longer coerced; we were no longer slaves “incapable of playing a human role.” We were free from the misery and servitude imposed upon us by our merciless Egyptian overseers. Yet, this political liberty was just the beginning of Hashem’s plan for our people, a necessary step toward the next stage of freedom: positive freedom.

As a nation, we achieved positive freedom when we received the holy Torah. Suddenly, by the grace of HaKadosh Baruch Hu (the Holy One Blessed be He), we were transformed into a nation of subjects instead of objects. After 210 years, we were finally able “to be conscious of [ourselves] as thinking, willing, active being[s], bearing responsibility for [our] choices.” We became capable of  “conceiving goals and policies of [our] own and realizing them.” Most of all, we had a lens through which all of our desires, hopes, and dreams could be viewed: the Word of G-d Himself. This was, and is, the most positive concept of freedom that one can imagine.

For Rabbi Yehoshuah ben Lavi, the study and practical application of the words of our Creator and His earthly representatives (Chazal, our Sages) is, by definition, the ultimate act in which a truly free individual can engage. Why? Perhaps it is because by challenging ourselves to understand His Torah, we come to encounter Hashem. With awe and humility we recognize the total otherness of our Creator, while simultaneously striving to comprehend His words and the thoughts and concepts they contain. Like Yaakov Avinu, we know that when we study Torah, and live by its precepts, we are entering into a place that is so holy and so filled with the Divine Presence that our innermost-beings must declare: “Mah norah hamakom hazeh” (“How awe-filled and awe-inspiring is this place,” Sefer Bereishit 28:17).

Rav Tzadok HaKohen Rabinowitz of Lublin (1823-1900), in his work, Pri Tzaddik, offers a fascinating understanding of our initial pasuk (verse):

When the Torah states: “...engraved – charut - on the tablets,” we should interpret this as meaning to have freedom – chairut - from the Angel of Death (Midrash Shemot Rabbah 32:1). The Angel of Death is explicitly identified in Talmud Bavli, Baba Batra 16a as the Evil Inclination… As it is stated in Pirkei Avot 6:2: “… there is no one who is truly free except for one who engages in Torah study. Moreover, anyone who involves himself with Torah on an ongoing basis will be elevated…” [Why did Rabbi Yehoshuah ben Lavi make the preceding statement? This is because] beyond a shadow of a doubt, the moment of Giving of the Torah was equivalent to the Creation of all creatures  - when the Almighty fashioned man in absolute moral perfection. This is the case since, at the time the Jewish people heard the first utterance of the Ten Commandments, “Anochi” (“I am the L-rd your G-d”), the Torah became permanently affixed in their hearts (Midrash Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:15), and they achieved the final stage of perfection. From this point onward, the Jewish people’s hearts would constantly be joined to the recognition of Hashem’s awesome stature and to His love – may He be blessed. Moreover, henceforth, the Jewish people would no longer need physical tablets of stone – since, all the words of the Torah were now engraved forever on the tablet of their hearts.

May we all be zocheh (merit) to have the words and concepts of our holy Torah engraved upon our hearts. Then, with G-d’s help, we will be truly free. May this time come soon and in our days. V’chane yihi ratzon.

Shabbat Shalom

Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org

The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email [email protected].

*** My audio shiurim for Women on “Tefilah: Haskafah and Analysis,” may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd

*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. They are available here: http://tinyurl.com/82pgvfn.

**Follow new postings on my Twitter accounts: @theRavZatzal and @Torahtech613.

*** Interested in 21st Century Jewish Education? See my blog: http://21stcenturyjewisheducation.org

                        Parshiot Tetzaveh - Zachor, 5773, 2013:

                   “Amalek: Evil and Hatred Personified”

                                     Rabbi David Etengoff

Dedicated to the sacred memories of my mother, Miriam Tovah bat Aharon Hakohen, father-in-law, Levi ben Yitzhak, sister-in-law, Ruchama Rivka Sondra, sister, Shulamit bat Menachem, Shifra bat Chaim Alter, and Yehonatan Binyamin ben Mordechai Meir Halevi, and the refuah shlaimah of Yosef Shmuel ben Miriam.

Remember what Amalek did to you on your way out of Egypt. When they encountered you on the way, and you were tired and exhausted, they cut off those lagging to your rear, and they did not fear G-d. Therefore, when G-d gives you peace from all the enemies around you in the land that G-d your L-rd is giving you to occupy as a heritage, you must obliterate the memory of Amalek from under the heavens. You must not forget. (Sefer Devarim 25:17-19, translation, The Living Torah, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan zatzal, underlining my own)

One of the most widely accepted concepts within Rabbinic thought is that of the existence of Taryag Mitzvot (the 613 Mitzvot). There are a number of sources that discuss this idea. The most famous one is found in Talmud Bavli, Makkot 23b: “Rabbi Simlai expounded: 613 mitzvot were stated to Moshe. 365 negative precepts corresponding to the days of the year and 248 positive commandments corresponding to the number of limbs in the human body.” Unfortunately, while Rabbi Simlai taught us the concept of the Taryag Mitzvot, he did not reveal its content. The daunting task of determining exactly which utterances of the Almighty are Biblical mitzvot was left to the group of Torah sages who have become collectively known as the Monei Hamitzvot. This group of luminaries includes, but is not limited to, such intellectual giants as the Baal Halachot Gedolot (9th century), the Rambam (1135-1204), the Ramban (1194-1270), and the Sefer Hachinuch (probably 13th century). These sages often utilized different criteria in making their determinations as to exactly which commandment was to be considered part of the Taryag Mitzvot. As a result, no two lists of the 613 Mitzvot are exactly the same. Most of the Monei Hamitzvot, however, count three separate and distinct commandments in our Biblical passage: “Remember what Amalek did to you on your way out of Egypt,” “You must obliterate the memory of Amalek from under the heavens,” and “You must not forget.”

The Bedouin tribe known as Amalek no longer exists. Its genetic individuality was lost long ago in the sands of time through mass displacement, and in the cauldron of assimilation. Given that this is the case, how can we understand the persona of Amalek in our own historical moment so that we may engage in the correct approach to three above-mentioned commandments? In other words, is Amalek “still relevant” in our day and age? My rebbe and mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zatzal (1903-1993), known as “the Rav” by his students and followers, answered both of these questions by noting, “Amalek is not a race, nor is it a people, a nationality.” What then is “Amalek?” For the Rav, it is a state of mind and behavioral orientation that endows its proponent with the status of having reached the nadir of the personification of evil:

I once heard from my father, [Rav Moshe Soloveitchik zatzal] of blessed memory, in the name of my grandfather [Rav Chaim Soloveitchik zatzal], that any people or group committed to destroy the Jewish people is to be classified as Amalek. One who writes on his banner “Come let us cut him off from being a nation; that the name of Israel be no more in remembrance” (Ps. 83:5) acquires the status of Amalek, and the commandment of “You shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek” (Deut 25:19) is applicable to him or to them. (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Days of Deliverance, Essays on Purim and Chanukah, p. 16, from the manuscript of his 1974 public lecture)

Amalek hates all mankind. Nonetheless, his greatest vitriol is consistently reserved for our holy nation, since our very existence is perceived as antithetical to his being:

Of course Amalek or man-Satan hates everybody. He is the enemy of man, and enjoys causing misery and injury to all people. Yet, man-Satan or Amalek is particularly preoccupied with the Jew. He hates the Jew more than anybody else. In hating the Jew, in causing suffering and pain to the Jew and inflicting harm on him, Amalek finds his greatest delight. No matter what economic-sociopolitical program man-Satan adopts – socialist, capitalist, fascist, progressive, reactionary, agnostic-secular, or religious-clerical – the hatred of the Jew is his central preoccupation. (Ibid.)

Now we understand why “G-d shall be at war with Amalek for all generations.” (Sefer Shemot 17:16) As the Haggadah so poignantly states: “B’chol dor v’dor omdim aleinu l’kaloteinu” (“In each and every generation someone stands over us and attempts to destroy us.”) Amalek, in the guise of “man-Satan,” has been the ceaseless enemy of our people since the moment we left Egypt. Indeed, in our own time, one need only look to Iran and its leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (yemach shemo, may his name be obliterated), to see a crystal clear example of Haman born anew.

There is another aspect to Amalek that I believe is referenced in the section of the verse, “you must obliterate the memory of Amalek from under the heavens.” At first glance, it seems that the phrase “from under the heavens” is extraneous, since if Amalek’s memory were to be eradicated, it would certainly include both heaven and earth. Why, then, did Hashem include this expression? The Jerusalem Torah scholar, Rabbi Jacob Moshe Charlap zatzal (1882-1951), offered a trenchant answer to this question:

The essential orientation of Amalek was to bring about a separation between the Jewish people and their Father in Heaven – and to destroy their faith in Hashem. Amalek sought to do this in such a way as to sever any association and divine flow [of influence] between the Jewish people and [their Father in} heaven. In doing so, there would no longer be any manner of connection for the Jewish people between the heaven and earth. Therefore, the commandment is precisely worded to include the annihilation of the memory of Amalek from “under the heavens” so that there could not be anything to prevent the Heavenly flow upon the earth [and upon the Jewish people]. (Translated from Aharon Yaakov Greenberg’s Itturei Torah, end of Parashat Ki Tetze, brackets my own) 

Rav Charlap’s analysis adds another dimension to understanding the puzzle of evil represented by Amalek. The latter’s purpose was, and is, nothing other than to cause an irreparable tear in the fabric of the Jewish people’s connection to, and belief in, Hashem. This, G-d forbid, would prevent any Divine flow and protection from Shamayim (Heaven). Therefore, our Creator commanded us to “obliterate the memory of Amalek from under the heavens,” to ensure that our holy connection with Hashem, and His celestial influence upon us, would forever remain intact.

May Hashem grant us the wisdom, discernment, and ability to vanquish the Amaleks of the world, so that Zechariah’s vision may finally be realized, soon and in our time: “And the L-rd shall become King over all the earth; on that day shall the L-rd be one, and His name one.” (Sefer Zechariah 14:9) V’chane yihi ratzon.

Shabbat Shalom

Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org

The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email [email protected].

*** My audio shiurim for Women on “Tefilah: Haskafah and Analysis,” may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd

*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. They are available here: http://tinyurl.com/82pgvfn.

**Follow new postings on my Twitter accounts: @theRavZatzal and @Torahtech613.

*** Interested in 21st Century Jewish Education? See my blog: http://21stcenturyjewisheducation.org

                            Parashat Terumah, 5773, 2013:

                      “The Mystery of Experiencing
                        Hashem’s Divine Presence”

                                     Rabbi David Etengoff

Dedicated to the sacred memories of my mother, Miriam Tovah bat Aharon Hakohen, father-in-law, Levi ben Yitzhak, sister-in-law, Ruchama Rivka Sondra, sister, Shulamit bat Menachem, Shifra bat Chaim Alter, and Yehonatan Binyamin ben Mordechai Meir Halevi, and the refuah shlaimah of Yosef Shmuel ben Miriam and Moshe Reuven ben Chaya.

One of the best-known and in some ways, most accessible verses in our parasha is: “And they shall make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst.” (Sefer Shemot 25:8, this and all Tanach and Rashi translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach) Rashi (1040-1105) comments that the words, “And they shall make Me a sanctuary,” should be understood as, “And they shall make in My name a house of sanctity.” A careful reading of Rashi’s words reveals a clear divergence from the literal meaning of our phrase. Instead of “And they shall make Me,” (“v’asu li”) he writes: “And they shall make in My name” (“v’asu lishmi”). Two questions immediately come to mind:

1. Why did Rashi substitute “li” with “lishmi?”
2. What is the difference between these terms, i.e. is this merely a subtle nuance or is it substantive in nature?

It is to these questions that we now turn.

I believe that Rashi was bothered by the very notion that finite man could possibly create any manner of physical abode for the Almighty. In other words, how can man, with his innumerable limitations, possible create a makom l’Schechinah (the indwelling of Hashem’s Presence)? This idea, at its very inception, seems to be patently absurd. Two pasukim (verses), in particular – and in historical order - make this point abundantly clear:

But will G-d indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You; much less this House that I [King Solomon] have built. (Sefer Divrei Hayamim 2:6:18)

So says the L-rd, “The heavens are My throne, and the earth is My footstool; which is the house that you will build for Me, and which is the place of My rest?” (Sefer Yeshayahu 66:1)

In contradistinction to these and many other verses in the Tanach (Jewish Canon of Scripture), we know that Hashem, in His divine wisdom, did miraculously manifest His Schechinah in the Mishkan (Portable Desert Sanctuary) and in the two Batei Mikdash (Holy Temples) in Jerusalem. By way of illustration, the Mishnah in Pirkei Avot 5:5 lists 10 explicit miracles that were part of the very fabric of the First Temple:

Ten miracles were performed for our forefathers in the Holy Temple: No woman ever miscarried because of the smell of the holy meat. The holy meat never spoiled. Never was a fly seen in the slaughterhouse. Never did the High Priest have an accidental seminal discharge on Yom Kippur. The rains did not extinguish the wood-fire burning upon the altar. The wind did not prevail over the column of smoke [rising from the altar]. No disqualifying problem was ever discovered in the Omer offering, the Two Loaves or the Showbread. They stood crowded but had ample space in which to prostrate themselves. Never did a snake or scorpion cause injury in Jerusalem. And no man ever said to his fellow “My lodging in Jerusalem is too cramped for me.”
(Translation, http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/682520/jewish/English-Text.htm)

Why, however, did Hashem choose the path stated in our parasha and our initial verse, “… and I [Hashem] will dwell in their midst?” Stated somewhat differently, “Why did infinite G-d make His presence manifest to finite man?” We, of course, can never know the answer with certainty, since Hashem’s ways are ultimately inscrutable to man. Nonetheless, it appears to me that G-d did this as an act of total chesed (kindness), similar in kind to His actions in the following famous Talmudic passage:


Just as Hashem clothed the naked [in the case of Adam and Chava]… so, too, should you clothe the naked. Just as Hashem visited the sick [in the case of Avraham after his brit milah]…so, too, should you visit the sick. Just as the Holy One Blessed be He comforted the mourners [in the case of Yitzhak after Avraham’s passing]…so, too, should you comfort the mourners. Just as the Holy One Blessed be He buried the dead [in the case of Moshe Rabbeinu]…so, too, should you bury the dead. (Talmud Bavli, Sotah 14a)

Therefore, out of pure chesed, the singular attribute illustrated in our Talmudic passage, Hashem caused Himself to dwell in our midst. Moreover, although we can never comprehend His true greatness, although we can never behold His countenance, although we can never understand His essence, He nonetheless wanted us to feel the presence of His Schechinah in both the Mishkan and the two Batei Mikdash. May the time come soon and in our days when we will experience this once again, in Hashem’s rebuilt Beit Hamikdash. V’chane yihi ratzon.

Shabbat Shalom

Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org

The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email [email protected].

*** My audio shiurim for Women on “Tefilah: Haskafah and Analysis,” may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd

*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. They are available here: http://tinyurl.com/82pgvfn.

**Follow new postings on my Twitter accounts: @theRavZatzal and @Torahtech613.

*** Interested in 21st Century Jewish Education? See my blog: http://21stcenturyjewisheducation.org

                                     Parashat Mishpatim, 5773, 2013:

                  “I am Hashem Your G-d Who Heals You”

                                           Rabbi David Etengoff

Dedicated to the sacred memories of my mother, Miriam Tovah bat Aharon Hakohen, father-in-law, Levi ben Yitzhak, sister-in-law, Ruchama Rivka Sondra, sister, Shulamit bat Menachem, Shifra bat Chaim Alter, and Yehonatan Binyamin ben Mordechai Meir Halevi, and the refuah shlaimah of Yosef Shmuel ben Miriam and Moshe Reuven ben Chaya.

And He said, If you hearken to the voice of the L-rd, your G-d, 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 L-rd, heal you. (Sefer Shemot 15:26, this and all Tanach and Rashi translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach)

The above verse appears in Parashat Beshalach, immediately after the Shira (Song at the Sea of Reeds). It teaches us in no uncertain terms that it is Hashem, and no other, who heals us. Rashi (1040-1105) underscores this idea with his comments on the phrase, “I will not visit upon you”:

I will not visit upon you: And if I do bring [sickness upon you], it is as if it has not been brought, “for I, the L-rd, heal you.” This is its midrashic interpretation (see Sanh. 101a, Mechilta). According to its simple meaning, [we explain:] “for I, the L-rd, am your Physician” and [I] teach you the Torah and the mitzvoth in order that you be saved from them [illnesses], like this physician who says to a person, “Do not eat things that will cause you to relapse into the grip of illness.” This [warning] refers to listening closely to the commandments … — [from Mechilta]

Our parasha, in Sefer Shemot 21:19, also contains a reference to healing that is widely viewed by our Sages as the proof and permission-granting text for a physician to practice his or her arts: “If he gets up and walks about outside on his support, the assailant shall be cleared; he shall give only [payment] for his [enforced] idleness, and he shall provide for his cure (v'rapo yirapeh).” Rashi, cites Onkelos (Second Century Palestine) regarding the legitimacy of the physician's role: “and he shall provide for his cure: As the Targum [Onkelos] renders: and he shall pay the physician’s fee.” When our two verses are taken in tandem, it becomes clear that it is the doctor’s role to act as G-d's messenger in all acts of healing. Therefore, it is ultimately Hashem who is our rofeh ne'eman (true physician). This is reminiscent of a sign I once saw in a religious physician’s office: “G-d heals, I take the fee.”

How should we conceptualize Hashem's role as our physician? We are fortunate, indeed, that our Sages provided us with a roadmap for answering precisely this question, namely, the eighth bracha (blessing) of the Shemoneh Esrai:

Heal us, O L-rd, and we will be healed;

Help us and we will be saved;

For You are our praise.

Grant complete cure and healing to all our wounds;

For You, Almighty King, are a faithful and merciful healer.

Blessed are You L-rd, who heals the sick of His people Israel.

(http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/867674/jewish/Translation.htm, formatting and underlining my own)


A careful analysis of the literary structure of our bracha reveals the following:

1. There are three specific requests that we ask of G-d in reference to our health: “Heal us and we will be healed,” “help us and we will be saved,” and “grant complete cure and healing to all our wounds.”
   
   
2. There are two statements of praise (shevach) within the bracha, “for You are our praise” and “for You, Almighty King, are a faithful and merciful healer.”
   
   
3. The bracha concludes with the recognition of Hashem as our healer: “Blessed are You L-rd, who heals the sick of His people Israel.”
   
   

 Let us now examine the constitutive elements of our bracha. The first two requests, and the first statement of shevach, are based upon a pasuk (verse) that appears in Sefer Yirmiyahu 17:14: “Heal me, O L-rd, then shall I be healed; help me, then I shall be helped, for You are my praise!” As a result, our blessing states: “Heal us and we will be healed, help us and we will be saved,” and “for You are our praise.” It must be noted that the salvation requested in our bracha is not a general one such as found in Sefer Tehillim 20:10: “O L-rd, save [us]; may the King answer us on the day we call.” Instead, we are asking Hashem to specifically alleviate any and all ailments and illnesses that we may have.

The second request regarding our well-being, “Grant complete cure and healing to all our wounds,” differs from the first in that it is not directly based upon any pasuk found in Tanach (the Jewish Canon of Scripture). Moreover, it highlights the ideas of a “complete cure and healing” (“refuah shlaimah”) and specifies “our wounds.” Even with these additions, it would seem that this request simply restates the earlier entreaty of “Heal us and we will be healed,” since there, too, we surely are hoping for the complete restoration of our health. This problem was creatively analyzed by the Eitz Yosef (Rabbi Hanoch Zundel ben Rav Yosef, died, 1867) in the classic work, Otsar Hatefillot:

“Heal us and we will be healed,” means that at the beginning, our healing will come from You Hashem, and afterwards, we will complete the process and see it through to its final conclusion. This refers to spiritual/psychological healing (refuat hanefesh). In regards to the restoration of our physical health (refuat haguf), however, that is solely in the “hands” of [the Holy One may] He be blessed, it states: “Grant complete cure and healing to all our wounds” – from the onset to the conclusion. This is the case since, in reality, we are helpless regarding physical matters to effectuate a [positive change] without Your assistance. (Underlining and brackets my own)

To summarize: “Heal us and we will be healed,” means that we are partners with Hashem in securing our own spiritual and psychological health. The Holy One blessed be He begins the curative process and it is up to us to ensure its effective completion. In contrast, “Grant complete cure and healing to all our wounds,” refers to physical health – something that is the sole province of the Master of the universe. Thus, these two phrases are not redundant since each refers to a different aspect of the human condition.

I believe that the two expressions of shevach, “For You are our praise,” and “For You, Almighty King, are a faithful and merciful healer,” were included by Chazal (our Sages of blessed memory) to underscore the singular role that our Creator plays in our spiritual and physical health. In short, we must ever be conscious that “… I shall raise my eyes to the mountains, from where will my help come? My help is from the L-rd, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Sefer Tehillim 121:1-2) Then, too, it is very possible that our Sages included these phrases to teach us the fundamental lesson that no matter how difficult a health crisis we may face, Hashem, our G-d, is the Almighty King and “a faithful and merciful healer.” These are comforting words that provide us with hope, solace, and a powerful sense that the future will be better.

Our bracha concludes: “Blessed are You L-rd, who heals the sick of His people Israel.” May we be zocheh (merit) to always have refuah shlaimah, so that we may lead healthy and robust lives dedicated to the service of Hashem. V’chane yihi ratzon.

Shabbat Shalom

Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org

The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email [email protected].

*** My audio shiurim for Women on “Tefilah: Haskafah and Analysis,” may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd

*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. They are available here: http://tinyurl.com/82pgvfn.

**Follow new postings on my Twitter accounts: @theRavZatzal and @Torahtech613.

*** Interested in 21st Century Jewish Education? See my blog: http://21stcenturyjewisheducation.org