Nedarim 39: On Visiting the Ill

Healing: Some notes of Visiting

• Visiting the sick heals one's nefesh, the soul, not one's mamon, the financial well-being
• People are hired to sit with the sick
• Standing doesn't count when visiting - one must sit to score mitzvah points
• Visiting the sick always benefits both people - even by being under a roof, free from wind, rain and heat is a benefit
• Abaye reiterates the balanced benefit to both parties in visiting the ill
• Visiting the sick might include visiting his/her son - would that be breaking the vow not to benefit?
• Certainly the visitor can take no property of the ill person if there is a vow not to benefit

• Seven things created before the creation of the world:
• Torah: how the world is conducted
• Repentance: how we can rectify our sins
• Garden of Eden: the physical forms of reward
• Gehenna: the physical forms of punishment
• Throne of Glory: G-d's dominion over the world
• Temple: Focal point of life
• Name of the Moshiach: Symbol of the purpose/objective of the world
• Thus what is the meaning of life if we simply get ill and die?

• Avot 2:1 teaches: Be meticulous in observing both minor and major mitzvot, for you don't know the granting of its reward
• Rava teaches that it is fine to visit an ill friend over 100 times each day

• The rich might not visit the poor, for it is beneath their dignity - just as they do not necessarily return a lost item belonging to a poor person
• Thus it is a required mitzvah of all people regardless of social class
• Rav Acha bar Chanina teaches us that each visitor takes away 1/10th of the illness
• That 1/10th is divided like the inheritance of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi's daughters: the first takes 1/10th of the whole; the next takes 1/10th of the remainder, etc.  
• Thus an illness cannot be completely cured through visitation

• Surprisingly, some rabbis assert that the constellations will determine how much we can help each other through visiting
• Constellations are then defined metaphorically: a visitor should be the same age, or of the same generation, or a soul mate, or be beloved by the person who is sick

A quick thought- the seven things created before the creation of the world are fascinating.  Ultimately, the point of the world is to bring Moshiach.  Moshiach arrives through our observance.  Why would G-d create such a game?  Why not create people who easily observe, or better yet, just bring Moshiach?  Is suffering a divine game?  Are we meant to learn the hard way?