Healing and the Mysterious Book of Healings

In today's "Random Torah" we take a look at a Mishnah in Masechet Pesachim. Here, the Mishnah tells us about some things that King Chizkiyahu did which the Sages approved of, and things he did they disapproved of. We take a look at one of the things the Sages approved on in a little more detail - following the Mishnah and find out the dangers of relying upon "man-made" medicine.

Healing

Mishnah Pesachim 4:9

שִׁשָּׁה דְבָרִים עָשָׂה חִזְקִיָּה הַמֶּלֶךְ, עַל שְׁלֹשָׁה הוֹדוּ לוֹ, וְעַל שְׁלֹשָׁה לֹא הוֹדוּ לוֹ. גֵּרַר עַצְמוֹת אָבִיו עַל מִטָּה שֶׁל חֲבָלִים, וְהוֹדוּ לוֹ. כִּתֵּת נְחַשׁ הַנְּחֹשֶׁת, וְהוֹדוּ לוֹ. גָּנַז סֵפֶר רְפוּאוֹת, וְהוֹדוּ לוֹ. עַל שְׁלֹשָׁה לֹא הוֹדוּ לוֹ, קִצֵּץ דְּלָתוֹת שֶׁל הֵיכָל וְשִׁגְּרָן לְמֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר, וְלֹא הוֹדוּ לוֹ. סָתַם מֵי גִיחוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן, וְלֹא הוֹדוּ לוֹ. עִבֵּר נִיסָן בְּנִיסָן, וְלֹא הוֹדוּ לוֹ

King Hezekiah did six things; about three of them [the Sages] conceded to him and about three they did not concede to him: He dragged the bones of his father on a bier of cords [or ropes], and they conceded to him; he crushed the brazen-serpent [to be broken to pieces], and they conceded to him; he hid the Book of Healings, and they conceded to him. About three they did not concede to him: He cut off [the gold from] the gates of the [Temple] sanctuary and sent [it] to the king of Assyria, and they did not concede to him; he stopped up the water-course of Gichon and they did not concede to him; and he made the month of Nissan intercalary during Nissan and they did not concede to him.

HEALING, FREE CHOICE AND NATURE

Sickness - it's not something any of us want or need in our lives. It consumes everything we have. It takes our money, it takes our time, it takes our energy! It's not desirable by any means. Doctors are sought after every day. It's a worthwhile profession if you have the intellect to absorb everything you need to learn and have the stamina to deal with the physicality of the body. Not everyone can!

The pharmaceutical business is blooming. It never ends. It's constantly in demand. New pills come out every single day to treat all sorts of ailments. Some pills are there just to make us feel better about ourselves without their being a direct physical threat to the body. In today's times, practically everyone is taking some type of pill just about every day! It's a generalisation of course, but it's not too far off from the truth. Practically everybody visits the pharmacy once a month to obtain their monthly dosages of medication to help them get through the month. And it's not cheap either! Yet people are prepared to pay.

Now, just imagine this: Imagine a book that took every single sickness into account with its relevant cure. You can just look up the cure for any ailment by simply flipping through its pages (or doing a Google Search in today's times!) It's for sale in one of the main bookstores - whether online or off. Everybody can buy it! Well - with that, suddenly there may be a far lesser need for doctors, pharmacists and of course the millions of pills available!

God created life and nature to include cures for everything. It's all there in front of us. So much so that there are certain things that can change us that we know about - which are not legal - which if they were legal could assist many in a natural manner. There is no need to talk about hard drugs which cause tremendous damage, but there are other lighter things that can assist were it not for the law taking away our free choice to use them.

In fact, the cures for every disease are included in nature. It's just that we don't know what they are! God wanted a world that would be able to take care of itself almost as if God were not there. People in pain would be able to simply find their cure readily available, use it, and be quite okay! 

King Chizkiyahu had this book. It was known as the Book of Healings. In it, one could find the cures for everything. But the Sages were not happy with it, and they were happy when the king hid it away. This is a great lesson for us.

If we would have the book, we would become even more connected to nature than ever. More disconnected from God. While science has been seen as the answer to life - instead of God - as it shows how nature works - without any intervention apparently, one could just imagine if cures were available for every disease. This would in and of itself take away possibly every single reason to believe in a God! People would never think to pray! They would think that literally everything that exists in life works solely by nature. If one would be sick, and a "religious fanatic" would tell one to pray to God for healing, they would surely answer that God is not needed. There is no God - they would say! All that we need is a book which contains the secrets to every cure for every disease. What reason could there be for an All-Powerful God when a book was so readily available!

Isn't this how we live our lives today? Scrounging about for every natural remedy, so that ultimately we can prove that there is no need for a God in our lives. Why pray to a God - when everything is readily scientifically available?!

The Sages smiled at King Chizkiyahu's behaviour. He hid a book which would ultimately have caused God to have been almost totally forgotten by Man.

Sickness is awful. We should merit to live in a world without sickness. But sickness tells us something. It humbles us and makes us aware that our bodies and our selves are not who we are. We are not masses of physical material that makes us live. We are souls in bodies. When the body is in trouble, it is better to pray to God for help than to consult a book and imagine we are in charge.

Fortunate are we that we have so much we can do "by ourselves" without the constant need to feel we must pray for everything. Yet, in that same way, we have lost so much! The snake is cursed to eat the dust all the days of its life. Dust is readily available. The snake has no need to turn to God for anything. It is cursed.

Our biggest blessing in life is to know that there is a God to turn to. We must turn to Him always. When we are sick, however, it is a time that sensitizes ourselves to realise just how much we need Him.