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Bikur Cholim
Source Sheet by Guido Cohen
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sprinkle the ground before him 28 or anything similar to this, and hear his suffering
and and pray for him.
(9) One must visit the sick of the Gentiles in the interests of peace. 29
(10) [In the case of] those suffering with bowel diseases,—[the law is that] the man
must not attend upon the woman, but the woman may attend upon the man. 30 Gloss:
Some say that whosoever has a sick person in his home should go to the Sage of the
city in order that he pray for him; 31 and likewise is it the accepted practice to recite
blessings [on behalf of] sick persons, in the Synagogues, 32 [viz.,] to give them an
[additional] new name, for a change of name causes an evil decree passed upon man
to be cancelled. 33 [The precept of] comforting mourners takes precedence over
visiting the sick. 34
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(1) One who is sick and suffered a bereavement, must not be informed thereof lest his
mind become unclear; nor is his garment rent; nor is it permitted to cry or make
lamentation [for the dead] 1 in his presence, so that his heart be not broken; and they
silence the comforters in his presence. 2
(1) If one feels death approaching, he is instructed, 'Confess [your sins]!' 1 And they
say to him, 'Many confessed [their sins] and died not, and many who have not
confessed, died; and as a reward, should you confess, you will live; 2 and he who
confesses [his sins] has a portion in the world to come.' 3 And if he is unable to make
confession with his mouth, he should confess in his heart. 2 If he knows not what to
confess, they instruct him, say, 'My death should be an expiation for all my sins.' 4 All
these instructions are given to him, not in the presence of illiterate people, nor
women, nor minors, lest they cry and break his heart. 2
(2) The order of confession 5 for a dangerously ill person, is, 'I confess before Thee O
Lord, my God and the God of my fathers, that my healing and my death are in your
hand. May it be Thy will, to heal me completely, and if I die, my death should be an
expiation for all sins, wrongs and rebellious acts, 6 which I have committed sinfully,
wrongfully and rebelliously before Thee, and grant me a share in Paradise, and favour
me with the world to come which is stored away for the Righteous.' And if he desires
to prolong as in the confession for the Day of Atonement, 7 he has the right to do
so. 8
(1) One in a dying condition is considered a living being in all respects. 3 We may not
tie up his jaws, 4 nor may we annoint him with oil, nor wash him, 5 nor stop off his
organs of the extremities, 6 nor may we remove the pillow from under him, nor may
we place him on sand, clay-ground or earth, nor may we place on his stomach a dish,
a shovel, a flask of water or a globule of salt, 7 nor may we summon the towns on his
behalf, nor may we hire pipers and lamenting women, nor may we close his eyes 8
before his soul departs. 9 And whosoever closes [the dying person's] eyes before
death 10 is regarded as one who sheds blood. 11 One may not rend garments, nor bare
the shoulder in mourning, nor make a lamentation for him, nor bring a coffin into the
house in his presence before he dies, 12 nor may we begin the recital of Ẓidduk
Haddin 1 before his soul departs. 13 Gloss: Some say that we may not dig out a grave
for him. although it is not [done] in his presence, [i.e.,] in the house, — before he
dies. 14 It is [likewise] forbidden to dig out any grave to be [left] open until the next
day, in which the corpse will not be buried the same day, and there is danger in
this. 15 It is likewise forbidden to cause [aught] to hasten the death of one who is in a
dying condition, e.g., one who has been in a dying condition for a long time, and
could not depart, — [the law is that] we may not remove the pillow or the mattress
from under him [just] because some say that there are feathers from some fowl which
cause this [prolongation of death]. 16 He may likewise not be moved from his place. It
is also forbidden to place the Synagogue keys under his head in order that he may
depart. 17 However, if there is aught which causes a hindrance to the departure of the
soul, e.g., [if] near that house there is a knocking sound, viz., a wood-cutter, or there
is salt on his tongue, and these hinder the departure of the soul, it is permitted to
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remove it therefrom, for there is no [direct] act [involved] in this, since he merely
removes the hindrance. 18
(2) One who is informed, 'We saw your relative in a dying condition three days ago,'
is bound to mourn for him, 19 For it is certain that he has already died. 20
(3) Ẓidduk Haddin 1 is recited when the soul departs, 21 and when he reaches [the
words] 'Judge of Truth,' the mourner rends his garments.
(4) As soon as he feels death approaching, they should not separate themselves from
him, lest his soul depart whilst he is alone. 22 And it is a religious duty to stand near
the [dying] person during the departure of the soul, as it is written, 23 'That he should
still live alway; that he should not see the pit. For he seeth that wise men die, the fool
and the brutish together perish etc.' 24
(5) It is a custom to pour out all drawn water in the neighbourhood of the corpse. 25
4. Berakhot 5b
Once Rabbi Eleazar fell ill.
Rabbi Yochanan went to visit him. Rabbi Eleazar was poor and lay in a dark
room with no windows.
Rabbi Yochanan bared his arm and light radiated from him, filling the room with
light as he entered to be with Rabbi Eleazar. Thereupon he noticed that Rabbi
Eleazar was weeping.
He asked: “Why do you weep?” “Is it because you have not studied enough
Torah? Surely we have learned that the one who studies much and the one
who studies little have the same merit as long as their heart is directed towards
heaven. Is it because of your lack of sustenance? Not everybody has the
privilege to enjoy both learning and wealth. Is it because you lack children?”
Rabbi Eleazar replied, “I am weeping because of your beauty, which will one
day rot in the earth.” Rabbi Yochanan replied, “On that account you surely have
reason to weep.” And they both wept.
After a while Rabbi Yochanan asked Rabbi Eleazar, “Are your sufferings
welcome to you?” He replied, “Neither they nor their reward are welcome to
me.” Whereupon Rabbi Yochanan said, “Give me your hand.” Rabbi Eleazar
gave Rabbi Yochanan his hand and that is how he raised him.
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Raba said: [One must visit] even a hundred times a day. R. Abba son of R. Hanina
said: He who visits an invalid takes away a sixtieth of his pain. Said they to
him: If so, let sixty people visit him and restore him to health?
6. Nedarim 40A
R. Helbo is sick. But none visited him. He rebuked them [sc. the scholars], saying,
'Did it not once happen that one of R. Akiba's disciples fell sick, and the Sages did
not visit him?
So R. Akiba himself entered [his house] to visit him, and because they swept
and sprinkled the ground before him, he recovered. 'My master,' said he, 'you
have revived me!' [Straightway] R. Akiba went forth and lectured: He who does
not visit the sick is like a shedder of blood.
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(24) One should be trained not to be destructive, not to suffer a loss of garments by
casting them into a devastating [grave]. It is better to give them to the poor rather
than casting them to worms and moths. Anyone who throws many garments upon the
dead transgresses the prohibitive precept: "You shall not destroy" (Deuteronomy
20:19).
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