By David, bless God, my soul, and all that is within me His
Holy Name.
Bless God, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.
The forgiver of all your sins, the healer of all your illnesses (1-3).
The name Iyar is an acronym for the words: "I am God, Your
healer" (Exodus 15:26). Therefore this month is a time of healing - and
in particular inner healing.
Judaism tells us that when we are sick, we should make every
effort to find a good doctor or alternative healer. However as King David
reminds us, in our search to find a cure, we should never forget Who is really
the One Who heals us.
The following chassidic story gives us a similar message.
There was once a man who was desperately ill. He visited
dozens of doctors, but none of them could help him. Out of desperation, the
man went to visit the tzaddik Reb Mordechai of Neshchiz.
Reb Mordechai listened sympathetically to the sick man's tale,
and when the man finished speaking the rebbe wrote out his "prescription."
"Go to Hanipoli," Reb Mordechai advised, "and seek out the
professor of that town. He will cure you."
Traveling to Hanipoli in those days (and even today) was no
small matter. No trains went that deep into the Ukraine, and so the chassid
had to hire a wagon and driver. The wagon bumped and jiggled its way down the
long and dusty road, and the poor chassid was totally exhausted by the time he
arrived.
However, he was anxious to find this professor - in those days
a medical doctor was also called by this title - and so as soon as he found a
place to lodge he set out to find where the professor lived.
"What professor?" the innkeeper said in rely to the chassid's
question. "Hanipoli doesn’t have any professor."
"Perhaps you refer to him as a doctor," the chassid persisted.
"Where does the doctor of Hanipoli live?"
"We don't have any doctors, either," the innkeeper firmly
replied.
The chassid refused to be deterred. He asked storekeepers and
laborers and anyone he could find - but everyone gave him the same reply.
The chassid was totally confused and disappointed. How could
Reb Mordechai have sent him on such a wild goose chase? The sick man rented
another wagon and driver and set out on the long, arduous journey back home.
When he arrived in Neshchiz, the chassid went straight to the
rebbe and told him what had happened.
"There's no professor in Hanipoli?" Reb Mordechai asked in
apparent surprise. "Then tell me, what do the people there do if one of them,
God forbid, becomes ill?"
"Do? What can they do?" the chassid replied. "I suppose all
they can do is trust in God and ask Him to heal them."
"That's him!" Reb Mordechai exclaimed. "That's the professor
of Hanipoli that I was talking about! If He can heal the townspeople of
Hanipoli, then surely He can heal you, too."
When the chassid left the rebbe's room, he immediately began
to pour out his heart to God. As he prayed he could feel a little bit of his
health returning to him, and eventually he was completely cured.
Lest someone thinks he or she must be a "tzaddik" or at least
get a referral from a chassidic rebbe before he can be healed by the
"Professor of Hanipoli," King David reminds us that:
Merciful and compassionate is God, Slow to Anger and Full of
Kindness.
He will not quarrel for eternity, nor bear a grudge forever.
Not according to our sins has He treated us,
and not according to our inequities has he repaid us.
For as high as heaven is above earth,
has His kindness overwhelmed those who fear Him …
And the kindness of God is forever and ever upon those who fear him,
and His righteousness is upon children's children (8-11, 17).
