{"id":12413,"date":"2025-06-04T18:06:17","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T18:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/?p=12413"},"modified":"2025-06-20T16:36:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T16:36:03","slug":"bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\/","title":{"rendered":"Bikur Cholim Part 2: Can I Fulfill the Mitzvah by Phone? (and How Not to Do Bikur Cholim)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Q. I cannot seem to find the time to visit the sick. Can I just call him on the phone?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"_ftnref1\">As we have previously mentioned, there are several components to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-1-mitzvah-of-visiting-the-sick\/\">mitzvah (Torah commandment) of Bikur Cholim<\/a><sup><a href=\"#_ftn1\">1<\/a><\/sup>. Although a phone call may partially accomplish some of them, it will not accomplish everything. The best technology cannot replace a visit in person! Additionally, praying at the patient\u2019s bedside is preferable as the Shechinah (Divine presence of God) is present there (See <a href=\"https:\/\/library.alhatorah.org\/?r1=Bavli_Nedarim_40a&amp;s1=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nedarim 40a<\/a>). Therefore, one should definitely visit in person; however, when the alternative is no visit at all, one should make a phone call to the sick. (See Igrot Moshe, Yoreh De\u2019ah 1:223)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Shulchan Aruch (<a href=\"https:\/\/library.alhatorah.org\/?r1=Shulchan_Arukh_Yoreh_Deah_335\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Yoreh De\u2019ah 335<\/a>) rules that one should not personally visit a patient who is suffering from stomach illness. An in-person visit may cause discomfort to such a patient. In such a case, the visitor should remain outside the patient\u2019s room while inquiring about their welfare and recite a prayer on their behalf. The Shulchan Aruch states that this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/category\/judaism-101\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>halachah <\/em>(Torah law)<\/a> would also apply to any sickness that causes the patient difficulty speaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From here, we can learn the halachic status of a phone call with regard to Bikur Cholim. Although one should visit in person, when this is not possible, any form of communication is also considered a performance of Bikur Cholim.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Minchat Yitzchak (2:84) suggests visiting the patient initially in person (and occasionally thereafter), then keeping up with them via phone to inquire about their needs and offer kind words. We should conclude, as we have mentioned from the Shulchan Aruch, there are times when a visit can be bothersome for a patient. In such a case, a phone call would be preferable. Although Bikur Cholim is a great mitzvah, we must also be sensitive about <em>how not to do to Bikur Cholim!<\/em> A well-meaning visit done insensitively can cause more harm than good. We must be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/parshas-shemos-remember-your-challenges\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sensitive not to cause any stress, discomfort, or humiliation<\/a> to those whom we are attempting to help!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-1-mitzvah-of-visiting-the-sick\/\">&lt; Bikur Cholim Part 1: Mitzvah of Visiting the Sick<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-3-in-jewish-tradition\/\">Bikur Cholim Part 3: In Jewish Tradition ><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button tm-cta\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/sign-up.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">To learn more about the mitzvah of Bikur Cholim with a weekly study partner, join TorahMates.<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>By Rabbi Mayer Smith<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\" id=\"_ftn1\"><a href=\"#_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> Sometimes spelled &#8220;Bikkur Cholim&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Q. I cannot seem to find the time to visit the sick. Can I just call him on the phone? As we have previously mentioned, there are several components to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[598,35,8,701,551,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ask-the-rabbi","category-guides","category-judaism-101","category-mitzvot","category-prayers","category-vayikra"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bikur Cholim Part 2: Can I Fulfill the Mitzvah by Phone? (and How Not to Do Bikur Cholim) - Jewish Resources<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Can a phone call fulfill Bikur Cholim? Learn when it&#039;s appropriate, and how not to do Bikur Cholim in ways that may harm rather than help.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bikur Cholim Part 2: Can I Fulfill the Mitzvah by Phone? (and How Not to Do Bikur Cholim) - Jewish Resources\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Can a phone call fulfill Bikur Cholim? Learn when it&#039;s appropriate, and how not to do Bikur Cholim in ways that may harm rather than help.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jewish Resources\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/torahmates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-04T18:06:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-20T16:36:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/shutterstock_2266543075_edited.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"584\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"TorahMates\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@oorah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@oorah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"TorahMates\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"TorahMates\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/df1cd798c41777159e9fee85cb392ef9\"},\"headline\":\"Bikur Cholim Part 2: Can I Fulfill the Mitzvah by Phone? (and How Not to Do Bikur Cholim)\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-04T18:06:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-20T16:36:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":400,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/shutterstock_2266543075_edited.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Ask the Rabbi\",\"Guides\",\"Judaism 101\",\"Mitzvot\",\"Prayers\",\"Vayikra\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bikur Cholim Part 2: Can I Fulfill the Mitzvah by Phone? (and How Not to Do Bikur Cholim) - Jewish Resources\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/shutterstock_2266543075_edited.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-04T18:06:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-20T16:36:03+00:00\",\"description\":\"Can a phone call fulfill Bikur Cholim? Learn when it's appropriate, and how not to do Bikur Cholim in ways that may harm rather than help.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/shutterstock_2266543075_edited.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/shutterstock_2266543075_edited.jpeg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":584,\"caption\":\"woman holding stomach - how not to do Bikur Cholim\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bikur Cholim Part 2: Can I Fulfill the Mitzvah by Phone? (and How Not to Do Bikur Cholim)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/\",\"name\":\"JEWISH RESOURCES by Oorah's TorahMates\",\"description\":\"brought to you by Oorah&#039;s TorahMates\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"TorahMates\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/tm.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/tm.jpg\",\"width\":921,\"height\":824,\"caption\":\"TorahMates\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/torahmates\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/oorah\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/torahmates\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/oorah-inc?original_referer=https:\\\/\\\/www.oorah.org\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.com\\\/oorah\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/OorahKR\",\"https:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/Oorah_(organization)\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.torahmates.org\\\/jewish-resources\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/df1cd798c41777159e9fee85cb392ef9\",\"name\":\"TorahMates\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/26e85981eb7a7ffe0e513841f5d6b26a09f4f1ab01d3eff73b79b111f5b3a80c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/26e85981eb7a7ffe0e513841f5d6b26a09f4f1ab01d3eff73b79b111f5b3a80c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/26e85981eb7a7ffe0e513841f5d6b26a09f4f1ab01d3eff73b79b111f5b3a80c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"TorahMates\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bikur Cholim Part 2: Can I Fulfill the Mitzvah by Phone? (and How Not to Do Bikur Cholim) - Jewish Resources","description":"Can a phone call fulfill Bikur Cholim? Learn when it's appropriate, and how not to do Bikur Cholim in ways that may harm rather than help.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bikur Cholim Part 2: Can I Fulfill the Mitzvah by Phone? (and How Not to Do Bikur Cholim) - Jewish Resources","og_description":"Can a phone call fulfill Bikur Cholim? Learn when it's appropriate, and how not to do Bikur Cholim in ways that may harm rather than help.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\/","og_site_name":"Jewish Resources","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/torahmates","article_published_time":"2025-06-04T18:06:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-20T16:36:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":584,"url":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/shutterstock_2266543075_edited.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"TorahMates","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@oorah","twitter_site":"@oorah","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"TorahMates","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\/"},"author":{"name":"TorahMates","@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#\/schema\/person\/df1cd798c41777159e9fee85cb392ef9"},"headline":"Bikur Cholim Part 2: Can I Fulfill the Mitzvah by Phone? (and How Not to Do Bikur Cholim)","datePublished":"2025-06-04T18:06:17+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-20T16:36:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\/"},"wordCount":400,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/shutterstock_2266543075_edited.jpeg","articleSection":["Ask the Rabbi","Guides","Judaism 101","Mitzvot","Prayers","Vayikra"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\/","url":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\/","name":"Bikur Cholim Part 2: Can I Fulfill the Mitzvah by Phone? (and How Not to Do Bikur Cholim) - Jewish Resources","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/shutterstock_2266543075_edited.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-06-04T18:06:17+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-20T16:36:03+00:00","description":"Can a phone call fulfill Bikur Cholim? Learn when it's appropriate, and how not to do Bikur Cholim in ways that may harm rather than help.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/shutterstock_2266543075_edited.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/shutterstock_2266543075_edited.jpeg","width":1000,"height":584,"caption":"woman holding stomach - how not to do Bikur Cholim"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-2-can-i-fulfill-the-mitzvah-by-phone-and-how-not-to-do-bikur-cholim\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bikur Cholim Part 2: Can I Fulfill the Mitzvah by Phone? (and How Not to Do Bikur Cholim)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/","name":"JEWISH RESOURCES by Oorah's TorahMates","description":"brought to you by Oorah&#039;s TorahMates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#organization","name":"TorahMates","url":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/tm.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/tm.jpg","width":921,"height":824,"caption":"TorahMates"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/torahmates","https:\/\/x.com\/oorah","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/torahmates\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/oorah-inc?original_referer=https:\/\/www.oorah.org\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/oorah\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/OorahKR","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Oorah_(organization)"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#\/schema\/person\/df1cd798c41777159e9fee85cb392ef9","name":"TorahMates","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/26e85981eb7a7ffe0e513841f5d6b26a09f4f1ab01d3eff73b79b111f5b3a80c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/26e85981eb7a7ffe0e513841f5d6b26a09f4f1ab01d3eff73b79b111f5b3a80c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/26e85981eb7a7ffe0e513841f5d6b26a09f4f1ab01d3eff73b79b111f5b3a80c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"TorahMates"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12413"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12678,"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12413\/revisions\/12678"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}