{"id":12667,"date":"2025-06-20T16:34:35","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T16:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/?p=12667"},"modified":"2025-07-17T15:51:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T15:51:48","slug":"bikur-cholim-part-3-in-jewish-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-3-in-jewish-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"Bikur Cholim Part 3: In Jewish Tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Q. Where is the first source for the mitzvah of Bikur Cholim?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">God Visits Avraham<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The first encounter with Bikur Cholim in Jewish tradition is actually with God Himself! The Torah relates (Bereishit\/Genesis <a href=\"https:\/\/library.alhatorah.org\/?r1=Bereshit_18:1&amp;s1=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">18:1<\/a>) how God appeared to Avraham Avinu (our father Abraham) after his Brit Milah (circumcision). The Talmud (<a href=\"https:\/\/library.alhatorah.org\/?r1=Bavli_Sotah_14a&amp;s1=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sotah 14a<\/a>) explains that the purpose of this revelation was that God was (so-to-speak) visiting Avraham, who was recovering from his circumcision procedure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Divine Presence Rests on the Sick<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The Talmud (<a href=\"https:\/\/library.alhatorah.org\/?r1=Bavli_Nedarim_40a&amp;s1=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nedarim 40a<\/a>) tells us that it was not just Avraham, rather every sick patient merits having the Shechinah (Divine Presence) of God dwelling over them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Emulating God Through Kindness<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When visiting the sick, one is emulating the ways of God. Kindness and compassion are the premise for His Divine conduct. (God created the universe in order that He may benefit its inhabitants by bestowing on them eternal goodness after their adherence to His <em>mitzvot<\/em>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bikur Cholim in Jewish tradition is an expression of Divine characteristics. &#8220;Pachad Yitzchak&#8221; (Igrot U\u2019ketavim&nbsp;31) explains that the Hebrew term &#8220;Bikur Cholim<em>,&#8221;<\/em> in its literal sense, means,  &#8220;paying attention to the (needs of) the sick.&#8221; It is not only about the physical visit, but also about truly caring for the person in pain. Leaving our own self to focus on someone else personifies a Godly personality!&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The following story will further demonstrate this point: <\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Rabbi Chai Yitzchak Twersky (1931-2023) was the Rebbe (Chasidic Master) of Rachmastrivka. His brilliance and piety inspired the masses who would enter his home seeking his guidance and blessings. A man recalled, &#8220;I once entered the room of the Rachmastrivka Rebbe and requested a blessing on behalf of an acquaintance who was diagnosed with a severe illness. When the <em>rebbe <\/em>heard my request, he burst into tears. He exclaimed &#8216;Oy! Does he have a family? Does he have children?&#8217; He really cared\u2026&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><a id=\"_msocom_1\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a 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\/\">&lt; Bikur Cholim Part 2: Can I Fulfill the Mitzvah by Phone? (And How Not to Do Bikur Cholim)<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/bikur-cholim-part-4-jewish-prayers-for-the-sick\/\">Bikur Cholim Part 4: Jewish Prayers for the Sick ><\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Q. Where is the first source for the mitzvah of Bikur Cholim? God Visits Avraham The first encounter with Bikur Cholim in Jewish tradition is actually with God Himself! The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12677,"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":[598,27,35,8,701,551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ask-the-rabbi","category-bereishis","category-guides","category-judaism-101","category-mitzvot","category-prayers"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bikur Cholim Part 3: In Jewish Tradition - Jewish Resources<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bikur cholim in Jewish tradition begins with God visiting Avraham\u2014showing that true care for the sick reflects Divine compassion.\" \/>\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-3-in-jewish-tradition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bikur Cholim Part 3: In Jewish Tradition - 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