Health and Healing. Shevet MiYehuda on VaYishlach

“If you possess Da’at, than you lack nothing.” (Midrash Rabba, Vayikra)


What is the connection between Sabbath Observance, the Torah, and mental health? Below we will discover not just hints at health and healing in the Bible, but the health benefits hinted at in the practice and study of the Torah. The assumption is that there is a spiritual source to physical wellbeing. If you do not believe that health has anything to do with a man’s inner world or spirit, or that the teachings, even the very letters of the Torah are the root and source of the spiritual live of the Jews and many among the nations of the world, then there may be little point in continuing to read this blog. But first, some key background information.

In the second and third centuries of the Common Era the Rabbis of the Talmud in the Land of Israel and in Babylon would say “Shabbos keeps us from crying out in pain, and healing will soon come.” (Talmud, Shabbat, 12a) when visiting a sick person on Shabbos. Observant Jews through the ages have used these words when praying for a person to be healthy on Shabbos, and also in order to give a word of comfort and encouragement to a sick person on Shabbos. And we still say it today.

Another time honored mitzvah is the public reading of the Torah. The five books of Moses are divided into 53 sections, and one section, called the Parsha, is chanted in public in the Synagogue every Shabbos. (the beginning of every Parsha is also chanted publicly in the morning service every Monday and Thursday.) Dedicated Jews do not only hear the Torah being read in public, but they take care to fulfill the mitzvah of studying the parsha independent of the synagogue ritual. At the very least, they read it themselves.

Everything is included in the Parsha. That is to say, if you reflect upon your life while reading, or even better, studying the Parsha, then you will hear God speak to you. This does not mean that you will hear a supernatural voice, or a voice from heaven. If you do, I would seek counseling. But if you listen carefully, you will hear that little voice that everyone has which we vaguely call thoughts of personal reflection. Some might call it a conscience. (I once asked some Jewish children from a modern assimilated background if they believed in God, and they answered me, “we don’t believe in God. Our grandmother taught us to believe in the conscience.” To this I asked them, “In the beginning, did your conscience create the world?”) Torah belief teaches us that God looked into the Torah, and created the world. Therefore, everything that happened or will happen is rooted in the letters of the Torah, and if you listen and reflect, you can hear it. Whether you call it your conscience or the voice of God, there is a hint of everything you need to know in the words of the weekly Parsha.

Specifically, the Parsha contains hints about health and healing. Rabbi Avraham Eiger, may his memory be for a blessing, was a Torah scholar from Lublin, Poland in the beginning of the twentieth century. His great grandfather was Rabbi Akiva Eiger, Zts’l, one of the pre-eminent Talmudic scholars of all times. Rabbi Avraham knew a life of sickness and suffering. In the midst of physical hardship, he took refuge in the holy study of Torah so as to reveal the roots of healing so abundant, yet so hidden, in every passage of the Torah. His refuge was not only for his own selfish interests, but in writing and teaching, it was a selfless act of giving Torah to others. Because of his suffering, he was only able to complete his discourses on hints of healing in the Parsha’s of the book of Genesis and the book of Exodus. But what words, what revelations!

What follows is my translation of a passage in his book, the Shevet MiYehuda. I must add that in his great humility and out of respect and love for his father, the great Chassid and Scholar, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Eiger of Lublin, Zts”L, Rabbi Avraham’s name appears nowhere in his holy book. Shevet MiYehuda means, “Tribe of Yehuda,” and is titled in reference to his father, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Eiger, affectionately known among the Chassidim as “Reb Leible.”

Shevet MiYehuda.
Parshat VaYishlach
This discourse was delivered at the Second Meal of Shabbat, 5667 (A Saturday in November, 1907)


“Shabbos keeps us from crying out in pain, and healing will soon come!” (Talmud, Shabbat, 12a)

On this Shabbat, Parshat Vayishlach, healing will come quickly especially for those who need “shleimut hada’at,” healing and completeness of mind, completeness of consciousness. (In modern language, we might call this, “mental health.”) Completeness of mind is the very principle of the kedusha (sanctity) of Shabbos. True completeness of mind is when one possesses the consciousness that, “Ani Hashem Mekadishchem – I am God who sanctifies you.” (Exodus, 31:13) This consciousness is particularly strong in this weeks Parsha, Vayishlach, where Yaakov Avinu says (Genesis, 33:11), “for E-lohim has been gracious with me and I have all that I need.”

The statement, “chanani - has been gracious [kind] with me,” directly represents Yaakov Avinu’s completeness of mind. According to the Kabbalah, Yaakov Avinu represents consciousness [Da’at], as it is known that the three Patriarchs represent the three upper sefiros, or Godly luminations, of intellectual capabilities, Chochma [widsom], Bina [understanding], and Da’at [consciousness, or synthesis]. Yaakov’s statement, “chanani E-lohim, God has graciously bestowed upon me,” hints at the completeness of consciousness, for he has an absolute knowledge that from his own side he has no consciousness, no Da’at, rather all he possesses comes from the One who is, “chonen adam Da’at – graciously bestowing consciousness unto man.” (This is the fourth blessing we say in the Shmonei-Esrei – the Amida prayer, blessed is God who bestows [chonen] consciousness unto man.) Knowing and appreciating such a gracious gift from God is the consciousness of Shabbat, knowing, “I am God who sanctifies you.” This is why he followed this statement by saying, “and I have all that I need.” This is as our sages say (Midrash Rabba, Vayikra), “if you possess Da’at, than you lack nothing.” This is, “God has been gracious in giving to me,” for the One who graciously bestows consciousness unto man has given me the mind which knows that I lack nothing, “and I have all that I need.”

It was taught by my father, the holy Rav (Yehuda Leib Eiger), that any event possessing kedusha (sanctity) that happens on any day of the week has its source and root in the previous Shabbat. Shabbat is the source of all blessing, and all kedusha comes forth from it, in particular the kedusha of a soul of Israel who becomes a bar Mitzvah, at the age of thirteen when he takes upon the responsibility of Mitzvot. A bar Mitzvah goes out of his childhood and becomes an adult, which means he possesses Da’as, (consciousness, knowledge, or the power of reconciling contradictions.)

The root and source of the power of Da’as in the holy Shabbat, which itself represents and is considered as equal to the entire Torah. All of the 613 commandments are included in Shabbat. (This is evinced from the statement in the Talmud, “If you keep Shabbos according to the Law, it equivalent to keeping the entire Torah. Keeping Shabbos means not going to work, not driving, not cooking, and refraining from doing many other things in order to show proper respect for God. For more on Shabbos observance, see, Shemirath Shabbath: A Guide to the Practical Observance of Shabbath 3 Volume Set, by HaRav Yehoshua Y. Neuwirth. B.E.) In particular, this week’s Torah Portion, Parshas Vayishlach, clarifies the, “shelimut haDa’at,” the completeness of mind, according to our explanation of the verse, “E-lohim has graciously given to me.”

Furthermore, the first thing Yaakov Avinu had his messengers say to Eisav was, “eem Lavan garti – I have stayed with Lavan, (Yaakov’s father in law and uncle) and have delayed my return until now.” This statement also represents the entire Torah, as we know from Rashi, who comments that the word, “garti – have stayed,” is the same letters and the numerical equivalent of “613 - tar”iyag,” meaning the 613 commandments of the Torah. This is to say, even though I have been living with Lavan, which was a morally bereft environment, still I have kept the 613 commandments. Therefore, Eisav, do not think that you can rule over me since you are the first-born. The yetser hara (evil inclination) is also like the first-born, since it is born into all men immediately upon birth, but the yetser tov (inclination to morality and observence) “delays its return” and enters man at age thirteen. This is known from the holy Zohar.

The first struggle of the Tsaddik, the righteous man, is when he is beset upon by his own evil. He investigates it, and his yetser tov grows stronger within him. Then when the Tsaddik grows into adulthood, the power of his natural desire is clean from sin just as it was his youth when he did not even have the power of natural desire that overwhelms the adult. Before the age of thirteen, he is exempt from punishment, for he has not yet been commanded with active performance of mitzvot. This is why the blessed God first gives man the yetser hara in is youth, so then when he is an adult, and the power of desire comes to him from his yetser hara, he will then know that he can be on the level of his youth, when even thought he had a yetser hara, he was nonetheless free from all sin.

Yaakov Avinu was saying to Eisav, this was my whole occupation in the house of Lavan, “I stayed with Lavan,” like a man from his birth to age thirteen when he becomes a bar Mitzvah, where in this period he has no yetser tov to assist him with kedusha. He lived only with the yetser hara, and still, “I kept all of the 613 commandments,” with no hindrance from the yetser hara, represented by Lavan the Aramite, whose job is to cheat and tempt man, as is known from the holy Zohar. (Midrash haNe’elam, Parshat Vayeira, 111b) This is the reason why he said, “I have delayed my return until now.” He delayed so long in order that he could always be on the level of his youth as described above. This is why he said in his prayer (Genesis, 32:11), “I am not worthy of all the kindness You have shown me.” “I am not worthy,” is, “katonti,” “I am small,” like, “katnut,” or youth, meaning that I am on the level of youth when although I have a yetser hara, I kept the Torah by means of, “all the kindness You have shown me.” In this way even as an adult I can serve the blessed God with both my good and evil inclinations, which is the secret of what it says in the Shema’, to serve God with, “all your hearts (pl.),” with both the yetser tov and yetser hara. So may we all merit serving God with complete hearts. Amen.