Visiting the sick is one of the greatest commandments in the Torah. Rabbi Abba son of Rabbi Hanina said that “He who visits the sick takes away one sixtieth of his pain”.
I would like to share with you a real life miracle story. My aunt passed away at a young age of 54. She battled cancer and excruciating pain over the last 7 years. Things were at its worse 6 years ago, when she was put into an induced coma and all of her organs except for her heart and brain had failed. The doctors had told us that she had about a 0.5-1% chance of surviving. We all prayed and many people had visited her in ICU as she had laid there looking worse and worse. However, seconds turned to minutes, minutes turned to hours, hours turned to days and in one month she actually woke up from the coma and all of her organs had restarted! There was not one doctor in the hospital who could explain how she survived. Medics would come visit her and just stare at her chart, trying to scientifically explain her recovery, but could not. She was now breathing on her own. Interestingly, when she woke up, she immediately started singing songs in Yiddish. Due to the extreme pain in her legs, she could not walk. This is common after a month long coma. Doctors then came and said she would not be able to walk as the nerves in the bottom of her feet are dead and show no signal.
What do you think happened? Within half a year with no signal in the nerves under her feet, she was not just walking but driving herself to the supermarket. In June 2009, she celebrated her 50th birthday where she walked around the restaurant and took shots (she drank water) with all her friends and family and even did some dancing.
Regardless of her miraculous recovery, people continued to visit and support her every day throughout the next 6 years. Those visits is what gave her the strength to survive to her last day. I had the merit to dance her last dance with her 8 days before she passed. My grandmother had not left her sight from the first day of her hospitalization and was the key in keeping her alive all these years. What makes this story even more miraculous? A few weeks later after she recovered and left ICU, another woman was brought into her old room with the same exact condition and the same slim chance of recovery. She also had a mother that never left her sight and she also recovered!!!!! The doctors would call her Polina 2!
I would like to take this idea to the next level and ask how can we apply this in our lives. Many of our fellow friends and family members go through stress every day. We all know someone who is sick, out of work, have a broken heart, feel lonely, betrayed, lost money or just simply had a bad day. We all have the ability to help each other heal. Simply visiting or calling a friend or extending our friendship to a stranger can do tremendous things. Kindness is what life is all about. As Hillel said,“Love your fellow as yourself” and the rest are just commentaries.