Parashat Ekev

A Gutten Erev Shabbos!

At the beginning of the parashah, the Torah says:

״וְהָיָה עֵקֶב תִּשְׁמְעוּן אֵת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים הָאֵלֶּה, וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם; וְשָׁמַר ה' אֱלֹקיךָ לְךָ אֶת הַבְּרִית וְאֶת הַחֶסֶד אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ. וַאֲהֵבְךָ וּבֵרַכְךָ וְהִרְבֶּךָ, וּבֵרַךְ פְּרִי בִטְנְךָ וּפְרִי אַדְמָתֶךָ, דְּגָנְךָ וְתִירֹשְׁךָ וְיִצְהָרֶךָ, שְׁגַר אֲלָפֶיךָ וְעַשְׁתְּרֹת צֹאנֶךָ, עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ לָתֶת לָךְ״.

“And it will be, because you listen to these laws, observe them, and perform them, Hashem your G-d will keep for you the covenant and the kindness that He swore to your forefathers. He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain, your wine, and your oil; the offspring of your cattle and the flocks of your sheep, upon the land that He swore to your forefathers to give you.”

Rashi explains the word “eikev”:
“If you listen even to the lighter mitzvos that a person tends to trample with his heels.”

This is like what Rabbeinu HaKadosh wrote in Pirkei Avos (2:1):

“Be as careful with a “light” mitzvah as with a serious one, for you do not know the reward given for mitzvos.”

Let us take a look at a mitzvah that may appear “light” in a person’s eyes and see the tremendous reward one receives for performing it.

The Question
Which mitzvah can a person perform to merit the following reward?
In the World to Come:
• To be saved from the judgment of Gehinnom. 
In this world:
• To be saved from the yetzer hara. 
• To be saved from suffering. 
• To be honored by everyone. 
• To be blessed with good and faithful friends upon whom he can rely, like the friends of Naaman, who helped cure him of his leprosy, and not like the friends of Rechavam, who caused his kingdom to be divided.

Bikur cholim - visiting the sick!
When a person visits someone who is ill, strengthens him, and speaks with him, he performs a very great mitzvah. The Gemara in Nedarim describes the tremendous reward for performing the mitzvah of bikur cholim.
Nowadays, people may think that since we have a healthcare system and various organisations that care for the sick, this mitzvah is no longer so relevant. However, when we learn the halachos of this mitzvah, we see just how important it is and what a tremendous act of chesed it is.
First, let’s see the source for the reward mentioned above.
Talmud Bavli, Nedarim 40a

Rav said: Anyone who visits a sick person is saved from the judgment of Gehinnom, as it says:
״אַשְׁרֵי מַשְׂכִּיל אֶל דָּל, בְּיוֹם רָעָה יְמַלְּטֵהוּ ה׳״.

The Gemara asks: If a person visits the sick, what is his reward?
But we have already said that his reward is that he will be saved from the judgment of Gehinnom! Rather, the question is: What is his reward in this world?

״ה׳ יִשְׁמְרֵהוּ וִיחַיֵּהוּ, וְאֻשַּׁר בָּאָרֶץ, וְאַל תִּתְּנֵהוּ בְּנֶפֶשׁ אֹיְבָיו״.
“Hashem will protect him and preserve his life; he will be fortunate in the land, and You will not deliver him into the hands of his enemies.”
• “Hashem will protect him” - from the yetzer hara. 
• “And preserve his life”- from suffering. 
• “He will be fortunate in the land”- everyone will honor him. 
• “And You will not deliver him into the hands of his enemies”- he will be blessed with good and faithful friends, like the friends of Naaman, who cured him of his leprosy, and not like the friends of Rechavam, who caused his kingdom to be divided. 

The Gemara (Ibid) relates a story about Rabbi Akiva and the mitzvah of bikur cholim:

One of Rabbi Akiva’s students became ill, and the Chachamim did not visit him. Rabbi Akiva went to visit him and cleaned and swept up all the mess himself. As a result, the student recovered.
The student said to him:
“Rebbe, you have restored me back to life!”
Rabbi Akiva then taught:
“Anyone who does not visit the sick is considered as though he has shed blood.”

So how do we fulfil the mitzvah of bikur cholim? Is it sufficient to just call, or does one have to visit personally?
Moreinu HaGaon Rav Amram Fried shlit”a writes in Azamerah Lishmecha (issue 266; see there) as follows:
Question:
Can one fulfil the mitzvah of bikur cholim by just calling the sick person?
Answer:
One does not fulfil the mitzvah of bikur cholim this way, but does fulfil the mitzvah of gemilus chasadim.
The Answer Explained:
The Gemara gives several reasons for the mitzvah of bikur cholim:
1. To daven for the sick person
The visit should inspire the visitor to ask Hashem to have mercy on the person who is not well. It is written in the Gemarah in tractate Nedarim (40a) brought in Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah 335), that if one did not daven for the sick person, he did not fulfil the mitzvah.
2. To care for the sick person’s needs
That by visiting the sick one can ensure that his needs are being taken care for. As we learned in tractate Nedarim, how Rabbi Akiva helped his student recover by seeing to his needs.
3. To lessen his illness or suffering
By visiting the sick person, the visitor (who is “ben gilo”, someone born under the same mazal) takes away one-sixtieth of his illness or suffering. This is brought in Nedarim (39b) and Bava Metzia (30b).
4. To give the sick person comfort
The visit brings the sick person comfort and peace of mind. This is explained by the Ramban in Toras HaAdam (Shaar HaMeichush, section 6), quoted by the Beis Yosef (Yoreh De’ah 335), this is besides the first two reasons mentioned above. This is also explained in the commentary of the Rosh on the Torah.
When one “visits” over the telephone, he cannot take away one-sixtieth of the sick person’s illness. It is also questionable whether calling instead of visiting will inspire him to daven for the sick person in the same way, since actually seeing the person’s condition may inspire him to daven with greater feeling and concentration.
With regard to caring for the sick person’s needs, we could debate whether this can only be done properly by visiting him and seeing for oneself what he needs, or whether it can also be done over the telephone, since one can find out what he needs and arrange at least some of those things for him. From the Language that the Tur (Yoreh De’ah 335) uses, it does seem that one has to visit personally in order to see the needs of the sick person as he writes:
“Because when he sees him, he is able to see if he needs anything,and also he can make sure that the person is in a clean and sanitary accommodation..” [However, this proof from the wording of the Tur may not be conclusive.]
Nevertheless, if  one is unable to visit the sick person personally, although he does not fulfil the mitzvah of bikur cholim by calling, he should still call him in order to fulfil at least the mitzvah of gemilus chasadim.

On behalf of the entire Sheilot website team, we wish you a Shabbos shulem u’mevorach.