EXOD297 High on the list of Social Ethics is the care of the sick. God Himself is described as visiting those who are infirm and racked by illness. [See Midrash Rabba to Gen. xviii]. When Rabbi Joseph once preached on [this verse], he explains the latter half of the verse to mean that they must be taught the importance of kindly deeds (hadderech) and the urgency of visiting the sick (yeluchu bah). The story is told of Rabbi Akiba who, visiting a disciple when he was gravely ill, personally attended to his wants. On his recovery, he came to the Rabbi, transfigured by gratitude, assuring him that his visit it was that put new life and hope into him. Where upon Rabbi Akiba taught that "he who does not visit the sick is guilty of shedding blood; the reward of such a visit is that one is saved from Gehinnom, from the Evil Inclination and from all kinds of suffering" [Cf. Ned. 40a]. Great, especially, must be the respect to be shown to the dead. Even a High Priest who is a Nazirite may attend to the burial of one who has no immediate relatives or friends to do so [Such a corpse is called 'met mitzvah.'] The study of the Torah may be interrupted if thereby a person to be brought with greater respect to his final resting-place. [Meg. 3b]. Such consideration for the living and the dead reflects the ideal human relationship advocated in the Torah.