EXOD568 One of the 613 Torah commandments incumbent upon every Jew is to be healthy and protect oneself from harm. That Torah tells us to guard ourselves from sickness and anything that may bring harm to the body, and the Talmud equates sustaining even a single human life with the infinite value of an entire world. Deuteronomy 4:15, Sanhedrin 27a Therefore, every Jew has a special obligation to do whatever it takes to remain healthy. This appears to include taking any medications that would bring someone back to health as well as protect the body from becoming ill in the first place. The Talmud understands this principle to be the logical way to live one's life and even asks why a verse is necessary. Bava Kama 46b. When a person is sick, he or she should call a doctor, says the Talmud. The Torah specifically tells us that a sick person should be healed by a doctor (this verse). Maimonides seems to indicate that just as a doctor has an obligation to heal a patient, so too, a patient has an obligation to try to protect his or her health and prevent sickness. Maimonides commentary on Mishna Nedarim 4:4. In a different context, Maimonides emphasizes a Jew's obligation you strive to be healthy, explaining that someone who is not healthy cannot fulfill his mission on earth to serve God properly. Maimonides, Hilchot De'ot 3:3, 4:23. Furthermore, in building a Jewish community, there are certain rudimentary elements that must be present, even in the case of the smallest Jewish population living together. In addition to a synagogue and a teacher, every Jewish community must have at least one doctor.