LEV649 (Continued from [[LEV1119]] Leviticus 26:16 wreak OXFORD 313-4). Rabbi Moses ben Nahman ("Nahmanides," 13th century) understands the obligation to care for others through medicine as one of many applications of the Torah's principle, "And you shall love your neighbor as yourself" [this verse] [B. Bava Kamma 85a, 81b; B. Sanhedrin 73a, 84b (with Rashi's commentary there. Lengthy further footnote omitted)]. God is still our ultimate Healer, and hence Jewish liturgy has Jews pray to God for healing of body and soul three times each day; but the physician, in Jewish theology, is God's agent in establishing that task, and so use of the medical arts is not only permissible, but required. Jews, in fact, may not live in a city lacking a physician (B. Sanhedrin 17b with regard to "students of the Sages"; J. Kiddushin 66d, with regard to all Jews), for that would mean that people could not take reasonable care of their bodies, which belong to God. This appreciation of medicine has led to a virtual love affair between Jews and medicine for the last 2,000 years, and it means that Jews trust medicine--and use it extensively--when they encounter medical problems, including those involving sex or procreation. (By Elliot N. Dorff)