DEUT597 Given the strong emphasis on the integration of body and soul, it is not surprising that in Jewish law the community's obligations to support healing include not only medical ministrations but psychological and social support as well. The major advances in contemporary medicine, and the American culture of seeking technological solutions for every problem, have accustomed us to focus exclusively on the physical aspects of healing. Long before medicine could do very much to conquer illness, though, the Rabbis realized that social support could make a big difference in the struggle to regain health. They thus decreed the obligation of visiting the sick (biqqur holim), claiming that in visiting the sick we imitate God: "Follow the Lord your God" (this verse). What does this mean? Is it possible for a mortal to follow God's Presence? The verse means to teach us that we should follow the attributes of the Holy One, praised be He. As He clothed the naked, for it is written "And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skin and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21), so you should clothe the naked. The Holy One, blessed be He, visited the sick, for it is written (after the description of Avraham's circumcision), "And the Lord appeared to him near the oaks of Mamre" (Genesis 18:1), so you should visit the sick. The Holy One, blessed be He, comforted those who mourned … and so should you comfort mourners. The Holy One, blessed be He, buried the dead ... and so should you bury the dead. (B. Sotah 14a.)