GEN882 See [[GEN1406]] Genesis 33:11 blessing SACKS 37-9

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GEN883 The Torah is ... concerned that our relationship with God be an honorable one, in which we show gratitude for what God has done for us. It focuses on our character as a people. We should be sensitive enough to recognize God’s acts of caring for us and to respond appropriately – namely, by living our lives in the ways God has taught us.  In the rabbinic mind, the mutual relationship between God and Israel means that God also owes us for what we do for God. Here is one example of that: “It was taught: Abraham said before the Holy Blessed One: ‘It is revealed and known to you that at the time You told me to offer him [Isaac] as a burnt offering, I had grounds to object. Yesterday You said to me that your posterity will be through Isaac [this verse], and now You tell me to offer him as a burnt offering? I, however, overcame my inclination [to disobey] (other version: I overcame my compassion for my son) to do Your will. So too, may it be Your will that when Isaac’s children have troubles and there is no one to defend them You should be their defense attorney. (Other version: When Isaac’s children sin and do evil, this binding should be remembered on their behalf, and You should be filled with mercy for them).   J. Ta’anit 2:4; Genesis Rabbah 56:10 DORFFLGP 154

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GEN884 Some cite this verse to support the interpretation of Genesis 18:3 that Abraham spoke to God, praying Him to wait until he had attended to his guests.   DERECH 546

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GEN890 Whenever the prophets described Hashem’s “character traits,” such as slow to anger, abundant in kindness, righteous, truthful, straightforward, strong, etc., their intention was to teach us the qualities we should embody in our conduct in order to emulate Hashem, to the extent that our limited abilities allow.   Rambam, Hilchot Dei’os 1:6 … If a person visits or heals a sick person, he should think, “I am emulating Hashem Who heals the sick and visits them” (cf. this verse]. EHRMAN 13

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GEN891 Whenever the prophets described Hashem’s “character traits,” such as slow to anger, abundant in kindness, righteous, truthful, straightforward, strong, etc., their intention was to teach us the qualities we should embody in our conduct in order to emulate Hashem, to the extent that our limited abilities allow. Ramban, Hilchos Dei’os 1:6, Chofetz Chaim, Introduction, Positive Commandment 6.  … If a person visits or heals a sick person, he should think, “I am emulating Hashem Who heals the sick and visits them.” [cf. this verse]   Sarah Genesis 18:1-14 and the Shunamis II Kings 4:8-17, both childless, were rewarded with children because of this mitzvah. Tanchuma, Parshas Ki Seitzei. JOURNEY 13

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GEN885 For Jewish people, bikkur cholim (Hebrew for “visiting the sick”) is one important way of serving one’s fellow human being. Visiting the sick is much more than simply a social act that is to be commended.   In Judaism, it has the status of a mitzvah, a religious duty, and is counted in the Talmud among the mitzvoth to which no limit has been prescribed….a person is rewarded both in this world and in the world to come. Shabbat 127a.   … Ben Sira (7:35) counsels: Do not hesitate to visit a person who is sick.” … Jewish tradition also teaches that it is important to allow others to help us when we are sick. Nedarim 39b-40a.  One should know when to give and when and how to receive, and that in receiving, one is also giving. ISAACS 42-3

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GEN887 In Judaism, God is regarded as transcendental: “The heavens belong to God: it is the earth that He has given to the children of men.” Psalm 115:16 He is, however, also immanent in that He has prescribed guidance on every aspect of life, intimate and public, holy and secular.   All those qualities that should be most pronounced in human conduct are made to appear conspicuously in our description of the heavenly attributes.  Here is a typical presentation of ethical Judaism in the Talmud. Sotah 14a. “Rabbi Hama, son of Rabbi Hanina, said “What means the text ‘Ye shall walk after the Lord your God’? Deuteronomy 13:5. Is it, then, possible for a human being to walk after the Shechinah?  Has it not been said: ‘For the Lord thy God is a devouring fire’? Deuteronomy 4:24. But (the meaning is) to walk after the attributes of the holy One, blessed be He.” …  God visited the sick, for it is written: And the Lord appeared unto him by the oaks of Mamre,” so do thou also visit the sick.   Since the preceding verses deal with Abraham’s circumcision, it is deduced that the occasion was when he was recovering.   LEHRMAN 6

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GEN889 We are obligated to visit the sick. … At times, visiting the sick may be a matter of life and death.  By visiting a person who is ill, you might be able to advise him about a doctor he should consult, or obtain medication for him.   Failure to visit someone may result in the failure to save his life which is tantamount to murder.  Ahavas Chesed, part 3, ch. 3.  PLYN 52

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GEN888 The talmudic rabbis understood [the] biblical verse, “You shall follow after the Lord your God” Deuteronomy 13:5 [See also, Deuteronomy 28:9 – “walk in His ways” – AJL], as mandating that, to the extent possible, we emulate God’s actions and attributes Sotah 14a.  The example offered in relation to visiting the sick is God’s appearance to Abraham shortly after he was circumcised Genesis 17:23-18:5.   Jewish sources cite this as the first example of bikur cholim (visiting the sick), and those who fulfill this commandment are regarded as engaging in an act of imitatio dei (imitating God).   Although the Torah doesn’t specify when God appeared to Abraham, the Talmud teaches that this visit occurred on the third day after the circumcision Baba Metzia 86b.  The rabbinic belief is that this is when the patient suffers the most.   This is probably based on Genesis 34:25, which describes Jacob’s sons, Shimon and Levi, as attacking the men of Shechem “on the third day [after their circumcision] when they were in pain.”   TELVOL 2:62-63   [See source 62-91 for extended discussion of topic]

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GEN886 From here we derive that it is among the attributes of the Holy One Blessed be He to visit the sick. [Abraham was recovering from his circumcision]   Sotah 14a TEMIMAH-GEN 79

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