But even if you are exceptionally brave and independent, you should not be expected to face a life-altering illness alone. In addition to the psychological and spiritual resources in Jewish sources, the Jewish healing tradition emphasises the role that medicine plays in the healing process.

Take, for example, this clever parable on healing from the Talmud: Two esteemed scholars, Rabbi Ishmael and Rabbi Akiba, were once walking in Jerusalem. A sick person came to them and asked for a remedy. A man nearby, who overheard the conversation, challenged the Rabbis. “God has sent sickness, and yet you are teaching this man how to be cured! Are you not working against God’s will?”

The Rabbis answered his question with a question. “What kind of work do you do?” they asked. “I am a wine grower,” the man replied. “God created wild vines and you cut off the fruit?” the Rabbis asked him. “But that is the only way to produce more grapes!” the man answered back. “That is how it is with a sick person,” the Rabbi explained. “One must take care of the body to enjoy life. The drugs we recommend are like the fertiliser which you use to strengthen the soil if it becomes weak.”

In this story, drugs are not seen as against God’s will — in fact, taking the right drugs is exactly what the Creator intended. The early rabbis understood creation as somewhat incomplete, and they had a belief that nature requires human action to comp-lete it. — Beliefnet.com (Concluded)