We need a miracle!
Did you get tested?
Were you COVID-19 Positive?
Do you have the anti-bodies?
Are you staying sane in the house?
Interestingly, this Shabbos begins a new Jewish month, the month of Iyar. The Hebrew letters that spell the month of Iyar are an acronym for the phrase “Ani Hashem Rofecha”—“I am G‑d, your healer” (Exodus 15:26).
The names of the Hebrew months are not from the bible. The Torah refers to the months as the first month, the second month, etc. However, the names they are known by today, were used privately and started to be in common usage between the first and second temples.
While we continue to stand strong through this pandemic, we need to pray that G-d assist the doctors in healing us. When we are left with side effects from an illness, this is not a complete healing from G-d. When G-d heals, it is as if the disease never came to the person. As the beginning of the verse in exodus states “If you hearken to the voice of the Lord, your God, and you do what is proper in His eyes…, all the sicknesses … I will not visit upon you.” Once you are healed it will be as if the sickness never came to you.
As we pray for healing in this new month of healing, we should remember that it is blessed by the previous month, the month of Nissan. Nissan is also known as the month of miracles as it is in this month that Hashem miraculously took the Jewish people out of Egypt. We need to remember that while we are healed by good doctors who are guided by science, simultaneously those doctors are creating miracles because they are being assisted by G-d, the true healer.
We all need to recognize that the same “I” who took us out of Egypt; “I and not an angel, I and not a seraf, I and not a messenger, I am the One and no one else” (Haggadah) is the same “I” that will heal us “I am G‑d, your healer” (Exodus 15:26). When G-d heals there are no negative side effects.
Have a good Shabbos,
Rabbi Kushi Schuseterman
