5830 —ניתוח העין ע"י הרופא הכי מומחה, והוספה בלימוד פנימיות התורה – "המאור שבתורה"

B"H, 7th of Marcheshvan, 5718

Brooklyn.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your letter of Wednesday, in which you write about the doctor's opinion regarding the condition of your left eye, and ask my opinion on it.

Now, the directive of our Torah, תורת חיים "a Torah of life" (Siddur, Sim Shalom), is already known: it is the Torah that grants permission, and in this matter its content is also power, to the physician to heal (Berachos 60a and Bava Kamma 85a: ורפא ירפא – מכאן שניתנה רשות לרופא לרפאות "'and he shall surely heal' — from here we learn that permission was given to the physician to heal"). And in an operation such as the one you write of, it is understood that it must be done by the most expert doctor, who surely has more experience (practice) in it, for here experience matters more than knowledge. May it be G‑d's will that רופא כל בשר ומפליא לעשות "He Who heals all flesh and acts wondrously" (the Asher Yatzar blessing, from Berachos 60b) heal you through such-and-such a person and such-and-such a treatment, at a good and successful time.

It is understood that, since matters of the human body depend on matters of the soul, and the matters of a Jew depend on the Torah, so that everything the Holy One, blessed be He, created in the body has its counterpart and source in the soul, and everything in a Jew is found in the Torah, it follows that when a repair is needed in the body, there must be a repair in the corresponding matter of the soul; and when repair and improvement are needed in a matter of a Jew, repair and improvement are needed in the corresponding matter in the Torah. As our Sages, of blessed memory, said: חש בראשו יעסוק בתורה, חש בכל גופו יעסוק בתורה "If his head aches, let him occupy himself with Torah; if his whole body aches, let him occupy himself with Torah" (Eruvin 54a), etc. In our case, you must decide to add from now on in the study of the part of the Torah called מאור שבתורה "the light in the Torah" (cf. Eichah Rabbah, Pesichta 2: המאור שבה היה מחזירן למוטב "the light in it would bring them back to good"), namely the inner dimension of the Torah (which in our generation has been revealed in the teachings of Chassidus). Through this, success will increase in the light of the matters of the soul and in the light of the matters of the body, as is easily understood from all the above.

With blessing for good news in all the above.

Summary

This letter approves an eye operation, since the Torah grants the physician the power to heal, and stresses choosing the most experienced specialist. Because the body mirrors the soul and the Jew mirrors the Torah, healing of the eye calls for adding in the "light of the Torah," its inner dimension revealed in Chassidus, bringing light to both soul and body.