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Thought for the Day: The Mitzva of ביקור חולים

"There he goes again... on his soapbox!" Yes, indeed, people do say (or at the very least, think) that about me. They are wrong, though. To prove they are wrong, I just googled the definition of "soapbox": a box or crate used as a makeshift stand by a public speaker. If I used a box or crate as a makeshift stand with all my harping on certain subjects, I'd fall right through! No, sir; no soapbox for me... I need a solid, sturdy, well-engineered platform to support me while I rant.

As I've already mentioned, classical Hebrew terms that we use in halacha do not translate well into English. Worse, people try to force fit complex topics into succinct concepts into simplistic and wrong English words/phrases. Much, much worse is that they draw halachic conclusions based on these simplistic and incorrect mistranslations.

Excuse me? What? Oh... you are wondering if I could give you an example? As it happens, I do have one. ביקור חולים absolutely does not mean "visiting the sick". Yes, Google translate will tell you that it it does, in fact, mean "visiting the sick". It will even tell you that this definition has been verified by the Translation Community. As it happens, the Translation Community does not have s'micha; we don't pasken by Google.

The verb לבקר actually means to check/examine/criticize/review. Now, the word "visit" could be used to mean those things; as in "we revisited the issue". (One can also simply visit an issue, I suppose; though I don't think that is common usage.) However, the word "visit" usually means something much more passive and passionless.

Fine, fine... but what's the issue that got me back onto this soapbox? A question was raised: is one allowed to do the mitzvah of ביקור חולים on Tisha b'Av? I said that of course you could. The counter was: But you are not allowed to greet another Jew on Tisha b'Av. Aren't you going to run afoul of that halacha when you go visiting someone? Yes, I replied, but that has nothing to do with ביקור חולים. (No, I did not say "but... but... that has nothing to do with ביקור חולים!!" It was Tisha b'Av, after all.)

So... what is the mitzvah of ביקור חולים? It means to check/examine/review the needs of a someone who is sick to determine what -- if anything -- they need, and then act to fulfill that. Very often a simple visit is what they need. If you get there and they are sleeping, though, you fulfill the mitzvah by just leaving and letting them get their rest; maybe leave a note, as long as you to it quietly. Other times, they are going through a difficult recovery and very much need you to leave them alone. In that case, leaving them alone is a fulfillment of the mitzvah of ביקור חולים.

Here's a good one: a dear friend is recovering from open heart surgery and the day after the surgery is up to eating a little bit and wants breakfast from a particular kosher restaurant. Running out to get that breakfast and then delivering it to her room and then immediately exiting because she feels so awful that she just needs to be alone is, in fact, unquestionably a beautiful fulfillment of the Torah obligation of ביקור חולים.
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