Nedarim 40a — the Talmud in English

Rav Helbo fell ill [

he fell ill].

Rav Kahana went out and announced: ![](pamud.bmp "

exact location on the page")

Rav Helbo is ill,

he is ill!

There was no one who came [

no person entered to visit him].

He said to them

Rav Kahana: Is it that

this was not the incident involving one of the students of Rabbi Akiva who fell ill,

and

the Sages did not enter to visit him, and Rabbi Akiva entered to visit him, and because he honored him and swept before him—

he lived.

That student said to him

that student to Rabbi Akiva:

My teacher, you gave me life!

After that incident

Rabbi Akiva went out and expounded: Anyone who does not visit the sick—

it is as though he sheds blood!

For had Rabbi Akiva not visited that student and honored him and swept before him, he would not have lived!

When Rav Dimi came, he said: Anyone who visits the sick—

causes him to live.

And anyone who does not visit the sick—

causes him to die.

And we raised this question:

What is the causing?

What did Rav Dimi intend by saying that one who does not visit the sick causes him to die?

If you say

that he intended to say that

anyone who visits the sick—

asks mercy for him that he should live, and anyone who does not visit the sick—

asks mercy for him that he should die,

asks for him

that he should die—

Could it enter your mind?

Can it be that one who does not visit him asks that he should die?!

Rather,

this is what Rav Dimi intended: There is a sick person for whom it is appropriate to ask that he die, such as one who suffers greatly in his illness. And one who visits the sick person—his prayer is effective even to give the sick person life, and it is obvious that it is effective to ask that he die.

But

anyone who does not visit a sick person—

does not ask mercy for him, neither that he should live nor that he should die.

That is, even regarding a sick person for whom it is appropriate to ask that he die, if he does not visit him, he does not benefit him even with this benefit.

Rava, on the first day that he fell ill [

on the first day that he fell ill]

said to them: Do not reveal to anyone

that I have fallen ill,

so that his fortune should not be harmed,

for perhaps through a small request that my enemy will make for my harm, my illness will increase. Rosh.

From then onward, he said to them: Go out and announce in the marketplace [

go out and announce in the marketplace that I have fallen ill].

For anyone who hates me—

let him rejoice for me [

that anyone who hates me

will rejoice],

and it is written: “When your enemy falls, do not rejoice, and when he stumbles, let your heart not exult, lest the Lord see, and so forth, and turn His anger away from him.”

And if so, the matter will benefit me, so that I will recover.

But those who love me [

whereas my lovers],

should ask mercy for me [

should pray for me].

Rav said: Anyone who visits the sick—

is saved from the judgment of Gehinnom. As it is stated: “Fortunate is he who acts intelligently toward the poor; on the day of evil the Lord will rescue him.”

“Poor”—

means only a sick person ,

as it is stated: “From illness he will cut me off.”

Alternatively, from this verse itself,

which was said concerning Amnon:

“Why are you thus ill, son of the king, morning after morning, and so forth.”

And

“evil” means only Gehinnom, as it is stated: “The Lord made everything for His sake, and even the wicked for the day of evil.”

And if he visited

the sick person—

what is his reward?

And we wondered:

What is his reward?! As Rav said

Rav above, that one who visits the sick

is saved from the judgment of Gehinnom!

Rather, what is his reward

of one who visits the sick,

in this world?

As it is stated in the continuation of the verse:

“The Lord will preserve him and give him life, and he will be made fortunate in the land; do not give him over to the will of his enemies.”

And this is the interpretation of the verse:

“The Lord will preserve him”—

from the evil inclination.

“And give him life”—

from sufferings.

“And he will be made fortunate in the land”—

so that everyone will be honored through him.

“And do not give him over to the will of his enemies”—

that companions like

the companions of

Naaman, who healed his leprosy [

that is, Naaman’s servants, who gave him the advice to accept the prophet’s words and immerse in the Jordan, and through that advice he was healed of his leprosy].

And let companions not happen upon him like

the companions of

Rehoboam, who

through their evil counsel—

divided his kingdom.

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: If children say to you, “Build!” and elders say to you, “Destroy!”

listen to the elders, and do not listen to the children.

Because

the building of children—

is destruction, and the destruction of elders—

is building.

And a sign of the matter:

the incident of

Rehoboam son of Solomon

at the beginning of his reign, when he listened to the counsel of the children [the young men], who advised him to make his yoke upon the people heavier, and did not listen to the counsel of the elders, who advised him to make his yoke lighter; and through this the people rebelled against him, and his kingdom was divided.

Rav Shisha, son of Rav Idi, said: A person should not

visit

a sick person [

a person should not visit the sick],

during the first three hours [

not during the first three hours of the day],

nor during the last three hours of the day, so that he should not divert his attention from asking mercy [

so that he should not divert his attention from asking mercy].

That is because during

the first three hours—

the mind of the sick person is at ease [

the sick person still feels well, and the visitor thinks that there is no need to ask mercy for him].

But during the three hours

at the end—

his weakness is strong,

his illness overcomes the sick person, and the visitor thinks that there is no longer any hope, and despairs of mercy.

Ravin said that Rav said: From where is it established that the Holy One, blessed is He, sustains the sick person?

As it is stated: “The Lord will support him upon the bed of illness, and so forth.”

And Ravin said that Rav said: From where is it established that the Divine Presence rests above the bed of a sick person?

As it is stated: “The Lord will support him upon the bed of illness.”

It was taught likewise: One who enters to visit the sick should sit neither upon a bed, nor upon a bench, nor upon a chair. Rather, he wraps himself—

and sits upon the ground.

And the reason is

because the Divine Presence rests above

the bed of a sick person, as it is stated: “The Lord will support him upon the bed of illness.”

And if the visitor sits upon a bed or the like, it follows that he is higher than the place of the Divine Presence .

And Ravin said that Rav said: Rain in the West [

when rain falls in the Land of Israel]—

the Euphrates is a great witness [

the Euphrates River testifies concerning it]. For when the waters of the Euphrates increase, it is known that although rain did not fall here, in Babylonia, rain fell in the Land of Israel.

The practical consequence is that it is forbidden to immerse in the Euphrates at that time. For the notefin, that is, rainwater, do not purify when they are zohalin [like river water, which flows], but only in an ashboren, that is, when they are found in one place, without flow.

Immersion for purification can be in two ways:

Immersion in spring water, or immersion in “water of a cistern,” called a mikveh.

Spring water purifies one who immerses in it whether it is stationary or flowing [“zohalin”]. But mikveh water purifies only if it is gathered in one place, without any flow.

Rivers, lakes, and seas, and likewise wells from which living water issues, have their source in spring water, and one may immerse in them even when they are flowing or moving back and forth.

Conversely, rainwater or melted snow water is not considered spring water, and it can purify only when it is gathered in one place, in a mikveh, without flow.

Usually, the rainwater and melted snow flow into the rivers, and they do not constitute most of the river’s water. But if it happens at a certain time of the year that the rainwater [called “notefin”] becomes more than the water in the river that issues from springs [called “zohalin”], this river’s water is disqualified for immersion for that period.

As it was taught in the Sifrei: “If, just as a spring purifies through flowing water, so too a mikveh purifies through flowing water, Scripture says: ‘Only a spring and a pit.’ A spring purifies through flowing water, and a mikveh through an ashboren” .

Therefore, when there is reason to fear that the rainwater called “notefin” has become greater than the river water issuing from springs, called “zohalin” — it is forbidden to immerse in the river.

This applies specifically when the river is very large. But if it was flowing slowly, or if it increased only slightly, so that there is no reason to suspect an increase of notefin, it is permitted. As it was taught in the Tosefta: “Rabbi Elazar ben Tzadok testified concerning flowing waters that became greater than the notefin—that they are valid.”

And it disagrees

the words of Ravin—with

those of Shmuel.

For Shmuel said: A river—

from its rock [

from its rock, from its source]

increases.

That is, although we see that when the rains fall the rivers grow, nevertheless their principal increase is from their source.

As we say in tractate Ta'anit [25b]: “There is not a single handbreadth that descends from above without the depths rising opposite it by two handbreadths.”

If so, the zohalin are always greater than the notefin, for opposite one handbreadth of rain that descended, two handbreadths rise opposite it from the spring. Therefore, according to Shmuel, it is always permitted to immerse in rivers, even when it visibly appears that they increased greatly because of the rain.

And it disagrees

the words of

Shmuel

these—

with Shmuel [

with the words of Shmuel elsewhere]!