Spiritual Healing

The Alshich comments that we should be grateful for the make up of the human body. Death is reflected by the soul leaving the body. But while the soul is connected to the body, it sends warning signals that something needs to be corrected.

We are never supposed to attribute illnesses to chance. We are to view them as receiving a kind of alarm that something we did, is the cause for the body not acting in a healthy manner. During the time of the prophets, people would go to them to find out what sin they committed that is causing them to feel sick. Once this was revealed, they could repent, and they would start to feel well again.

Leprosy is associated with misusing the gift of speech. The word, מצורע, leprosy, is an acronym for מוציא שם רע, bringing a bad name to someone as a result of defaming him. We are to recognize just how damaging and demoralizing evil speech can be. It is capable of literally destroying a person and his reputation.

There are many instances where people never recover from a nasty comment made by parents or teachers to a child. Such comments can damage self confidence and one’s self image. It can turn people off to religion if said by a religious authority figure.

If one notices unexpected blemishes on his body, he might need to guard his tongue. It is important to take good care of our bodies. We must listen to our bodies if it is out of sync. We might need to calm down and avoid stress. And we might need to recognize the harm we do when we hold things in, when we are wronged by someone else.

Our souls do a fine job in trying to warn our bodies that adjustments must be made. We must listen to what it is telling us, and fix things with our עבודת נפש, spiritual work, so that we can be in the best shape possible.