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How the Torah Teaches Us to Deal With — and Overcome — Physical Illness
A Torah scroll. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
The human body is an amazing organism. And a vehicle for spirituality. But we do tend to take it for granted until something bad happens, either from outside or from within.
What I find interesting is the extent to which the Torah is actually concerned with health and the well-being of the body. Although there are other sources in the Torah to support this contention, what we read this week on Shabbat is particularly relevant.
We start with the dislocation that comes with childbirth and the need for recuperation., which is just one of several examples of dislocation in the Torah. But physical change and recovery are only one aspect of the process. There is also a spiritual dimension. Recuperation whether from childbirth or from any dislocation within the human body requires not just the technical side of healing. It also requires a spiritual side.
How do we deal with challenges to our bodies when faced with something unusual? It is not just finding a cure in the physical sense — but how we deal mentally and emotionally.
The Gemara says that if something bad happens, we should examine our ways. (Brachot 5a). This does not necessarily mean that we have done anything wrong. But rather that we should look at this as a challenge to do better. Not only should one try to see if they did anything wrong, but also to give the opportunity for reflection — to see what could be improved. It also helps us summon the emotional strength to fight for recovery.
How often have we seen that people have been able to recover from the direst situations because of their personal determination and commitment to heal? We should not simply be thinking in terms of a cure, but also in terms of raising the quality of our lives.
This explains why both with regard to childbirth and physical illness, the priests were engaged in important rituals to help resolve things. The role of the priesthood was not just to perform ceremonies, but also to be the healers and teachers. Although these roles ultimately were removed from them, at the time of the Torah, their role was crucial. And we can learn a lesson from it.
The Torah then goes into what is called leprosy, which really means any serious disease or infection of the body. The priest would first look at the problem and then advise the sufferer on how to proceed, and if it were necessary to put somebody into quarantine.
In its own way, the Torah is saying that we have to take care of our bodies, homes, and the atmospheres in which we live. Cleanliness and sanitation — and not just waiting for something to go wrong. The role of the priesthood is to remind us of the spiritual dimension. We need doctors and priests metaphorically, to help us overcome the challenges we face. The detail the Torah goes into during these chapters underlines how seriously health, cleanliness, and the spiritual qualities are for us.
The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.
The post How the Torah Teaches Us to Deal With — and Overcome — Physical Illness first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘With or Without Russia’s Help’: Iran Pledges to Block South Caucasus Route Opened Up By Peace Deal
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – Iran will block the establishment of a US-backed transit corridor in the South Caucasus region with or without Moscow’s help, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader was quoted as saying on Saturday by the Iran International website, one day after the historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“Mr. Trump thinks the Caucasus is a piece of real estate he can lease for 99 years,” Ali Akbar Velayati said of the so-called Zangezur corridor, the establishment of which is stipulated in the peace deal unveiled on Friday by US President Donald Trump. The White House said the transit route would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.
“This passage will not become a gateway for Trump’s mercenaries — it will become their graveyard,” the Khamenei advisor added.
Baku and Yerevan have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting or forcing almost all of the territory’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Yet that painful history was put to the side on Friday at the White House, as Trump oversaw a signing ceremony, flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The peace deal with Azerbaijan—a pro-Western ally of Israel—is expected to pull Armenia out of the Russian and Iranian sphere of influence and could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran.
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UK Police Arrest 150 at Protest for Banned Palestine Action Group
People holding signs sit during a rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, August 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday it had arrested 150 people at a protest against Britain’s decision to ban the group Palestine Action, adding it was making further arrests.
Officers made arrests after crowds, waving placards expressing support for the group, gathered in Parliament Square, the force said on X.
Protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, chanted “shame on you” and “hands off Gaza,” and held signs such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” video taken by Reuters at the scene showed.
In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
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‘No Leniency’: Iran Announces Arrest of 20 ‘Zionist Agents’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
i24 News – Iranian authorities have in recent months arrested 20 people charged with being “Israeli Mossad operatives,” the judiciary said, adding that the Islamic regime will mete out the harshest punishments.
“The judiciary will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Zionist regime, and with firm rulings, will make an example of them all,” spokesperson Asghar Jahangiri told Iranian media. However, it is understood that an unspecified number of detainees were released, apparently after the charges against them could not be substantiated.
The Islamic Republic was left reeling by a devastating 12-day war with Israel earlier in the summer that left a significant proportion of its military arsenal in ruins and dealt a serious setback to its uranium enrichment program. The fallout included an uptick in executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months. Hit with international sanctions, the country is in dire economic straights, with frequent energy outages and skyrocketing unemployment.
In recent weeks Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi affirmed that Tehran cannot give up on its nuclear enrichment program even as it was severely damaged during the war.
“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up of enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the official told Fox News.