Question: I find it difficult to visit my friend in
hospital and so call and email her. Have I done the mitzva of bikur
cholim?
Answer: Although the mitzvah
to visit the sick, bikur cholim, isn’t
written clearly in the Torah, the Behag (Asei 36) and Smak (47) classify it as
one of the 613 mitzvos.
The Tur (YD 335) writes that this mitzva includes 3 components:
to pray for them, see to their needs and give them encouragement. The Beis
Yosef (YD 335) writes that the primary mitzvah is to pray for the patient.
According to the Rema (YD 335:4) one who visits a patient without praying for them has not properly fulfilled
their obligation.
R’ Moshe Feinstein (Igros
Moshe YD 1:223) and R' Yitzchak Yaakov Weiss (Minchas Yitzchak 2:84) write that while one can’t fulfil every component of this mitzva by calling a
patient, one who can’t visit them in person still performs a mitzva by
calling.
R’ Asher Weiss (Minchas Asher, Bereishis 20) disagrees. Chazal
said that we must visit them, and not to try and fulfil our obligation
in any other way. Calling or emailing a patient would certainly be a mitzva of
chesed, however, and one who can’t visit in person, should use any other
means to help them.
The Gemara (Nedarim 39b) writes that visiting the sick aids their
recovery. Seemingly, this is something that can only be achieved in person.
יה"ר מלפני אבינו שבשמים שתשלח
להם מהרה רפואה שלמה בתוך שאר חולי ישראל.
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