Shemoneh Esrei 27: Brilliant Doctors and Wonder Drugs

רפאנו ה’ ונרפא, הושיענו ונושעה, כי תהלתנו אתה...

Heal us, Hashem – then we will be healed; save us – then we will be saved, for You are our praise…

The words “כי תהלתנו אתה–ki s’hilaseinu Atah (for You are our praise)” are perhaps the most crucial and least understood words in this otherwise universally appreciated and understood brachah.  What does “for You are our praise” mean, and what relevance does it have to our brachah?

The beginning of this brachah, until after these words, is actually a pasuk in Yirmiyahu (17:14), except for the slight difference that the pasuk is in singular form and our tefilah here is in plural form.  Rashi and other commentaries on that pasuk explain this phrase to mean: I praise You, Hashem, because You (only You) are my Savior.  What Yirmiyahu said – and what we say here – is that we acknowledge that it is only Hashem Who saves (and heals) us.

But an obvious question leaps to mind: Why is this phrase placed specifically and only in this brachah?  This concept seems equally true and equally crucial to remember for every one of these brachos of request.  HaRav Yechezkel Abramsky (quoted in Tal’lei Oros) explains that healing the sick is an area where we may be most likely to falter and most likely to attribute our r’fuah to other causes: “What a brilliant and skilled surgeon!”  “That drug worked wonders!”  “Isn’t the advancement of science and medical knowledge just amazing?”  Chazal wanted us to remember specifically here that it is Hashem alone Who heals us.  He has many messengers, and while we must thank them for their efforts, we must always remember where the healing came from, and praise and thank Hashem alone for the success in our having been healed.

We have opportunities daily, outside of our three tefilos, to strengthen this emunah that it is only Hashem Who heals us and keeps us in good health.  In fact, this idea is found in the Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 230:4 (and see the Mishnah Berurah there, in s’if katan 6).  We can strengthen our emunah and fulfill the mitzvos of tefilah and bitachon (“Tamim tihyeh im Hashem Elokecha” – D’varim 18:13) every time we go to the doctor or dentist and every time we take an aspirin or other medication by saying the short “יהי רצון” in s’if 4 ("יהי רצון מלפניך...שיהא עסק זה לי לרפואה, כי רופא חנם אתה–May it be Your Will…that this undertaking should be a cure for me, for You are a Free Healer”) or by simply recognizing and proclaiming in our own words that it is Hashem alone to Whom we are turning.  We are required to do our part (i.e., put forth physical effort and take the medication or go to the doctor), but at the same time we must remember and proclaim “אין עוד מלבדו–ein od mi’lvado–there is none else beside Him (D’varim 4:35)”!