The Good Doctor

In a recent class concerning one of the Torah portions that describe Hashem’s instructions to Moshe for the construction of the Mishkan (holy Tabernacle), Rabbi Lazer Brody asked how it was possible for the Kohen Gadol (high priest) to enter the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur and confess for all of the sins of the children of Israel. How could that righteous individual and spiritual leader have in mind all those Jews scattered near and far and attain atonement for each one? The character trait that allowed the Kohen Gadol to achieve his goal was the enormous love he felt for the Jewish people, the carrying of the names of the Jewish people on his heart which translated into the empathy he felt for all Jews. The sins of Israel were felt in his bones and when he experienced that pain he was able to confess their sins.

I am reminded of a word of Torah I heard a few years ago from Rabbi Simcha Krauss, Shlita. It was at a Shabbat meal marking the anniversary of her husband’s death given by the wife of Dr. Lenny Sacharow, OBM, an outstanding, beloved, brilliant physician from Flatbush. Rabbi Krauss referred to a passage in the Talmud in which the statement is made that all good doctors are in Gehinnom. Rabbi Krauss asked how this was possible. How could physicians dedicated to the well being of their patients, expending tremendous effort at helping those who were suffering sometimes at the expense of their own families, be in Gehinnom? He went on to suggest that the passage is actually referring to the patient. When a patient is ill, is in pain, is worried about his future, and is frightened he is in Gehinnom; and when the patient is in Gehinnom the good doctor is there in Gehinnom with him. What is that telling us? The good doctor feels empathy for his patient just as the Kohen Gadol feels empathy for the children of Israel.

That ability to relate to someone on such a level as to feel his/her pain is an ability the effect of which is immeasurable. But in truth it is an ability to be treasured in anyone in a helping profession. Moreover, what a better place we all would be in, Jew and non-alike, if we all could so identify with those we know and care about to the point that we can experience empathy for their pain. As I think about it the message is so strong that it can be applied even on a macro level. If only the leaders of the nations of the world could only empathize with the pain we here in Israel experience, how much better a place the world would be.

But note that Rabbi Brody suggested that the empathy felt by the Kohen Gadol was built upon his love for the Jewish people. And that is the essential first step in the empathy process for all of us: to love our fellow Jews and to love our fellow human beings. We are all G-d’s children and just as H-e loves us so must we, having been created in the image of G-d, love all of our “siblings.” That love then enables us to empathize with those in pain and make the world a much, much better place.