Healing by a doctor is not interference with divine dispensation. -Talmud, Berachot 60a
A scholar should not live in a city that has no physician. -Talmud, Sanhedrin 17b
Pay attention to the physician while you are still healthy. -Yerushalmi, Taanit 3:6
If you are in pain, go to a physician. - Talmud, Baba Kammah 46b
THE BEST OF DOCTORS ARE DESTINED FOR GEHENNA (HELL). -Talmud, Kiddushin 82a
The sages of the Talmud ruled that healing through a physician was not inteference with Divine will. On the contrary, it was taught that a person should not live in a city that has no physician and that you should regularly go to a doctor in order to help maintain your health. In contrast to this, though, is the last statement that the best of all physicians will "go to hell". When I first read this, I thought, "My goodness. They had managed care even in Talmudic times!" Some rabbis have explained this last statement as referring just to those physicicans who believe that they are God and that they themselves are solely responsible for the healing that takes place. I, on the other hand, look upon the above statement in a slightly different light. My mother was recently in the hospital with some serious health problems. It was one of the best hospitals in the state of Texas, and her doctors were among the best in the city. Nevertheless, they all had different opinions regarding what should done and how soon it should be done. From this I realized that even the best doctor is making an educated guess. The above Talmudic quote is somewhat like me saying that even my best math students don't really fully understand their homework problems, and if today's doctors have to sometimes guess at the best method of treatment, then how much more so was this true two thousand years when medical knowledge was less extensive? Thus, go to a doctor to help preserve your health, but remember that even the doctor does not know everything. Talk to your doctor about your options, educate yourself about your health, and seek the opinions of other doctors when you think they are needed.
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