oh Paulette, I truly feel for you! Feels like someone has whipped you silly and now you have the stress of worrying about getting things done on top of all that! Please, just worry about getting well right now and the rest will fall into place. You will be in my prayers, please take care! So sorry to hear that David is ill too! I will pray for him, as well.
I'm glad I don't follow that form of religion. I don't believe G-d gave my aunt cancer and murdered her when she had two teenagers to care for. A loving G-d wouldn't do that.I wonder what form of transgression is punished by catching a cold?
I think G-d might allow people to get sick because of actions they took of their own free will (like an unhealthy lifestyle), or for some other reason, but I don't think G-d is the one who actually puts the sickness onto people.
I'm glad I don't follow that form of religion. I don't believe G-d gave my aunt cancer and murdered her when she had two teenagers to care for. A loving G-d wouldn't do that.I wonder what form of transgression is punished by catching a cold?
I think G-d might allow people to get sick because of actions they took of their own free will (like an unhealthy lifestyle), or for some other reason, but I don't think G-d is the one who actually puts the sickness onto people.
Refuah Shlemah
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_jn9PbVN0ThU/RsXnrU26caI/AAAAAAAABNs/T73AwUNgxgg/DSCN1200.JPG)
(http://biblescripture.net/Moses.jpeg)
Paulette, perhaps you should be checked for mononucleosis, Epstein-Barr, or cytomegalovirus. These three viruses cause chronic illness that can mimic the flu.
Wish you a speedy recovery.
@muman, is that the Asherah pole used as medical symbol nowdays?
Moses is noted for one particularly spectacular foray into practical healing: When poisonous snakes attacked the Jews in the desert, God instructed Moses to fashion a special healing instrument: a pole topped with the form of a copper snake. When the pole was held aloft, those who had been afflicted by a snakebite would gaze on the serpentine image and be cured. (Numbers 21:6-10) This was the forerunner of the caduceus, the snake-entwined rod which is today the emblem of the medical profession.
This is the very point. The cure DOES NOT come from the snake. The cure comes from our Father in Heaven.
Rav Shlomo Freifeld, z"l, once commented: It is significant that the universal symbol of the medical profession today is the caduceus ? the winged staff with two inter-twined snakes. It comes from this week's parsha: "They shall gaze at the copper snake and live."
Why did the medical profession pick this very symbol? Perhaps because at one time, the medical profession realized that the proper way to view doctors are as agents of the Almighty. One cannot get well without a good doctor and one needs a good doctor ? one who has the merit to administer the proper care and treatment. But the doctor is merely an agent.
Just as everyone realizes that it is not the scalpel that removes the malignancy, but rather it is the surgeon who handles the scalpel, so too we must realize it is not the doctor who brings life, but it is the Master of the World who is using the doctor as his holy agent.
That is why this is THE appropriate symbol of the medical profession. We need this awareness today even more than they needed it then. Today, medicine is so advanced and doctors can do so much that we must always bear in mind that we are looking at the copper serpent. Healing will only occur if we subjugate ourselves to our Father in Heaven.
That is why, of all things, the Almighty took the source of the problem and made it into the source of the cure. This teaches us for then and for all generations "I put to death and I bring life. I struck down and I will heal..." [Devorim 32:39]. It is the Almighty who gives the 'klap' and hopefully it is the Almighty who will send the cure, speedily.
The beauty of the Copper snake is not that it has any magic power of its own to heal people. Its meaning is that we are to look up at it and remember Hashem. I have been noticing this concerning other aspects, including the beauty of mountains. I related this idea on the day of my fathers funeral that we look to mountains to remind us to look upward toward heaven and beseech Hashem for all our needs. This idea also comes through in the episode I alluded to a week ago, when Moses, Aaron and Hur stood on the hill and Moses held his staff over his head, and the Israelites became victorious, when his arms tired and they fell the Israelites fell back... The secret is that when Moses arms reached skyward the Israelites were reminded to look upward toward Hashem...