Weekly Chasidic Story #1063 (s5778-32/
8 Iyar 5778)
"Painful" Surgery
His son David asked the doctors to describe to Rav Ovadia Yosef what
the procedure would be like in order that he wouldn't be shocked when the pain
began.
Connection: Seasonal -- month of Iyar -- The Hebrew letters
of Iyar are also an anagram for "ani Hashem rofecha" - "I,
G-d, am your healer."
"Painful" Surgery
About seven years before HaRav Ovadia Yosef, the former "Rishon
L'Tzion" ('First in Zion' -- i.e., chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel)
passed away in Oct. 2013, he suffered from terrible stomach pains. His son Rabbi
David accompanied him to the hospital. The doctors ordered a battery of tests,
and they uncovered an issue that required immediate laparoscopic surgery. However,
at his advanced age and with his weak condition, the doctors felt that it would
be dangerous to place him under anesthesia. They also expressed concern that
it would take him several weeks to recover from it.
They told Rabbi David that they could do the surgery without anesthesia and
it would take about a half hour, but they warned him that the procedure would
be extremely painful. They said they would have several staff members present
just to hold him down, and they told him to prepare himself and be ready to
hear shouts of pain.
Rabbi David asked the doctors to describe to Rav Ovadia what the procedure
would be like so that he wouldn't be shocked when the pain began. When Rav Ovadia
heard the plan, he said, "Beseder" ('ok'), and sighed about
what he was facing.
He remarked, "If this is a pain that I have no choice but to suffer, it
should be a kaparah, -- an atonement -- for my sins". He said to
Rabbi David, "Please bring me my Gemara and I will try to distract myself
from the pain as much as possible." His son brought in the volume of the
Talmud Rav Ovadia was learning at the time, Babba Batra, and then left
the room.
Rabbi David related, "A large group of doctors and other hospital staff
entered the operating room, but I did not hear a single sound emanating from
within. Finally, after about half an hour, the doctors came out and said, 'We
were shocked - the Rav didn't make a peep the entire time!'
I went inside to check on my father and asked him, 'Abba, how are you
feeling?'
He looked up at me and, slightly irritated, he said, 'Please ask the doctors
how long they're going to make me wait. Let them start already so they can finish!'
I happily told him that the procedure was completed. My father was so engrossed
in his learning that he hadn't even felt the doctors operating on him!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: Adapted and supplemented by Yerachmiel Tilles
from the rendition in "Shabbos Stories for Parshas Vayikra 5778" (keren18
@ juno.com), which was reprinted from "Torah U'Tefilah - Parshas Ki Sisa
5778", compiled by Rabbi Yehuda Winzelberg,
Biographical notes:
HaRav Ovadia Yosef (1920 - 3 Cheshvan 2013), born in Baghdad, Iraq, was
the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983, and the founder and long-time
spiritual leader of Israel's "Shas" political party. His decisions
and responsa in Jewish Law have influenced an entire generation of Sephardic
rabbis, and are often consulted by Torah scholars across the spectrum.
Rav David Yosef, son of the former chief Rabbi of Israel,
HaRav Ovadia Yosef, is the chief rabbi of Har Nof, Jerusalem, and a member of
the Shas Council of Torah Sages.
Connection: The Hebrew letters spelling the current Jewish
month of Iyar, alef-yud-yud-reish, also constitute an anagram for the
Biblical-based phrase, "Ani Hashem Rofecha" - "I, G-d,
am your healer."
Yerachmiel
Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor
of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories
to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells
them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.
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