The Physician’s Prayer

[ . . . ] Since, therefore, Thou hast favored me with kindness and hast crowned me with honor and glory and Thou hast made me worthy of knowing a bit of the science of medicine, therefore I wish to perform Thy desire, O Lord . . . I am minded to busy myself with the practice of medicine in Thy Holy Name and through Thy assistance; “that Thou mayest be justified when Thou speakest and be in right when Thou judgest” (Psalms 51:6), for Thou art the physician, not I. I am but as the clay in the potter’s hand, in the hand of the creator of all things and as the instrument through which Thou curest Thy creatures. I do not rely upon my wisdom, nor do I place my trust in the drugs and herbs and medicaments which Thou has created, for they are but the means to fulfill Thy will and to proclaim Thy greatness and Thy providence. Since the practice of medicine is fraught with perils, and as I am a man of folly and of no understanding, fearing lest I grope at noonday as the blind grope in the dark, therefore do I cling to the fringes of Thy kindness and do follow Thee [ . . . ] Therefore, may it be Thy will, O Lord my God and God of my fathers, to endow me with good understanding . . . and to bestow upon me knowledge and insight and to cause the eyes of my understanding to shine so that I may discern and diagnose the ailment of the body thoroughly and correctly in all the cases that come to me; instruct me as to the drugs suitable to each one in accordance with his needs and in accordance with the proper time when they are fit, so that I may not err in my acts or in my words, “lest my enemies see and rejoice” (Proverbs 24:17). Support me that I do not stumble and that no mishap occur through my hand. Recompense me with Thy many kindnesses for to do kindnesses have I entered into the profession of medicine, to save the lives of Thy people Israel. Assist me and protect me from insult and shame. . . . If there come to me any patient whose allotted time is about to end and whose affliction is heavy, may it be Thy will that I cause not the hastening of his death (God forbid) even by one second. Teach me to administer drugs so as to retain his soul within him until his fated hour arrives. And if he die may it be Thy will that his friends, his companions and the members of his family do not accuse me and that they do not suspect me of being the cause of his death, but that they accept it as the just decree of God. . . . of the King in Whose hand is the life of all living and the spirit of all flesh. But if his appointed time has not arrived and Thou art casting him down with pains because of Thy mercy in order that he repent completely before Thee for Thou hast “no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezekiel 33:11), may it then be Thy will that Thou causest this merit to fall to my lot and that Thou instructest me what I shall say in order to bring him to repentance and to accept his affliction with love for Thee so that it may be an atonement for all his transgressions; and that through me Thou sendest forth Thy command and cure and that thereby I shall be beloved on high, and honored below.

[ . . . ] Establish between me and other physicians love, brotherhood, peace and good fellowship. Let me not be put to shame nor disgrace before them, but let me be respected by them. Make me wiser than my enemies. [ . . . ] Let me find grace and favor and kindness in Thy eyes and in the eyes of all who see me and hear me so that they do what I order for a patient if the treatment is proper; but if the treatment is not proper then harden their hearts that do not do it; but let them not make it widely known lest (God forbid) I be disgraced O Lord, God of the spirit of all flesh!

I ask one favor of Thee, that Thou give strength to my memory so that when I go to visit a patient, Thou make known to me at once which cure will benefit him, whether I have studied it or not. I supplicate Thee, Cause of all Causes, that Thou cause the chain of circumstances to act in such manner that Thou bringest into my hands the medical book in which I may study his treatment or that I may listen to an argument between physicians that will teach me to know his cure; for Thou art the one who brings about the succession of causes in Thy Universe, as it is written: [ . . . ] Let no corruption come from me, so that I should cause any man’s death nor even the loss of his limbs, neither willingly with intent nor unwillingly without intent; let me not be included in the category of “the best physicians are fit for Gehenna” (Mishna Kiddushin IV, 14). [ . . . ]

My God, deliver me from the hand of the wicked, from the palm of the perverter and oppressor and place me not in his hand even for one moment lest he entice me to practice wantonness (God forbid!) to administer a poison or drug to injure some man or some pregnant woman. (God forbid!) If he try to entice me, meet him, humiliate him, deliver my soul from him. [ . . . ] Cleanse my mind and purify my thoughts that I think no evil about any woman, whether virgin or wife, when I visit her that I “do not go about after my own heart and my own eyes” (Numbers 15:39). Save me from all injury, disease and infirmity. . . . “May the sun not smite me by day nor the moon by night” (Psalms 121:6).

I pray, O Thou Master of kindness and mercy, open my eyes that I may discover the secrets of Thy wonderful deeds and that I may know the peculiar curative powers which Thou hast placed in herbs and minerals, in seeds and flowers, in roots and leaves, in wood and fruit, in wines and oils, in waters and in other liquids, in living organisms which are in the heavens above and in the waters under the earth, in simple and in composite structures and that through them I shall tell of Thy might to all generations to whom Thy greatness shall come. May it be Thy will to give Thy blessing to all the works of my hand and to recompense which is given me against my will so that I may look upon it as an omen of good and that I may apply it to good and righteous purposes before Thee, and to magnify and glorify Thy law. And may my sustenance and that of children and children’s children come from Thy hands and not from the hands of men of flesh and blood, and may it be in abundance so that I be not forced to take anything from the poor and the sick but, on the contrary, that I may be able to give unto them what Thou hast bestowed upon me, for from Thee come all things and from Thy hands I return to Thee. Endow me well that I succeed and prosper in all that I do, and especially in the work of healing do Thou magnify Thy kindness so that patients call me to whom cure is possible and who may be cured completely through me. And let those not call me who are incurable and whose illness is fatal because Thou hast decreed that they may not be cured. “Let my soul not come unto their council; unto their assembly let my glory not be united.” (Genesis 49:6). If people consult me because of my knowledge let not the foot of pride overtake me, but let my soul be “like a weaned child with his mother” (Psalms 131:2). May no evil desire nor evil eye have power over me. Let me not be brought into temptation or shame. Save me from the reflection of sin, and transgression and iniquity, now and forever, and clothe my soul with glorious raiment, the crown of glory of good morals, as is becoming to one who finds grace in Thy eyes. Lend strength to all my senses so that they may tell the truth in everything which is brought before them, that I may not be mistaken in any one of them, neither in taste, smell, sight, hearing nor touch, let them tell me concerning what is positive that it is positive, what is negative, negative, what is bitter, bitter, of what is sweet, sweet, so that no injury result to any of my patients because of the weakness of my perceptions. Strengthen likewise the power of speech of the patient and the vigor of his understanding and his memory so that he tell me the truth as to the causes of his ailment and no falsehood in regard to them lest I, also, be led into error and thus fail to understand the causes of his disease from his words and from the symptoms of his disease; let me be fit arid learn to prognosticate correctly to the patient in order that my words and warnings may be verified and my injunctions observed. “Uphold me according unto Thy word, that I may live; and put me not to shame in my hope” (Psalms 119:116). Do not destroy hope from out my heart; do not incline me to do evil; do not hide Thyself from my supplications; be gracious unto me and answer me; hearken unto my prayer. Indeed Thou hearkenest unto my prayer and I must give thanks for everything and sing Hallelujahs and praise Thy name, for goodness is in store for Thy saints! May I increase in greatness and mayest Thou comfort me! May these words which I have supplicated to the Lord come to pass, etc.

Other works by Tsahalon: Margaliyot tovot (1665); Or ha-darshanim (ca. 1690).