רפואה אלטרנטיבית

00:02 This is Igris, and today we are talking about alternative medicine. This is an enormous topic. This will not be an exhaustive treatment of alternative medicine in The Rebbe Shita. It is an Igris share. We're trying to figure out what the Rebbe would say, what the Rebbe does say, what the Rebbe feels about alternative medicine. Uh, suffice to say that saying that the Rebbe is entirely in favor of alternative medicine and just wants us running willy-nilly to every naturopath in the world would be incorrect. A-as it would be incorrect to say that the Rebbe is entirely, uh, in favor of allopathic medicine and does not want us engaging in alternative medicine or natural medicine at all would also be incorrect. That's me giving away the entire share at the beginning. There is, as in most cases, we've seen this a million times, or at least two hundred and fifty times together, that, uh, the Rebbe Shita is going to be something that is a, uh, combination of a sort of, I guess the MS that cuts through the nonsense. That the Rebbe is going to give us a clear Shita that is, uh, at the same time not really beholden to any one position of anybody else. I will caution that, uh, this will be one of our riskier Shiurim, and the reason why is because generally speaking, we try very hard to make sure that we only quote letters where it's very clear that the Rebbe is speaking about general principles. And here, anytime we

01:07 do medical letters, they are written to an individual suffering from a medical problem, which means that we're going to have a couple of letters we're gonna see today where it's going to be very difficult to figure out whether this is a Shita of the Rebbe or the Rebbe just giving medical advice to one individual. So, uh, because of that, I do caution that these particular letters and whatever Shita that we develop from this particular share, I, I wouldn't take it too seriously. This is obviously something that should be discussed with the Mashpia and with the Rebbe if you did. I wanna define our terms before we get started. I keep saying alternative medicine. Uh, I wanna define what alternative medicine is in this discussion. That will include things like the traditional alternative medicines such as acupuncture, homeopathy, naturopathy, Chinese medicine, the body therapies, uh, chiropractic medicine, osteopathic medicine, uh, which is-- I mean, they're osteopathic physicians, but osteopathic medicine that they practice is certainly a form of alternative medicine. Massas-massage therapy, yoga, and the like, uh, supplements, herbal medicines, diets, maybe even electromagnetic therapy. What we're not gonna talk about today at all, though, is anything having to do with, uh, mental health. The alternative mental health therapies, the alternative emotional therapies. Uh, I feel like maybe we did that once. If we haven't, we should probably do a share at some other time. We're excluding it entirely. Okay, so without further ado, we're going in into alternative medicine. I wanna give you a Halakha

02:16 background before we see the letters. And, uh, I have on your screen four major points that I've pulled out of many poskim, including a lot of the Rebbe's writing. I think the Rebbe covers every one of these at some point in the letters we're going to see today. But there are four, um, I guess deal breakers when it comes to alternative medicine. And that is that if any of these four things is not present, generally speaking, Rabbanim are not going to mater it, they're not going to allow it, Al pi Halakha, it can be a problem to use it. And in most cases, the Rebbe is going to specifically call these things out in his letters as well. So number one, uh, it should be recognized that Al pi Halakha, the majority opin-- the majority opinion of physicians, that is medical consensus, the majority opinion of physicians is considered authoritative. There are actual implications for this in Halakha. So, uh, it's important to note that's actually not Cheshbon Ish but that's Aruch HaChaim. I don't know why I wrote Cheshbon Ish, but, but there you'll find that in Shulchan Aruch HaChaim six eighteen and in many other places, that, uh, what the majority of physicians think is authoritative. And that's important for alternative medicine because across the board, the reason why alternative medicine is called alternative medicine is because it is alternative. The majority of physicians do not agree with it or do not think it's effective, and that should play a role in our

03:19 decision-making. Okay. Number two, uh, alternative medicine must be free of idolatry and witchcraft. Now, the truth is, everything has to be free of idolatry and rich-- witchcraft, but I bring this up because unlike allopathic medicine, which is the conventional Western medicine that you find at your doctor's office, that stuff is based on a, uh-- I mean, it might be based on atheism, it's based on science, it's based on Ilah V'Olah, on cause and effect. It generally speaking does not have, excuse me, Segulas, idolatry, and witchcraft in it. Whereas medicine that comes from the East, medicine that's alternative, medi-medicine that functions through Segulas and through mysticism can involve idolatry and witchcraft. So we have to be particularly careful with alternative medicine not to have that. Number three, there's an Aruch HaShulchan. I have it on the screen. I don't know if we'll read it together. Let's not. It's an Igris share. But the Aruch HaShulchan brings and a lot of Rabbanim do poskin that, uh, a person is not allowed to visit any physician of any kind, that includes mental health as well as physical health, unless they are recognized by a licensing agency through the state or federal government. The Aruch HaShulchan takes this very seriously, and a lot of poskim do too. And we're going to see hints to that in the Rebbe's letters, where the Rebbe will say, "I want some sort of licensing or some sort of authority on the person who's giving the treatment." Somebody who operates out of their basement

04:23 giving out natural cures is not the same as a certified naturopath or somebody who, uh, for example, is a doctor of osteopathy who has a real certification. And finally, this one we're gonna see in a lot of the Rebbe's letters. It's the Rambam in Yuma. The Rebbe doesn't quote the Rambam in Yuma, but he is quoting the Rambam in Yuma, who says that medicine is not allowed to be used, medicine is not called medicine, Refuah is not called Refuah unless it has a plausible mechanism. That is, it doesn't need to be a plausible mechanism according to Western medicine. It doesn't even need to work and have safety and eff-- it has to have safety. It doesn't even have to have efficacy according to me-we-Western medical techniques. However, it does need to at least make some sense. If someone says, "I'm doing this and I'm healing you because whatever," that's not good enough. The Lashon of the Rambam is, "Avali Israpus Vidvarim SheEimar Misegulasan Asur," that it is Asur to heal with things that heal only through Segulah. That is just through the se-- the, uh, the presence of them, not through any actual mechanism. Uh, I have some other just quotes on the screen that I thought you might find interesting from contemporary poskim, uh, giving you an idea. Most contemporary poskim do not like alternative medicine very much. Rav Moshe Feinstein apparently one time said that homeopathy is against the will of God and Asur. Uh, Rav Asher Weiss doesn't like alternative medicine. He

05:30 says that, uh, you can only use it when, uh, when, uh, there's no cure from conventional methods. And Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, apparently based on a whole story involving Chabad that I'm not gonna tell you today, ask me after the Shiur, I'll tell you the story. But basically, Rav Shlomo Zalman had poskin that, uh, people have the right to choose alternative medicine as long as it's not a life and death matter, but over life and death matters, the Torah does not allow them to choose alternative medicine. Okay, with all of that said, that's a long introduction, and I apologize for it. Let's get into the actual meat of the letters from the Rebbe, see the Rebbe's approach to alternative medicine. The first thing I wanna show you is the Rebbe's approach to medicine in general. It'll be very important for our discussion. You will find this in Igris volume three, page four Forty one, and it's from Tes Ayin Alef Tav Shin Yud. This is before the Rebbe accepted the Nasiyus. The Rebbe writes, Shalom Ubraha. This person writes that they're having all sorts of medical problems, and the Rebbe says the following. "Hine, ala laas birla," you have to explain to your wife who has all these medical problems, "Ve'es matimus lefimatav ruach ata." In words that are fitting based on her mental state right now, obviously be gentle about this, but explain the following. "Asher," that. Number one, "Hashem bara et haolam hu manegeis haolam." Hashem created the world and Hashem controls the

06:32 world. "Hein bechatzikata at achdin, heichan shanu nimtzoim bechatzikata hein, heichan she da ata da atim nimtzoim." That is, all around the world, Hashem controls everything. "Vehu, amar veyehi," Hashem speaks and it happens. "Hu tziva viya'amod," he commands, and it stands. "Shekol ma she'nasa beolam lo nasa li Hashem." Nothing in this world can be created without Hashem. "Vechol ma sheer Hashem reitz, nasa," anything Hashem wants, he does. "Ela sheHashem reitz she'yasu keli bateva." But Hashem wants us to make a keli. Hashem wants us to make a vessel for his beracha in this world. "Hainu she'yanam ya'asu b'derech hateva." That is that Hashem wants things to happen in derech hateva through nature. So this first part, what the Rebbe is saying is, God does everything and God can do everything and does do everything, but he likes a keli, he wants a vessel. "Ta chi Yehudi, Isha, Isha, chash lei teiv, vi yesh likra lei derefa." When a per-- when a Yid is not feeling well, male or female, and they don't feel well, they should call the doctor. "Ein hakavana sheer derefa ya'asiv vi she'ya'ale be'etzem." The idea is not that the doctor will do what the doctor thinks is best. "Ela teich hanidavar hu," the entire idea is, "SheHashem yitbarach bacha b'derefa ze," that God chooses that doctor, "Ki shlucha lebatz darca bi shlichazu," in order to spread out his shlichas, in order to fulfill his shlichas through him. So the idea is that the doctor that is chosen, that when you go to a

07:40 doctor, the doctor is the, uh, vehicle, the keli, for Hashem's beracha, but nothing more than that. "VeKa shi ish betacham baHashem beli sfeikos," when a person trusts in Hashem and has no doubts, "Hu maneig es haolam," they trust that Hashem runs the entire world. "Zeich ra ash erayim zeis ga'amei neibasar, afkol tzadd v'shal," you will see this everywhere you go. "Ki et Hashem machzik es ani le'aseh," Hashem strengthens us. "Kol echad bi yad, uh, moveh le'asani b'efin yesu tevaveinu," that he's always bringing us to better places for us in gashmiyus and in ruchniyus. "Ve'meila, im hiteilech beis haRefa," therefore, when a person goes to Beis Refuah, to the hospital, "Lefi hadvar haRefa," because the doctor told them to, "Hi yadayin sheretz b'rshus Hashem," this-- she, she is still entirely in Hashem's rshus. Hashem is still controlling everything. "VeHashem yishmer es hav, yireh shazei yeilech vi yesu tev lah, hein libriyas haguf, hein libriyas haNefesh," and Hashem will take care to make sure that everything works okay. So the reason why I'm showing you this, even though this is not about alternative medicine, is because I wanted us to have a very clear idea of the Rebbe's shita on medicine in general. The Rebbe's shita on medicine in general is that medicine is a keli, and, uh, that's really important to understand because it, it's just like parnasa, just like, um, just like, uh, making money. If the way that I choose to make money is plausible, that is, that it works in nature, b'derech hateva

08:48 it makes money, and there's nothing asur about it, it's okay, and Hashem will send the beracha through it. The Rebbe's position on medicine, as far as I can tell from the letters we're about to see, is, uh, nearly identical, if not identical, I think identical, which is that when it comes to medicine, it works the same way. As long as it's mutar and as long as it's plausible that it could work, then it's a keli for beracha and Hashem sends the beracha through it. So our first letter on actual alternative medicine, we're gonna see a lot of letters where the Rebbe's just okay with it. This letter is labeled Hej, Kuf, Tzadik, Gimel. It's from Yud, Adar Rishon of Tav Shin Yud Zayin, and the Rebbe writes, Shalom Ubraha. It says, I'm responding to your letter, uh, where you wrote about matzav briyut imam shete, uh, sheti la yamim tevim aruchim, I believe. Anyway, uh, this is the health of your mother that you wrote about, and she should live long. Now, the Rebbe writes, "Keyvan she hanhaga shel doctor atzimcheini." There's apparently a vegetable doctor. I don't think that that means a vegetarian doctor. I think this is a, a, a naturopath, somebody using vegetables to cure. So, uh, the hanhaga, the, uh, the, the behaviors of this doctor, this person visited a natural doctor using herbs. "Itzlich maneigel imam," and it seems that it's working for your mother. "Veanacham sheidialem et tipulim bizman anachnun hamachinishel doctor vehulu." You should let him know what

09:52 other treatments you're on from different doctors. "Umuchzar mizeh, vi'aseh ke'dasa binageha le'aba," and moving forward, you should follow the advice of this naturopathic doctor who's using herbs to heal. "Ufrat k'fishek savre derefa matapli imima ata, eme sheh diet shel tzimcheni matima la," especially since this doctor is saying that, uh, that this, that a vegetarian diet is, uh, is working well for her. I think that is actual vegetarianism. "Vein efshar la'aseh sis yatzos ashno derefa matev," the Rebbe says, I'd love it if you would go to two doctors and have a, have, uh, get a second opinion. "Avav im hi efshar yesh lismaja chaves da asrefa tzimcheni," but if there is no ability to ask a second opinion, then you can certainly rely on the naturopathic doctor, on the doctor who's giving out herbs. And we're noticing a couple of things in this letter. Number one, uh, this is a doctor tzimcheni. The fact that the Rebbe's using the title suggests to me the person probably has some degree of certification. In addition to that, we're saying that since it has been working already, keep doing it. That is, that this person has made a plausible keli, and since the keli is plausible, and since there doesn't seem to be any harm, the Rebbe says, I'd love you to have an extra doctor involved. I'd love you to consult with other doctors. But at the end of the day, uh, you made a keli. It's mutar. There's nothing asur going on here, and it's plausible. The

10:57 Rebbe is gonna say it's okay. We're gonna see another letter very much like that. I'm willing to say that based on the Rebbe's letters and on Halakha in general, uh, that's the Rebbe's shita, that, uh, if something is mutar, uh, that is there's nothing asur about it, and if something makes a plausible mechanism, if it's natural medicine, the Rebbe is generally speaking gonna go for it. Um, binagea-- Sorry, it's down. Where is this letter? Oh, here we go. "Binagea leRefa." This is labeled Tes Shin Samech Alef. It's from Tes Alef Tav Shin Chaf Zayin, and the Rebbe writes, it's just a one-line letter. "Binagea le'Refa tvani," regarding these natural doctors, "Talubi adi'as al derech hatzlacha," the entire thing depends upon whether this doctor has been successful in the past. So the Rebbe says, visit the naturopathic doctor if they have a record of success. And although I'm reading my interpretation that I'm getting from the Rebbe's letters and sichas into this, I think what the Rebbe's saying here is the same thing, which is that if this person has had success in the past, then that keli is plausible. This is a plausible keli for hatzlacha and for beracha and for Refuah. Therefore, do it only if it's worked in the past. If it's never worked before, that would make it implausible, and then it would be a problem. Going on to our next letter. Don't worry, this one's a little longer. These have been very short letters. Uh, this letter is labeled Zayin Yud

12:03 Tes from Chaf Ches Alef Tav Shin Yud Tes, and the Rebbe writes, Shalom Ubraha. And we're gonna scroll down a little bit Be'kesev, you've written to me, "Al pi bakashas harim," based on the request of some parents, "m'neguel benam," regarding their son, he should live long, "asher pasak le'daber," that he stopped speaking. "Ve'lach re'akam tippulim sh'lei ilu," they took a bunch of medicines, a couple interventions, none of them worked. "Astu tipu be'atsamos ha'eiref venira sa tava, ve'shelem im lehamshich ba'zeh." Ha'tov, excuse me, "ve'shelem im lehamshich ba'zeh." Apparently, they went to some doctor who moved around the kid's neck, and because of moving around his neck, it seems to have improved his condition. And now they're asking whether they should continue with this kind of doctor. "Ve'hineh," now the Rebbe writes, "k'vi ha-nira me'amilas sfura she'kal," so based on the few words you've given me, says the Rebbe, it seems to me, "eydas tippel harei zos shita she'kamarev meyschil lishtamash be'lach reyna ve'karim lei chiropractica." So the Rebbe says, "I think based on what you're telling me that this is, that they went to a chiropractor." "Zeis ameras she'ein ba'zeh kol inyan seguli gam le'daitam," that there's nothing seguladic about this. Remember, he's using the Russian segula. Why is the Rebbe saying that there's no inyan segula? I'm almost certain he's quoting the Rambam that is telling us that it's asur. Remember, we saw the Rambam earlier, asur to use a refuah that comes through segula. So, uh, the, uh, the chiropractor, although it does not

13:15 have, um, great efficacy data from a Western medical perspective, at the same time, it's not through segula. It has a plausible mechanism. Uh, "gam le'daitam ve'chein le'da asach chelekim alav," including, says the Rebbe, those who disagree with it. "Ve'achilu kadeiasu rakam bida el ha'shemedavim vesu lai." The only disagreement with the people among-- about chiropractor, about chiropracti, the Rebbe says, is that if you ask somebody who doesn't like it, they'll tell you they're not sure it works very well. That the, the difference of opinion is how effective it is or whether it's not effective at all. Maybe it's not effective at all, but it doesn't seem that anybody's saying that it is implausible and that it is, uh, that it is based on mysticism of any kind. "She'zeh lecheira maina shelo im motel lech," "shtof ba'zeh." The Rebbe says, "Based on that, it would sound to me like that answers your question of whether it's motel or not." Is it motel to go to a chiropractor? Well, if they're not curing based on segula, they're not curing based on superstition or anything like that, they have a plausible mechanism, um, and, uh, it's had success for other people in the past, then it's going to, uh, be a plausible kehillah that's not asur. Seems to me it would be motel. That's what the Rebbe says. "V'kol zeh, ka'areen minan u'l'psei dinim u'v'frat be'heder kamapratim," and the Rebbe says, "However, it is not my way to pasken." The Rebbe doesn't pasken. Uh, he doesn't give final halakhic

14:20 rulings. "And furthermore, i certainly am not going to do it given the lack of details you've given me." "L'achein," therefore, "gif du l'rav mehrei harah she'basdiv hasam," therefore, i want you to turn to a rabbi in your particular area. "L'achashi yadur mi yula pratim idegel ha'tippul." Give them all-- give him all the details, and he will clarify whether it's permitted for you to continue this treatment. So we're seeing that, uh, again, theme again and again and again, i, i think i'm comfortable saying it's a shita, that, uh, that assuming the medicine is going to have a plausible mechanism and isn't asur, the Rebbe's going to be okay with it. We have a letter in English. This is from twenty-eight Nissan, fifty-seven forty-three. Uh, that would be nineteen eighty-three, and, uh, this is from the, uh, Rebbe Responsa app. Uh, "Greeting and blessing. Your letter with en--" I'm reading the Rebbe's words in English right now. I realize i have to say that because i talk in English. People don't always know when i'm talking, when the Rebbe's talking. Excuse me. The voice today. Uh, the Rebbe writes, "Your letter with enclosures reached me with some delay. I appreciate your taking the trouble to acquaint me with the condition of your patient, H.A. This was particularly welcome in view of the fact that i have received some confusing reports about his condition from other sources." The Rebbe continues, "Needless to say, medical science is not my special field, and i would not presume to offer any

15:26 suggestions in a case which has been under your treatment. However, inasmuch as you do invite me to make some suggestions as to a possible approach that has not been attempted, i would like to suggest, on the basis of what i have heard about similar cases, that perhaps it is advisable to try the approach of such practitioners as a naturopath or osteopath and the like, who have often been successful in treating patients with emphasis on natural healing of the human organism. I do not know exactly what methods were used, but i trust you would look into this approach, all the more so since there is no risk involved." So here the Rebbe is specifically endorsing a natural approach, um, because the Rebbe was asked, and it sounds like the other treatments have not worked, and it sounds like in this particular case, the treatment that the Rebbe's suggesting would have no risk associated with it. I have another letter in English. This is from twenty-six of Tishrei, fifty-seven eighteen. So that would be fifty-eight? Nineteen fifty-eight. And the Rebbe writes... Actually, it's Tishrei, so probably it was nineteen fifty-seven, but who's counting? Uh, "Blessing and greeting." I have the original typewritten letter on the screen here. That's exciting. "I received your letter at the beginning of September. My reply was delayed on account of the intervening holy days. Inasmuch," the Rebbe writes, "as you do not mention anything about your health, i trust that everything is in order. I shall always be glad to hear good

16:38 news from you. In reference to what you write about the two schools of medical thought, namely, one that favors artificial means and external treatment." Uh, my words, that would be, uh, allopathic medicine. "And the other favoring natural recovery, seeking to bring about an improvement in health through the internal strengthening of the natural powers of the organism itself." I think that would be natural medicine. Uh, continuing the Rebbe's words. "And for some reason, you think that the Jewish religion prefers the first method." So the Rebbe's saying, "You're writing to me saying you believe that the Jewish religion automatically prefers artificial means over natural means of medicine." And the Rebbe writes, "In general, you are mistaken in this view. Inasmuch as our religion has expressed no specific preference for one or the other." So this is the Rebbe saying that the Judaism, Yiddishkeit, has no preference for Western medicine versus Eastern medicine, or natural medicine versus artificial medicine. Uh, we have no preference. Uh, as we saw earlier, our preference is to make a plausible kehillah that's moter and then Hashem sends a bracha. Let's see the Rebbe's words. "On the other hand, one of the greatest adherents of the naturalistic school was none other than the great Maimonides, who was both the outstanding Talmudist and codifier, as well as one of the greatest physicians of his age, whose influence in medical science is felt to this day. At the same time, he is also one of the greatest authorities on Jewish law to this day. In

17:44 his famous code of Jewish law, he strongly defends the naturalistic approach, uh, see Hilchot De'ot." Now, the Rebbe continues, "Your defense of the naturalistic school does not entirely hold good, as can be seen from Maimonides quoted above. Your arguments that there should be no interference with the course of nature and divine order, and to permit the organism itself to recover without inside-- without outside interference, et cetera, would be valid if we were dealing with a perfect organism in its perfect natural state." The Rebbe's saying here that natural medicine, where you heal using only the, uh, cheches of the body itself, would work if the organism was perfect. "Unfortunately," the Rebbe continues, "such a thing hardly exists, for there is no perfection in this physical world, largely due to the fact that the extraneous forces come into play, such as accidents, war, and the like, or an unnatural way of life, such as overindulgence in food and material pleasures. In a case-" Of an organism thus affected, it cannot be argued that no extraneous methods be used to correct that which has been caused by extraneous forces, and that nature itself will do the job. So the Rebbe's saying here, "I like the idea of natural medicine in a world where we have not introduced artificial pressures. But once you introduce artificial disease-causing pressures, I no longer think that natural medicine is enough to do the job. You might need some artificial means." Moreover, the maladies of the present day are often the result of the

18:51 cumulative effect, not only of the individual himself, but of generations that sinned against the divine order. So the Rebbe's saying some of these things, you know, there's, uh, there's, uh, there's epigenetics, there's genetics. Uh, you can get a lot of, uh, bad health from prior generations. So the Rebbe's saying here that, uh, natural-- that on one hand, the i-- the idea that Yiddishkeit prefers very strongly, only likes, uh, allopathic medicine, Western medicine is incorrect. We have room for natural medicine, and the idea that we would favor natural medicine is also incorrect because the idea that, uh, the organism can heal itself, which is an idea that's real big in natural medicine and in alternative medicine, that our body can, uh, heal itself if given the proper tools naturally, the Rebbe says, "I don't think so." Given how many ex- excuse me. Given how many unnatural things we've introduced, I'm not sure we can pull that off anymore, says the Rebbe. The Rebbe continues, needless to say, it is not my intention to convey the idea that I leave no room at all for the naturalistic method of treatment. So the Rebbe's saying, "I'm not saying no to naturopaths." Uh, the Rebbe continues, my only intention is to exclude the extreme form of application of this method, as the best method is the combination of both in the proper ratio, which depends on each case on its own merit. So here the Rebbe's saying, "I would like to see a combination of natural medicine and, uh,

19:59 of-- and, and allopathic medicine." Allopathic and alternative put together, each based on the actual needs of that patient. Which tells us the Rebbe's gonna give a case-by-case answer in general, how much people need the natural medicine, how much people need the, uh, the allopathic medicine. At the same time, the Rebbe's not giving favoritism to either of them. The Rebbe sees flaws in taking either approach entirely and wants a balanced approach, basically a plausible Caylee. Continuing. I apologize to all of the people listening on the podcast, my voice today. I keep on having to clear it. Okay. I have a letter here that I don't know if it ever made it into Igris, but pro tip, uh, if you ever wanna know more about medicine and the Rebbe's shitah on it, in Likutey Sichos volume thirty-six in the back, they printed a ton of the Rebbe's letters on medicine, and some stuff that never made it into Igris is back there, that hasn't made it into Igris yet, I believe. In any event, the letter we're looking at's on the bottom here. This is from Yud Aleph Teves of Tuv Shin Yud Ches, and the Rebbe writes. Uh, now we're gonna take a bit of a turn. It--I showed you up until now the Rebbe's generally in favor of alternative medicine. These last few letters, the Rebbe's not as happy about alternative medicine. And, uh, is this a change from shitah? No, it's not a change from shitah. As the Rebbe said in his last letter,

21:05 case-by-case basis, we decide how much at-- how much natural and how much allopathic they need. A plausible Caylee is key, and, uh, the Rebbe only likes things when they're motzer. So with that in mind, let's take a look at the Rebbe not liking things so much. Uh, regarding the thing that you asked me about health and doctors, um, about your health and about doctors who want to manipulate the bones of the neck. This will sound like chiropractor again. Certainly you know that there's a position among people who do medicine, among medical thought. Although a lot of people don't agree with it. The people who are good at this, these massagers who are particularly good in this particular method. That, uh, obviously you know, says the Rebbe, that there are a lot of people who say, although other people disagree with it, that chiropractors and massage therapists are able to get a lot of cures out of moving the body around, specifically the bones of the neck. The Rebbe says, "I must admit, I am not excited about this position." So the Rebbe says about when it comes to chiropractor, chiro-- was it chiropracty? Is that how you say it? When it comes to chiropracty, when it comes to massage therapy, when it comes to moving around the neck to cure patients, the Rebbe says, "I must tell you, I'm not excited about it." At the same time, I've seen it work and I've seen it help people in a couple cases. So it makes sense

22:28 to give it a shot. It seems to me the name for this thing is chiropractic. So the Rebbe says, "I'm not excited about chiropracty." At the same time, it's worked for some people, and therefore, it would make sense to give it a shot. We're gonna go on, he complains that the person hasn't written about their . Uh, we're not gonna do that today. So here the Rebbe is a lot more hesitant about chiropracty. He says to give it a try, but we're not seeing excitement about alternative medicine. Uh, this letter is Gimel Tav Reish Lamed He. It is Tuv Shin Tes Vav. Tes Vav Tammuz of Tuv Shin Tes Vav. We're gonna go a little late today if you don't mind. Uh, we started a little late. The Rebbe writes, I'm responding to your letter. Uh, this one is probably the Rebbe's strongest words against alternative medicine. Uh, but it's a specific kind. Watch carefully and you'll see it's a kind of alternative medicine. I'm responding to your letter from the seventh day of Tammuz, and there you wrote, . Note the Rebbe says Mister, not Doctor. A random guy, . So this is a certain individual who does not seem to be a doctor. He cures people using a , a special kind of way of healing, and he seems to have suc-- been, been successful in a lot of them. Some people know him, uh, individuals seem to know, uh, . A lot of people who are involved with him seem to know

23:44 him personally. Okay. So we-- I, I think maybe that's the patients. That some of the patients who he c-- yeah, it's the patients. Some of the patients who this guy cured using his unique methods that he devent-- invented on, on his own, um, some people seem to-- you, you know these people personally and they've done better. So this person's writing about a, a fringe naturopathic doctor. This is not somebody with any kind of certification. Their name is Mister. He's using a kind of refuah that's not naturopathy, it's not chiropracty, it's not osteopathy. This is, uh, this is a treatment that it seems he made up on his own, and he's had some success. So the Rebbe writes about this guy, in that kind of case, let's figure out what the details are. We are not seeing the Rebbe sign off on it. The Rebbe's saying, "I want details." When it comes to it, the main thing I wanna know is I want more details of what was called success regarding these other patients. What do you mean? Did, did-- were they sick and they got better? What exactly happened? Is success, uh, quantifiable? I wanna know, says the Rebbe, what exactly was their problem and what exactly was the success? And then I want you to pass this information along to three friends and follow their advice. And Hashem should give you a berakhah, you'll get the right advice, and, uh, it will be good for your mother. She should live long, and the Rebbe

25:00 gives his berakhah. So here, unlike our prior letters where we were dealing with established forms of alternative medicine, where the Caylee was clearly plausible and there was clearly nothing usher going on, here the Rebbe goes, "I don't know what this guy's doing." This guy is, uh, he's not involved in a, in a plausible Caylee necessarily.He's not involved in something that's motza necessarily. We don't know. We need details." So when, uh, when people tell you this guy is operating out of his basement just curing people, I wanna know what were they sick with? Homeopathy? Huh? Is this homeopathy? homeopathy. this, this could be something even weirder. The Rebbe's going, "I wanna know, uh, I, I wanna know what's going on. I wanna know what do they come s-- what were they sick with? What are you calling a cure? Um, what exactly are these-- who exactly are these people saying that they got better, and what do they mean they got better? And I want three people looking into this to give you advice," because here you're seeing the Rebbe's discomfort, and I don't think this is astira at all with the prior letters. I think a lot of people who, uh, who might have looked at this in the past saw astira here between prior letters where the Rebbe's like gung ho about, uh, alternative medicine. Suddenly he's cautious. He's cautious because the two rules we've been looking at the whole time changed. The two rules are plausible cheile and definitely motza. And here

26:03 the Rebbe goes, "I don't know. We gotta check it out." You're gonna see this again over here in another letter where the Rebbe's anti-alternative medicine, but specifically because we're missing the two things that make the Rebbe comfortable, plausible cheile and definitely motza. This letter is labeled . It's from Beis Tammuz of , and the Rebbe writes, And there's a couple things going on here. Just the top paragraph's kind of interesting. I think we talked before about, uh, I think we might have had a shiur before on the idea that, uh, we don't, um... I think we did one, like, on, uh, a min hagmar of childbirth. We don't tell, uh, very early on, we don't spread the word that somebody's pregnant very early on. We hide it a little bit. And, uh, the Rebbe's just saying in this top paragraph, uh, the is , that people are not supposed to publicize this. Uh, that means that you're not supposed to publicize it for no reason. But if there's a good reason to tell somebody that you're pregnant, then obviously that's, uh, that, that, that's allowed for presumably medical reasons given the rest of the letter. Now, the Rebbe continues. Um, let's go down here. dot, dot, dot. You're asking me about a certain lady. she heals people, but she doesn't use any kind of medicine. That could be homeopathy. I don't know. Might be something else. Maybe that she just looks at them and heals them. I have no idea. He's saying here there's a

27:10 woman who heals, and she doesn't use any medicines to do so. Now, don't forget, put on your, put on your Rebbe caps. We have learned that if it's not a plausible cheile, and if it's open sugulos, and it's possible, uh, it could be a midzah involved, the Rebbe backs off. So watch this. This woman who heals without healing, et cetera, who heals without medicines, et cetera. uh, the Rebbe says, "Behold," , "it would seem to me," , "I do not understand" "why anybody would need ways that are not understood, why anybody would use unfathomable paths." The Torah gave permission to doctors to heal. So if you wanna be healed, all you have to do is make a cheile for it. Why are people not making cheilim and going to things that are not plausible cheilim? Those are my words added on at the end. But here, the two cases we saw, the three, the three cases we saw of the Rebbe being uncomfortable with alternative medicine, it's because it was missing an ingredient. Uh, we're not seeing plausible cheilim, and we're not seeing a very clear mechanism that is, uh, that is definitely free of any kind of a midzah. I wanna just end off with something that we literally did two ago, but this is going to become something that I, I, I might, I might quote this every shiur. I'm gonna put this as a bumper on the end of all of this shiur. This is one of the coolest things that I

28:17 ever saw, and I can't stop thinking about it. Um, we saw, like, two ago that, uh, the Rebbe says that, um, when it comes to asking people-- asking the Rebbe for advice, starting in the '80s already, I think it was like '87, maybe even earlier. Starting in the '80s, the Rebbe, um... How do I say this nicely? Uh, sort of he pawned us off on people. That is, people used to go to the Rebbe for everything, and the Rebbe said, "For most issues in gashmius nowadays, uh, and in ruchnius, actually, I don't want you going to me anymore. I want you to go to people. And if you go to people, they'll give you a proper berakah, and you'll get the-- you'll get my berakah through them." And those are three big categories. The three big categories are that when people have-- when people want advice when it comes to, uh, avodah, when it comes to ruchnius, spirituality, they should go to their mashpia, and they'll get the Rebbe's berakah and the Rebbe's hadraha through their mashpia. Uh, if a person wants help in medicine, they should go to a , a doctor who is a friend, and a doctor who is a friend will send them, uh, Hashem will send them a cure, a berakah through them. And finally, in business matters, yefidim uvinim. When it comes to business, yefidim uvinim. That is people who understand that particular field. Uh, if you go to them, you'll get, you'll get the berakah. I wanna read

29:18 to you the exact though. The exact in this is in . So that would be nineteen eighty-- nineteen forty-eight. Um, in eight-- excuse me, I'm doing the-- I just did the date in Hebrew. Nineteen eighty-eight. Uh, this is in the and the page is three oh four. And the Rebbe says here, Uh, when it comes to my general answers for, uh, for the, for people's, the public's questions, , for example, when it comes to healing, that people should follow the advice of a doctor who is a, uh, an expert doctor. even better if they are two expert doctors. especially if they have a difference of opinion. if they disagree, then you should ask a third. followed-- So following the majority of physicians. when it comes to parnasah, you should follow the advice of, of , friends who know that business. when it comes to serving Hashem, that is, uh, mashpia. Now, about these three things, here's the part I want you to see. The Rebbe says, "First of all, it's not just that you're not losing anything from the fact that I don't have time to answer you all individually." To the, the opposite, the exact opposite. You get more out of it 'cause in addition to that, you get the . What the Rebbe's saying here is that people wish they could ask the Rebbe right now about, God forbid, their medical concerns or, uh, about their business concerns or about their concerns in . And the Rebbe's saying, "Right now, I gave you

30:48 the tools. The tools exist right now that if a person has a concern about , they ask their mashpia, they get more of the Rebbe's berakah than they would have by asking the Rebbe directly 'cause they're included in the and the power of the congregation, the of the cloth. If they have a question in business, they can get more berakah and atzlacha in their life right now by asking a yefidim uvinim than they would have by going to the Rebbe because the Rebbe says, "I'm including you in the ." And for our discussion here, if a person really wants any kind of medical help with anything, um, whether they, whether they use alternative medicine, whether they use allopathic medicine, how to use it, when to use it The Rebbe's advice that we're seeing in these letters is powerful, and I think it has a coherent shita and it's special. But if you really wanna know what to do medically, the Rebbe says you want a bracha in medicine? A bracha in medicine comes through rofeh mumcha. Find yourself a rofeh yadid, a doctor who's a friend, a medical, uh, professional who's a friend, and ask them, and you won't just get good advice, and you won't just get a regular bracha, but you'll get an additional bracha through ma'alas and keyach hatzibur. So, uh, I don't want-- I just want to, uh, say a conclusion that kind of wraps us up. I know we're way over time, a much longer one than usual. I appreciate

31:49 you all showing some patience with me. Um, we saw that halakha does not love alternative medicine. That's kind of how we opened. Although there's certainly room for it under specific circumstances. Uh, we saw that we have rules, no idolatry. Uh, there has to be some licensing agency involved, some plausible mechanism. But we also saw that the Rebbe's approach to medicine in general is that it only-- is that it works just like any other keili. It works a lot like parnassa, that the method doesn't matter very much. As long as our work is plausible and honest, we make money. And similarly, uh, when it comes to medicine, as long as our keili is plausible and mutar, doesn't violate, you know, aveida zara or anything like that, then it, then it should bring the bracha. So the actual kind of medicine, we, uh, interestingly enough, don't care all that much about medical efficacy. What we really care about the most is medical plausibility. Does it make sense and is it mutar? And make sense and is it mutar has to do with the majority of people doing it, the hatslacha in the past, all the things we saw in the letters. Um, in any event, I'm fairly confident saying that this is the Rebbe's shita regarding alternative medicine, but I'm one hundred percent confident telling you that the Rebbe's real shita involving anything in medicine is katzas rofeh yadid, that people should find, uh, physicians. And by the way, it does not have to be a physician.

32:52 Rofe yadid can be any medical health professional. We have one on our live share right now who would make an excellent rofeh yadid. That is somebody who's a certified medical professional, uh, who is also your friend, is absolutely, uh, somebody who will be a keili for a bracha. So if you really wanna know really what to do about any kind of medicine, including alternative, the answer is always rofeh yadid one hundred percent of the time. But as far as the Rebbe's shita in letters, I think we've developed something. Thank you all very much.