Hashem is the only source of healing. He strikes down, and He heals. Horav Yechezkel Abramski, zl, raised and addressed a pertinent question regarding the brachah of “Refaenu” which we recite in Shemonah Esrai. We say, “Heal us, Hashem – then we will be healed. Save us – then we will be saved, for You are our praise.” Why do we add the words, “For You are our praise“? Why is this the only brachah in which we emphasize Hashem’s unique involvement? Horav Abramski commented that in the field of medicine, one has the opportunity to attribute his recovery to the physician, due to his access to modern medicine. How often do we pay lip service to the Almighty by reciting Tehillim, all the while placing our entire faith in the hands of the physician as if he really were in charge? For this reason, we accent the fact that Hashem is our praise, which means that we realize and believe that only through His intervention will a refuah sheleimah occur. The physicians are merely His agents in effecting the cure.
