Embracing the Role of Healing Body and Soul

Apr 12, 2026, 1:12 PM

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Embracing the Role of Healing Body and Soul

Whole Person Care

(Reflections on the Haftorah for the normative Parsha for Tazria)

(II Kings 4:42-5:19)

The body cannot be separated

From the spirit that animates its being.

Whole person care is integral to healing;

Thus respected, the life force is celebrated.

If fractioned, complete recovery

Is elusive; it awaits recognition,

Acknowledgement and understanding

Of comprehensive embodiment of mystery.

Not to be dissected but perceived

As a mystery, a sum of all parts,

Then, the healer encounters the awaited

Cognition of the individual’s essence.

Thus, Elisha healed Naaman of Tzarat*

In embracing his role of healing body and soul.

*Tzarat, an intensive, encompassing, disfigurative disease described in the Book of Leviticus, chapters13 and 14, which manifests itself on the human skin. It is not Hansen’s disease, the medical condition, diagnosed as leprosy.

About the Author

Michel M.J. Shore is a retired judge of the Federal Court of Canada and recently made a home in Israel. He is the writer of several published books and poetry collections.