Helping. Healing. Caring.
Bikur cholim is an essential quality of good interpersonal relationships. It reflects the primary Biblical value, "And you shall love your fellow as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18).
By fulfilling this role, we deeply enrich both our lives and the lives of those we visit. When we visit we attain a spiritual dimension that goes well beyond a simple personal expression of caring and links us with generations past, present and future. Indeed, we are linked not only to the entire Jewish people, but to all humanity, as well, emulating the G-dly attributes of compassion and lovingkindness.
You are not alone
A visit from a caring individual can provide support, bring joy and relieve loneliness.
Be a force for good by using your skills, talents, and resources to help others.
Why We Help
Bikur cholim, "visiting the sick," in Hebrew, is a term encompassing a wide range of activities performed by an individual or a group to provide comfort and support to people who are ill, homebound, isolated and/or otherwise in distress.
The act of bikur cholim is a mitzvah, a moral and spiritual obligation incumbent upon all Jews to perform. The Torah tells us that human beings are created in the image of G-d and instructs us to aspire to be like G-d by emulating His ways. G-d visits Avraham while he was recuperating after being circumcised (Genesis 17:26-18:1). The Talmud teaches us that "As He visited the sick, so shall you visit the sick…"
