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all types that exist in the world. In recent generations we
have seen how certain discoveries have turned the world
upside down, and all this is only like a drop in the ocean
when compared to the secrets of nature which have yet to
be discovered. Who knows how many wondrous powers
hidden in nature could have been discovered if there was
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unity in the world and all would work together to reveal
and discover. In the past, powers concealed in nature were
known as well, as we find, for example, in the Book of Rem-
edies hidden by Chizkiyahu Hamelech (Berachos 10b).
For this reason, the people of that generation united
(Bereishis 11:4): “And they said, come, let us build a city
and a tower with its top in Heaven,” which would serve as
a center and symbol of their unity. In truth, there was no
inherent sin in their search for strategies on how to save
themselves from plagues of the world. But the Creator saw
that their quest stemmed from the desire to free them-
selves from His Providence. Had their intent been actual-
ized, they would have been able to accomplish much with
the power of unity, as it says (Bereishis 11:6): “And the Lord
said: Behold, they are one people and they all have one
language… and nothing will be withholden from them…”
1 SuMMaRy and Conclusions
1. According to the Aruch Hashulchan, if the government licenses
alternative treatments and the treating physician is an expert
and licensed to practice it, then he is exempt from payment if he
made a mistake. According to the Menachem Meishiv, he also
has to obtain permission from a beis din.
2. A physician should consult with others, and then he will merit
Divine assistance and will avoid problems.
3. If a homeopathic physician licensed in a foreign country inad-
vertently damaged a patient, he is exempt from payment despite
28 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein
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the ruling of a judge is always a correct ruling; even if he errs, nev-
ertheless it is Torah, as it says (Devarim 17:11): “And according to the
Torah judgment that they shall tell you, you shall do. You shall not
turn aside from their sentence that they shall declare unto you, not to
the right nor to the left.” Rashi explains: even if they say that right is
left or left is right. And the Ramban expands on this idea. “The spirit
of Hashem is with those who serve in His Temple, and He does not
abandon His pious ones. Forever, they will be protected from error
and from a stumbling block.” Therefore, even it comes to light that the
judge erred, he is not guilty in the eyes of Heaven because it all came
from Hashem.
One should add that although he who listens to the voice of his
physician and his advice is fulfilling the word of Hashem, as Chazal
said “heal, he shall heal,” nevertheless, the physician himself did not
fulfill a mitzvah if he erred, while a judge, even if he errs, his word is
Torah in final analysis.
As we have said, in a case where the physician is treating an injured
patient who would certainly die without the treatment and the physi-
cian erred and injured him more, the physician is exempt even by the
laws of Heaven. We can see this from what is written in the Tosefta
(Bava Kamma 6:6): If a physician has to dismember a fetus and kill
it in order to save the mother’s life, and he made a mistake during
the surgery and injured one of the mother’s limbs, he is exempt in a
human court but his case is handed over to Heaven.
How can the physician be held accountable by a Heavenly Court
in a case where his actions are completely justified, for without them
the mother would have died? One can answer: If the physician erred
during the act of saving the mother’s life, such as if he could have
made a horizontal cut but instead he cut vertically, he is exempt
even in the eyes of Heaven because this incision saved the life of the
mother, and were it not for his actions she would have died, but if
the error was not part of the life-saving action but due to an extra,
unnecessary injury, such as if he cut into the urinary bladder because
of lack of sufficient attention to his patient’s care, this extra cut that
Error in Refraction Measurements 2 57
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