Storm on the Web: Is It Permissible to 'Sell' a Disease to a Non-Jew?

I have previously heard of similar stories of "selling" diseases to non-Jews - but not according to the sages' spirit, and they never ended well. One of the famous Hasidic tales tells of a wicked man who defied heaven and mockingly sold all his rights to the next world to his neighbor. After a few years, the wicked man died and began to haunt the neighbor in terrifying dreams - until the community rabbi performed a tikkun for the deceased and returned his rights. The moral of the story is clear: the divine realm allowed the wicked to torment the neighbor, indicating that heaven did not approve of the act in the sight of Hashem.

It is crucial to understand that when Hashem brings suffering upon a person, it is intended for their spiritual atonement and improvement, serving a beneficial purpose like a father disciplining his son for a good reason. The Torah states: "Know in your heart that just as a parent disciplines a child, so the Lord your God disciplines you" (Deuteronomy 8:5).

We do not comprehend the divine calculations, nor do we know the purpose of suffering, but we know it is for good. The Sages said (Pesachim 50a): "Not like this world is the next world: in this world, upon hearing good tidings one says, 'Blessed is He who is good and kind,' but upon receiving bad tidings one says, 'Blessed is the true Judge.' In the next world, all say, 'He who is good and kind.'"

How should a person understand that suffering is beneficial for them? One should think of sins as wounds inflicted upon the body, and of the suffering as surgery intended to heal those wounds. Would a disabled person prefer to remain disabled, or undergo surgery to restore their body? Suffering is not just a punishment; it is intended to repair spiritual defects in the soul that were caused by sins in previous incarnations. The way to atone for the soul and restore it to its wholeness is by accepting suffering with love, as well as through prayer, repentance, and charity to needy Jews and the less fortunate (for the poor of your city come first).

Our sages have instructed: "Repentance, prayer, and charity remove the evil of the decree" (Machzor for Rosh Hashanah). This is because these acts repair the soul from its damage, and then it no longer requires the decreed suffering for its repair. However, "selling suffering" or "selling sins" does not repair what is damaged, even if the strange act were to succeed and the person was spared suffering - in the next world they would find that their soul is still blemished, lacking perhaps a hand or a foot. The soul may not undergo suffering, but it remains forever impaired, and they would discover it was not worthwhile to interfere with the Creator's plans, which sought their true good and acted with love and benefit.

And therefore - even if it were possible, what is the point of selling "sufferings," when the cause of the sufferings is not repaired? It's like treating the symptom instead of the illness. The surgery was successful, but the patient died.

Our sacred Torah teaches the Jew guidance in life (Deuteronomy 18:13): "You shall be wholehearted with the Lord your God." Rashi explains: "Walk with Him wholeheartedly and trust in Him... accept everything that comes upon you with sincerity, and then you will be with Him and His portion."

Hashem does not expect His creations to delve into divine accounts and mysteries, nor to seek loopholes and "escapes" from decreed suffering. This is why the Torah forbids approaching witches, mediums, and fortune tellers, and bans communicating with the dead. God doesn't want us to be involved in mysteries or to try and interfere in divine calculations. He, blessed be He, knows exactly what is good for a person, so stepping into His realm is like rebelling against His wisdom and goodness, as if a person believes themselves "wiser" than the divine plan arranged for them...

King Solomon warned against this greatly: "God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many schemes" (Ecclesiastes 7:29), and he also said: "A person’s folly undermines their way, and their heart rages against the Lord" (Proverbs 19:3).

The straight and true faith of any Jew is to believe in Hashem who does everything for the good - including the suffering. And certainly, it is necessary to make efforts to overcome suffering - but these efforts must remain within the permitted scope, as instructed by sacred Torah and by our sages - through prayer, repentance, and charity. Anyone attempting to be clever will not succeed.

Moreover, in my humble opinion, the story can generate waves of hatred - both from non-Jews exposed to the story, and from our misguided brethren, rendering it as a possible desecration of the Divine name. May Hashem guard and save.

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Following the reactions, I will address a list of sources I found in David Kliger's article. If anyone is aware of additional sources, I would be happy to see them.

A. In 'Sefer Chassidim' (Section 445), there is a story about a sick man who came close to death, and there was someone who jokingly said to the sick man: Sell me your illness. The sick man replied: If you give me such and such a sum, I will sell you the illness. He said: I will give you. Immediately, the sick man rose and recovered, and the one who joked fell ill and died in his place.

- Comment: 'Sefer Chassidim' does not recommend this act, only recounts an incident highlighting the power of words (especially towards the one who "joked"). Surely this is not a legal ruling or endorsement.

B. Chida also brings ('Brit Olam'): I heard from a great man who saw a non-Jew who sold the illness, and the seller healed, and the buyer was afflicted with the illness."

- Comment: Same as above. Chida does not recommend selling a disease for money, only documented the case he heard of.

C. The son of 'Shaar Efraim' (introduction to 'Shaar Efraim') recounted a severe plague (in the year 5471) that claimed many lives, including the son of his father. Within the seven days of mourning, his second son also fell ill. When 'Shaar Efraim' heard that his second son had fallen ill, he wrapped himself in his tallit, raised his hands to the heavens in supplication and said: "Please Hashem, let my soul be instead of my son, my dear only child, he is a son of my old age, please listen and act, who would give that I would die instead of you, in the merit of Isaac, our forefather, who was bound on the altar." And while he was praying, the son began to recover and 'Shaar Efraim' fell sick, died, and was gathered to his people.

- Comment: The story tells that the prayer of the righteous was accepted in heaven to save his son with his own life. However, this is not a sale of illness for money, nor a recommendation for anyone.

D. In 'Responsa Chatam Sofer' (Yoreh Deah 341), one was asked about a kohen suffering from epilepsy, and it was found in a book that a remedy for this was to place the hand of the sick man in the hand of an uncircumcised dead man and recite an incantation: "Take from me the illness that doesn't harm you, and becomes beneficial to me." And 'Chatam Sofer' permitted.

- Comment: This legal source does not permit selling a disease to a non-Jew for money, but merely permits saying a statement before the grave of a dead non-Jew without causing harm - "that does not harm you." This is far from the desecration of attempting to sell an illness to a living person.

E. The practice of selling illness with chametz - before the Passover holiday each year, some have added to the chametz sale contract: "I hereby sell and convey to the non-Jew any illness or disease that I and my household have."

- Comment: I see no halachic source here, nor any recommendation. In any case, this is done incidentally and is not comparable to an explicit sale of illness for money.

F. 'Mishne Halachot' (Part 12, Question 471) ruled that it is forbidden to sell illness to a Jew, because it is forbidden for a person to harm themselves, and consequently, there is a prohibition for the buyer to purchase illness, and by selling their illness, they transgress "Do not place a stumbling block before the blind." But for a Gentile, it is permissible.

- Comment: This might be the only explicit source permitting selling a disease to a non-Jew for money, but again, it does not recommend or attest that the action is appropriate or beneficial.

Here it is important to emphasize:

There have been cases where the Sages permitted things considered as healing even if they were not effective, as Rambam understood laws such as: "One can go out on Shabbat with a locust egg, or a fox tooth, or a nail from the gallows for healing purposes" (Shabbat 67a). And in Shulchan Aruch, it is ruled (Siman 179, Section 6): "If a person is bitten by a scorpion, it is permissible to incant it, even on Shabbat, and although it does no good, since he is endangered, it is permitted to alleviate his mind."

In other words, rabbis decide what is permissible and what is forbidden halachically (since certain actions are considered prohibited due to "ways of the Amorites" and "Do not follow the statutes of the nations"), but even when they allow a person to perform an act they wish to do - there is no implied statement that the act is beneficial or desirable. Even if selling a disease to a non-Jew is not a transgression of "Do not place a stumbling block before the blind" or "ways of the Amorites," there is no recommendation here. The permission can only prove that it is not halachically forbidden (that is, it is not a Torah violation). However, what is permitted because it is not a Torah prohibition does not prove that the sages are pleased with it.

G. When asked about what the later commentators wrote regarding the possibility of selling a disease to a non-Jew with chametz, and told that there are those who do this during the sale of chametz, writing in the sales contract that they sell the non-Jew all illnesses and afflictions, and asked what happens after Passover when they return and buy back the chametz from the non-Jew, where does the illness go then, he replied that we do not take back the diseases, only the chametz, and asked if they can do so, and he replied that they can do so without concern.

- Comment: There is no source for this, nor a recommendation to do so. See above in section E.

Conclusion:

We have not found a recommendation for selling a disease to a non-Jew in the sources, and have not heard stories of Torah scholars selling illnesses for money. Without a doubt, this is not the way our rabbis sought to heal from diseases and divine sufferings. Even 'Sefer Chassidim' that permitted it did not testify that the action was beneficial or desirable, only that it is not Torah-prohibited. May it be His will that we always fulfill the verse "You shall be wholehearted with the Lord your God."