Sneezing or “Chaim Tovim” — Jewish Psychosomatics

Sneezing or “Chaim Tovim” — Jewish Psychosomatics

The Midrashim relate that before the era of the patriarch Jacob, there were no illnesses in the world, not even the ailments of old age (Sanhedrin 107b). When a person's days came to an end, he would sneeze—and with that sneeze, he would surrender his soul to G-d. Jacob pleaded for mercy, and G-d took pity on humanity, sending the weakness of old age so that a person would sense the approach of death, prepare for it, and do teshuvah. Therefore, when messengers told Joseph, “Behold, your father is ill” (Bereshit 47:1), this phenomenon—illness—was astonishing to everyone. From that time onward, the Midrash says, it became customary to wish someone who sneezed “chaim” (life) or “chaim tovim” (a good life), emphasizing that sneezing was no longer a sign of death. In the Tosefta, tractate Shabbat (7:5), the Sages prohibit wishing a person who sneezes good health and call it a pagan custom. Maimonides, in the Mishneh Torah (Laws of Torah Study 4:9), follows the opinion of Rabbi Elazar ben Tzadok and prohibits saying “refuah” (healing) after someone sneezes only during Torah study. Rabbi Yosef Karo expresses the same opinion in the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De'ah 246:17). Rabbi Elazar ben Tzadok considers sneezing a phenomenon that poses a danger to one's health and requires immediate action—the wish of marpe, which has the power to save a person from the illness that has manifested. During Torah study, however, this is unnecessary, because the Torah itself protects a person from all misfortunes, including illness: “and for all his flesh—it is healing” (Mishlei 4:22). The Talmud says likewise: “If one's throat hurts, let him engage in Torah; if one's head hurts, let him engage in Torah” (Eruvin 54a). One who studies Torah lives forever—a person comes to study Torah, seeks G-d; having found G-d, he has found life; he is attached to the Tree of Life and connected to the Channel of Life. “And whoever draws close to Him is alive, as it is written (Devarim 4): “But you who cleave to the L-rd your G-d are all alive today”. Ben Ish Chai prohibits saying “chaim tovim” (a good life) to someone who sneezes in a synagogue—the holiness of the place will protect the ill person on its own. Indeed, this is the custom of the Eastern communities, as cited by the contemporary Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef, son of the great Sephardic Rabbi Ovadia Yosef: the person who sneezes is told “Chaim tovim”, and he responds “Ve-yosifu lecha shnot chaim” (May years of life be added to you), quoting the Book of Mishlei (9:11). If a person sneezes twice, he is told: “double life”; and if three times, “eternal life”. Maharshal (Rabbi Shlomo Luria) recommends that the person who sneezes say: “Lishuatcha kiviti Hashem” (I hope for salvation from You, O L-rd), and those who hear this should respond: “Baruch tichyeh” (May you be blessed). (Yam Shel Shlomo, Bava Kamma 8:64) Rabbi Avraham Ha-Levi Gombiner prescribes the same in Magen Avraham, his commentary on the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 230:6), viewing this wish as a prayer for one's fellow, who is currently in danger. The Shlah HaKadosh—Rabbi Yeshaya Horowitz, in Shnei Luchot HaBrit—also recommends acting in this manner. Interestingly, Rabbi Yaakov-Chaim Ha-Sofer (Kaf HaChaim 230:20) does not recommend that pious Jews do so, “for after sneezing it is difficult to concentrate on pronouncing the Name of the Almighty, and one who pronounces the Name of the Almighty without proper intent may be severely punished from Above.” Chatam Sofer (Rabbi Moshe Sofer), however, refrained from saying these words for another reason: so that he would not inadvertently recite, out of habit, this verse from Tanach—which contains the Name of the Almighty—in the restroom. All these Jewish sages viewed sneezing as a bad omen, perhaps even as a reminder of death. Rabbi Baruch Ha-Levi Epstein, author of Torah Temimah, tried to find the source of the departure of life through sneezing and suggested that it was found in the verse: “And G-d breathed into the nostrils of the first man the breath of life” (Bereshit 2:7). If the breath (neshamah), identified with the animal soul (nefesh), entered the forefather of all humanity through his nostrils, then it should also leave through them. Perhaps this idea is reflected in Tanach, which relates how the prophet Elisha revived the child of the Shunamite woman. In the course of reviving him, “the child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes” (Melachim II 4:35). The sneeze was, for the prophet, a sign that the soul had returned to the body. Rabbi Yitzchak-Yehuda Rosen cites a statement filled with Kabbalistic meaning by the Chassidic tzadik Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshischa: “Sneezing at the conclusion of Shabbat is a good sign, for at that time the light of King David, who said of himself, ‘But I am prayer,’ manifests in the world.” (Tehillim 109:4) Apparently, this should be understood as follows: King David, a perfect tzadik, was himself an embodiment of prayer. Therefore, at the moment when “the light of King David” manifests in the world, every Jew can partially resemble him. Then even a person's bodily functions may resemble the words of prayer. And if sneezing, once a sign of death, changed its status over time and in some cases even became a good sign, then it would be more logical to wish someone who sneezes “chaim tovim”—as was customary among our Sages—in place of the modern “la-briut”. (Lechaim.ru, Rabbi Daniel Cohen, “Shaar HaEmet”)