Bikur Cholim vs. Nichum Aveilim

Bikur Cholim vs. Nichum Aveilim

You’re running on a tight schedule (as usual) and glance at your daily calendar. Uh-oh. There are two mitzvos head-to-head in a scheduling conflict: you are meant to visit one friend in the hospital and another who is sitting shivah. Where should you go?

Halachah dictates that nichum aveilim (comforting mourners) takes precedence over bikur cholim (visiting the sick) because nichum aveilim is both yakra d’chayei (honor for the living) and yakra d’shichvei (honor for the deceased), while bikur cholim only conveys yakra d’chayei.

In a situation where a sick person is not receiving adequate care or has no visitors, we are required to prioritize the bikur cholim call.

If one visit does not preclude the other, and it’s simply a question of which should be scheduled before the other, bikur cholim precedes nichum aveilim.

May we merit to see the fulfillment of the pasuk (verse), “Bila hamaves lanetzach” (death will be forever obliterated), speedily in our days.

https://halacha2go.com?number=614

Practical Halacha: One minute a day. By Horav Yosef Yeshaya Braun, shlita, Mara D'asra and member of the Badatz of Crown Heights.