**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT**
Rabbi Eli Mansour and the Torah Center Congregation will be relocating effective this coming Tuesday, Sept. 6th/13 Elul, to Har HaLebanon, at the corner of East 9th St & Ave. S in Brooklyn. We thank Ahi Ezer for the past many years of providing Rabbi Mansour and the Torah Center with a home. Daily prayers and classes will take place in the Midrash on the 2nd floor at Har HaLebanon. Seuda Shelishi lectures will also be at Har HaLebanon and will be given on the lower level catering hall. Rabbi Mansour and the Torah Center wish to acknowledge the gracious hospitality of Har HaLebanon during this hold over period while a permanent synagogue is planned and erected.
***This coming Motzae Shabbat, Sept. 2nd/ 9 Elul, at 9:30 PM, we will be concluding Masechet Yoma with a Siyum and celebration at the Lawrence Ave Synagogue in Deal, NJ. Several Daf Yomi programs will come together on this special night for a light dairy dinner, followed by speeches, and celebratory music with David Shiro. Join program leaders; Rabbi Eli Mansour, Rabbi Choueka, Rabbi Semah, Rabbi Joey Tawil, Rabbi Rahamim Aboud, Isaac Yedid, Bert Hidary, with their respective Daf Yomi learners on this special occasion. We invite the community to attend, be inspired, and take part in this Daf Yomi cycles conclusion of Masechet Yoma.***
Today's Halacha...
One important benefit yielded by visiting a sick patient in a hospital is that it helps ensure that he receives the highest standard of treatment. Physicians and nurses, as human beings, are often influenced by the number of visitors received by a patient under their care. If nobody comes to visit a patient, his physician or nurse may begin thinking that this person is not very important, and may therefore fail to administer medical treatment at the highest level. But if the medical staff sees that many visitors come to be with the patient every day, it will likely make a point of caring to the patient's needs to the very highest standard.
The Gemara in Masechet Nedarim tells that Rabbi Akiva once visited an ailing student, and during his visit he picked up a broom and swept the floor, which had accumulated dust during the student's illness. The student remarked to Rabbi Akiva, "Rabbi, you have restored my life."
The Perisha (commentary to the Tur by Rabbi Yehoshua Falk, Germany, 1550-1614) deduced from this story that the Mitzva of Bikur Cholim includes cleaning the patient's room. A patient's dysfunctional condition often results in the accumulation of dust and clutter in the room, making the room very uncomfortable. As we see from the Gemara, a clean and orderly room is an important component of the recovery process, and a visitor should therefore offer to straighten up and clean the patient's room. Patients often receive many gifts from generous visitors that clutter the room and make it uncomfortable. Visitors should therefore make a point of helping to make the room orderly and as comfortable as possible for the patient, which will likely help his recovery process and restore his health.
