A well-known Halacha requires reciting Birkat Ha'gomel upon recovering from an illness that had rendered a person bedridden (Shulchan Aruch, 219). The question was posed to the Rashba (Rabbi Shlomo Ben Aderet, Spain, 1235-1310) concerning a situation of a patient suffering from a chronic illness, Heaven forbid, which affects him on occasion and renders him bedridden. A common example of this kind of illness is a person who frequently experiences migraine headaches which force him to lie in bed. Must such a person recite Birkat Ha'gomel upon being relieved from a headache, despite the fact that the headache will invariably resurface in several days or weeks? Or, does Halacha limit the recitation of this Beracha to situations of a complete and enduring cure to a debilitating illness?
The Rashba rules (listen to audio for precise citation) that a person who was bedridden and is then able to function properly must recite the Beracha even if he knows that the condition will resurface. In fact, the Rashba observes, chronic conditions are often more painful and debilitating than one-time illnesses, and should therefore certainly require a Birkat Ha'gomel. And even if the patient has been graced with divine compassion and been relieved of the condition many times in the past, he cannot securely rely on God's intervention on every occasion. He is therefore obliged to offer thanks to the Almighty each time he returns to his normal state of functionality, even if he anticipates a recurrence of the given condition. Rabbi Moshe Halevi codifies this ruling in his work Birkat Hashem (vol. 4, p. 426).
As we know, the Rabbis instituted the recitation of Birkat Ha'gomel in four situations: when a person emerges safely from prison, travel through water, desert travel, and illness. The question arises as to whether one recites this Beracha upon being saved from other situations of danger that closely resemble these four situations. For example, if a person swimming in a river nearly drowned and was saved, must he recite Birkat Ha'gomel? Although this case is not listed among the four situations requiring this Beracha, it resembles the situation of travel through water, and thus perhaps such a person should, in fact, recite this Beracha. Likewise, a person who parachutes safely from a plane has not experienced any of the four situations specified by the Rabbis, but this situation resembles one of intercontinental travel. (Needless to say, we are not condoning parachuting as an appropriate recreational activity.) Would one recite Birkat Ha'gomel in these cases?
Rabbi Moshe Halevi rules (Birkat Hashem, vol. 4, p. 429; listen to audio for precise citation) that Birkat Ha'gomel is recited only if one experiences one of the four situations listed by the Sages, and hence in the cases described above the Beracha would not be required. Despite the similarity between these cases and the situations described by Chazal, one who emerged safely from these circumstances does not recite Birkat Ha'gomel.
Summary: A person who recovers from an illness that rendered him bedridden recites Birkat Ha'gomel even if he suffers from a chronic medical condition, such that the symptoms will invariably recur. The other situations requiring the recitation of this Beracha are travel through a desert or body of water, and release from captivity. Other situations of danger do not require one to recite this Beracha, even if they resemble one of these four situations, such as parachuting or nearly drowning.
