Last summer, my friend Rabbi Phyllis Sommer posted on her Facebook page that her 6-year-old son Sam had been diagnosed with leukemia. I was stunned and deeply saddened.
Sam was a normal healthy six-year-old who developed pain in his arms and legs. After a number of doctors and hospital visits, he was diagnosed with leukemia and to use Rabbi Phyllis' words, "our lives will never be the same."
A few days after sharing her son's diagnosis, Rabbi Phyllis started a blog called "Superman Sam." On the blog she proposed a photo project. These were the instructions: Take a photo of yourself wearing your favorite superhero shirt, or holding up their logo. Then print out the photo and mail it to Sam at his hospital room.
Soon I began to see photos on Facebook with the name Superman Sam, of people all over the country wearing Superman or Batman T-shirts. A week later Phyllis posted a picture of Sam's hospital room. It was literally covered in pictures of people in superhero T-shirts. All of those photos on Sam's wall were a beautiful testament to the love and support that Sam received from family and friends as well as new friends from all over the country.
The Superhero Sam project reminds us of the value of the intangible elements in healing. Of course we depend on our doctors to guide us through our medical treatment.
But there are other non-medical elements in the healing process that can provide us with hope and strength.
Norman Cousins, the well-known writer and editor of the Saturday Review, was diagnosed in 1964 with a spine condition and was given a 1 in 500 chance of survival. He discovered that his condition was depleting his body of large amounts of vitamin C, so he began to take doses of this supplement.
Then Cousins brought a movie projector home along with several old Marx Brothers movies. Cousins found that he laughed so hard at the films that he was able to stimulate chemicals in his body that allowed him several hours of pain free sleep. When the pain would return he would simply turn the projector back on and the laughter would re-induce sleep.
A week later after the vitamin C and his laughing therapy, Cousins was back at work. He would live another 36 years.
It was perhaps a modern-day miracle that Norman Cousins' increased vitamin C intake and his laughter helped to cure him. I only wish it was so easy for all who are ill. But Cousins' story reminds us of the power of humor to aid in healing our spirits and even our bodies.
Along with community and laughter, there is another intangible element in the healing process, which is important in Judaism, and that is prayer.
Scientific studies at Duke, Dartmouth and Yale have shown that being part of a religious community is good for your health. Hospitalized people who never attended church or synagogue have an average stay of three times longer than people who attended regularly. In Israel, religious people had a 40% lower death rate from cardiovascular disease and cancer.
The process of prayer itself is good for health as well. For the past 30 years, Harvard scientist Dr. Herbert Benson has conducted his own studies on prayer. Benson has documented on MRI brain scans the physical changes that take place in the body when someone prays.
All forms of prayer, he says, evoke a relaxation response that quells stress, quiets the body, and promotes healing. Surveys have found that perhaps half of Americans regularly pray for their own health, and at least a quarter have prayed for others. As Professor Paul Parker describes it, in times of illness all religions look towards their source of authority.
Each week in the Sanctuary, I offer the mishebeirach healing prayer with my congregation. Praying together helps to release the anxiety of dealing with illness and gives us renewed strength to face the week ahead. Praying for the health of others gives us peace of mind and hope.
My friend Rabbi Phyllis' superhero Sam photo project incorporates all of the intangibles of healing. It brings together a loving community of support.
Seeing the pictures of people dressed up as superheroes I am sure made Sam laugh. And the prayers of all those across the world for Sam made a difference.
Sam is now in remission.