A poor family once came to the Maggid of Mezritch asking for a cure for their lame son.

Departing from his ordinary selfless practice, the Maggid told the family: “Bring me 50 gold rubles and your son will be healed.”

“Fifty gold rubles!” the woman said in shock. “That is far beyond our means. Would the Rebbe be satisfied with a little less?”

“Not a kopek less,” answered the Maggid.

And so the family set about selling their meager possessions and taking loans, trying to amass the sum the Maggid had mentioned.

When they had scraped together 30 gold rubles, they again approached the Maggid.

“Would this sum suffice?” they asked, for they saw little hope of gathering more.

With unexpected severity, the Maggid refused. So once again, they went out to knock on doors, begging and borrowing to try to accumulate the full sum.

When they reached 40 rubles, they came to the Maggid a third time.

“This is all we can raise,” the mother pleaded. “Please take it and bless our son.”

“I said 50 gold rubles,” the Maggid replied. “I will not accept a penny less.”

In exasperation, the mother threw the money out the window. “G‑d will help us without the Maggid,” she told her husband.

“That’s what I was waiting for,” the Maggid exclaimed. “Moshe,” he said turning to the lame boy, “Go out and collect those coins. Your mother will need them.”

And as the parents looked on, their son walked out the door!

The Maggid explained: “As long as you put your faith in me personally, your prayers could not be answered. Once you put your trust in G‑d, there was a chance for your son’s recovery.”

We all know what infirmity is. We have all seen friends or relatives stricken or perhaps have been afflicted ourselves with various physical, psychological or spiritual infirmities.

We often feel helpless in the face of such ailments. For regardless of the great strides man has made in medicine, there are still sicknesses and conditions which mortals cannot remedy. These feelings of helplessness, however, are our greatest enemies, perhaps more debilitating than the sicknesses themselves.

What is the key to recovery? A positive outlook.

This does not involve naive euphoria, for a person must look reality squarely in the face. But having said that, a person who is ill should never consider himself beyond help. On the contrary, such negativity will only reinforce the infirmity, and restrict any potential for recovery.

In this vein, the Rebbe would frequently reiterate the popular Yiddish maxim: Tracht gut, vet zein gut, “Think positively, and the outcome will be positive.” For example, the Hebrew term for hospital is Beis Cholim, literally meaning: “A home for the sick.” “Call it a Beis Refuah, ‘a house of healing,’ ” the Rebbe would say.

And when doctors told patients that there was no hope, he would criticize them harshly. “The Torah tells us,” he would repeat, “that a doctor is given permission to heal. That is his expertise. When he gives a prognosis of doom, he has exceeded his authority.”

We must understand that healing is in G‑d’s hands, and therefore is always possible. He is the absolute Master of our lives, and we cannot put any limits on what He can do.

And this also applies with regard to the G‑dly potential invested in each of us. Every one of us has a soul which is an actual part of G‑d. This is the core of our being, our true selves. Therefore there is always the possibility within ourselves for healing and recovery.