ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף צפניה 3:6

And sometimes calamities occur in faraway places and in the distant isles to arouse Israel to repentance and to fill them with fear and trepidation lest the disaster descend upon them, as the prophet writes (Zephaniah 3:6-7): "I have cut off nations. Their high places are desolate. I have laid their streets waste, without a passerby. Their cities are destroyed, without a man, without an inhabitant. I said: 'Surely, you will fear Me; you will accept chastisement…'" And when they refuse to be chastised by the evil descending upon the others, it draws closer and closer to them. And there is no doubt that one who witnesses these calamities (which are, in truth, the warnings of the Blessed One) and persists in his evil way is comparable to one who transgresses and is warned, in which case he incurs the death penalty with repeated transgressions. Therefore, there is no doubt that in these times one must earnestly seek healing for the soul and give it precedence to the healing of the body. This is the intent of King-David, may peace be upon him (Psalms 41:5): "I said, O L-rd, be gracious to me. Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You." That is, when I was ill I prayed for the healing of my soul, and made that the focal point of all my exertions, not the healing of my body. And there is no question that every thinking man should place the healing of his soul before that of his body. For even as concerns bodily ailments the question is raised in the practice of medicine: If there are two ailments affecting two organs, which organ should be healed first? And the answer is given that the following take priority: first, that organ which is in greater danger; second, that organ which is the cause of the other's illness; third, that organ whose healing is a prerequisite for the healing of the other. And all of these three apply to the healing of body and soul. For there is no doubt that the danger to the soul is greater than that to the body, the body being ephemeral and the soul eternal. And there is likewise no doubt in my mind that the illnesses of the soul are the cause of the bodily ailments and that the latter cannot be healed without the soul being healed first. As our sages state (Berachoth 33a): "In the locale of R. Chanina b. Dosa there was a killer serpent. When they came and told R. Chanina about it, he went and placed his heel upon its lair. The serpent bit him — and died, whereupon R. Chanina took it to the study hall and said: 'See, my children, it is not the serpent that kills, but sin!'" It is hereby plainly indicated that spiritual ills are the cause of bodily ills and that the healthy soul repels all causes of bodily death. And if one would err and say that this is true only of R. Chanina b. Dosa or of those like him but that it does not even remotely apply to the common run of mankind, this would be an error indeed and a complete misapprehension. For the health and sickness of the soul follow the same path as the health and sickness of the body. And just as you see men of such defective constitutions and weak organs that even the weakest forces injure them, their bodies, because of their weakness, being unable to offer any resistance to these forces — in the same way, those whose souls are defective will not repel any counter-force whatsoever. And just as those who are healthy can, in the access of their health, withstand some of the things that are normally injurious to the body, in the same way healthy souls can withstand injurious influences in proportion to their health. And just as one in the prime of health, by drinking theriac or other such specifics can ward off the effects of all of the poisons and not be injured by them, in the same way, that soul which is in the prime of health, which yearns for mitzvoth and drinks the theriac of repentance — that soul will repel all adverse influences, and this was the estate of R. Chanina b. Dosa and of all those like him.