Healthcare and the Dead Sea

I want to begin by telling a story about Jordan. No, not our bat Mitzvah girl, but the Jordan River in Israel. The Jordan River has been the subject of many songs. The Jordan River is deep and wide, Halleluyah. Milk and honey on the other side, Halleluyah. Michael Row your boat ashore, Halleluyah …

Or “I looked over the Jordan and what did I see, coming for to carry me home. A band of angels coming after me. Coming for to carry me home.”

With songs such as this one, one could imagine that the Jordan River is indeed a major and mighty river. Imagine the surprise of those who travel to Israel when they actually see the Jordan River for the first time. The so-called “river” is actually a creek. It is a part of the Syrian African rift, a great rift that extends hundreds of mile north to south in that part of the world.

The Jordan starts in Northern Israel and is fed by several small tributaries, including the Dan, Banias and Hatzbani rivers. It is then collected in the swamps of the Hula valley. From there, it flows as a river south until it reaches the Sea of Galilee or, as it is called in Hebrew, the Kinneret. From the Kinneret, it flows south until it reaches the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is actually the lowest point on earth, some four hundred meters below sea level.

Rabbinical Midrash paints a far different and more realistic impression of the Jordan River and its role in this great Syrian African Rift. The rabbis noted that the Jordan River flows into and out of the Sea of Galilee. Now for those of us who have been to the Sea of Galilee, we can tell you that it is the fresh water reservoir for the state of Israel. In warmer weather, it is a favorite vacation spot for Israeli families and tourists. The Saint Peter’s fish from the Sea of Galilee is really delicious, especially when cooked with lots of butter on an open grill! The Sea of Galilee is a wonderful place to swim or water ski. It has wonderful Eucalyptus trees on its banks. It is a place which seems to be teeming with life.

The Dead Sea, however, is an entirely different place. There is not much life around the Dead Sea. There are no fish living in it. Its salt and phosphate content is so high that it is impossible for a human being to sink in it. The salt content is good therapy for people with psoriases and some other skin diseases. However, woe be unto the one who enters the Dead Sea with an open cut or who has recently shaved! The pain can be excruciating! Getting Dead Sea water in one’s eyes is unbearable, and swallowing the water of the dead Sea can be fatal.

What is the difference between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea? Both of them are fed by the Jordan River, but one seems to be so alive while the other as befitting its name is so dead. The rabbis teach us that the difference between the two seas is to be found in the fact that the Jordan River flows both in an out of the Sea of Galilee, but only into the Dead Sea. The Sea of Galilee is alive because it is a receiver and a giver. The Dead Sea is dead, precisely because it is only a receiver of the waters of the Jordan River and does not give in return.

Now, I was thinking about this midrash this week not only in terms of our Bat Mitzvah girl Jordan, whose Hebrew name by the way is Yardena, but also because of something else in the news.

Specifically, there was news from California that Anthem Blue Cross was going to raise its insurance rates to Californians purchasing their own coverage by some 39%. This occurred after the company reported massive fourth-quarter profits. This rate increase would affect some 800,000 Californians. The Health and Human Services Department says similar pressure on premiums is being felt in at least six other states and possibly more. The department noted that this is coming after a time of growth in company profits. This is also the result of the lack of competition found for many people in the country when it comes to heath care.

Friends, it is time for us to tell the truth. I think many of us like our doctors, but I know few of us who like our healthcare companies. I know that this is strong language, but in my opinion, healthcare companies have become nothing less than “leeches” on American society and threaten the health of so many. The cost of health care is an impediment to the rebounding of our economy and to the general economic health of the United States. If Anthem Blue Cross is allowed to raise its rates by 39%, some families will see their health care premiums increase by $7,000 in one year!
It is indeed sad that Congress has been unable to pass health care legislation. Such legislation would have required that all health care insurance companies spend a minimum of 85% of their premiums on actual health care and not on advertisements, overhead or bonuses for CEO’s and top leadership.

I am amazed at how the healthcare industry has frightened the American people through its advertising campaign and prevented real healthcare reform. I find it incredible that there are only two major industries which are exempt from federal antitrust laws and these are major league baseball and health insurance companies.

So, I find it noteworthy that in light of this outrageous behavior by health care companies, eighteen democratic senators have asked Congress and the administration to reconsider a public option for healthcare as a way to increase competition and to bring down health care premiums.

Now there will be some who will say that this is not the proper topic for a sermon. Yet the rabbis will tell us that he who saves a life, saves the world. Jewish tradition throughout the middle ages taught that providing health care is a communal responsibility. As such, from a Jewish perspective, the issue of affordable healthcare is not merely an issue of economics, but a profound moral issue of our time.

Yes, there are two seas in Israel fed by the Jordan River. One, the Sea of Galilee teams with life while the other, the Dead Sea, is dead. The behavior of the health care insurance companies of late resembles the Dead Sea far more than it does the Sea of Galilee. Such behavior is indeed deadly because of its effect on our community and on the health and well-being of our citizens.

Therefore, I urge you to become more informed on this issue and to increase the pressure on our elected officials for real healthcare reform.

May it be God’s will and our task that health care in our country will be less like the Dead Sea which only receives but does not give and more like the Sea of Galilee, which not only receives but gives, which not only teams with life, but supports life in all of its God given diversity and beauty.