What is bikur cholim?

"Bikur cholim (Hebrew ... "visiting the sick") is the mitzvah of visiting and helping those with illnesses.[1] It is considered an aspect of
gemilut chasadim (benevolence, selflessness, loving-kindness).[2] All Jews are required to visit those who are ill, including non-Jews, and one
important duty of a rabbi is to visit ill congregants in hospitals.[3] Prayers for healing, such as Mi Shebeirach and psalms such as Psalm 119 are also commonly recited on behalf of the sick.[4]" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikur_cholim

The roots of bikur cholim are in Torah. G-d visited Abraham after he was circumcised:

(Gen 17:26) In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.

(Gen 17:27) And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.

(Gen 18:1) And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;

Joseph came to see Jacob when he was sick:

(Gen 48:1) And it came to pass after these things, that [one] told Joseph, Behold, thy father [is] sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

Ahaziah visited Joram when he was sick:

(2Kings 8:29) And king Joram went back to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

Messiah Yeshua visited ill people (Luk. 7:2-10; John 5:5-9; 11:1-6 etc.).

We need do as He did.

(Matt 25:39) Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

(Matt 25:40) And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me.

''Even a great person must visit a humble one. Raba said: [One must visit] even a hundred times a day. R. Abba son of R. Hanina said: He who visits an invalid takes away a sixtieth of his pain.'' (Nedarim 39b http://www.come-and-hear.com/nedarim/nedarim_39.html) (We don't know what part of a pain can be removed. We quoted the words of r. Abba in order to point to an importance of visiting the sick in Jewish tradition.)

Jews, Christians and the Word of God