Beyond MiShebeirach: A Review of Jewish Prayers for Healing
Lynn D. Flanzbaum
Liturgy
Rabbi Moshe Silberschein
Spring 2003
Introduction
I was at the UAHC (now URJ) Biennial Convention in San Francisco in 1993, during which Debbie Friedman introduced her new musical setting of the “MiShebeirach” prayer to the estimated 5,000 individuals in attendance. The prayer quickly became a fixture in Reform worship services across North America. Most of the time, an opportunity was given for congregants to share the names of those in need of healing. The positive response to this “personal touch” within worship services soon led to the proliferation of specially designated “Healing Services” at synagogues, targeting those in need of physical or spiritual healing as well as their caregivers. (Some congregations were ahead of this trend: Temple Israel in Boston has been offering a monthly healing service called Refuat Hanefesh, the healing of the soul, since 1990.[1])
I began this project in orderto research the “MiShebeirach” prayer and its liturgical origins. I wanted to understand how it came to represent “healing” within the Reform movement when there has been another prayer for healing – רפואה– within the weekday Amidah of the classical prayer service for hundreds of years.
“Not surprisingly, over centuries of existence, Judaism has developed texts and practices that address the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual issues raised by illness and healing. These texts give us the skills to cope, while simultaneously allowing us to give meaning to our suffering, to experience illness’s unfairness, and to express our concomitant anger.”[2]
I expanded my project to include a review of several of these primary and secondary liturgical texts, both new and old. What prayers are offered, when and where are they recited, and by whom?The result of my research is this annotated guide to Jewish communal and personal prayers for healing.
What is healing, and why do Jews pray for it?In essence, people pray to God for intervention during illness, hoping for a miraculous cure. The earliest recorded prayer in the Bible (Numbers 12:13) is that of Moses requesting—and getting—help from God for Miriam. (She had been afflicted with a sudden skin disorder as Divine punishment after an infraction against God.)However, people and communities pray for more than cessation of physical symptoms. The power of the liturgyto aid in healing cannot be properly understood without a basic understanding of the traditional Jewish world-view. This is not easy because:
“through its evolution over three thousand years, the Jewish religion has developed its own unique, pluralistic, multifaceted approach to illness…Traditional Jewish sacred texts, the Bible, the Babylonian Talmud, Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, and the Shulchan Arukh, each express a distinct perspective on the nature and alleviation of illness. As a result, the Jewish approach to healing is empirical, eclectic, complex, and without order or hierarchy, some elements at times in conflict with others.”[3]
Examples of these conflicting approaches can even be found within a single source, the Bible. “The Tanakh contains within it the views expressed in Deuteronomy, which clearly and repeatedly links suffering to sin, as well as the views expressed in…Ecclesiastes and Job, which explicitly admit that the righteous suffer and that some pain has no cause and no cure.”[4]
Rabbis Lawrence Kushner and Nehemia Polen, who offer liturgical commentary from a Chasidic perspective, echo the sin motif. They observe,
“According to Divrei Shmuel…the mother of all healing is s’lichah, ‘forgiveness.’ The business of prayer is not cure—that is for the physicians—but forgiving oneself, discovering acceptance and thereby finding healing…Healing then, is a psycho-spiritual state wherein we forgive ourselves and realize that holiness is everywhere, perhaps even in our own infirmity!”[5]
Rabbi Elliot Dorff, commenting on liturgy from a theological perspective,notes the contrast between our modern world-view and that of days long past:
“Nowadays we are likely to start with the assumption of health, so that when sickness occurs, we blame God and question why God does not heal. In times past, people began with the assumption that a person might get sick at any time, so that God was to be praised for moments of healing…This disparity exists largely because prior to modern medicine, disease was common and often irreversible. Healing, then, was appreciated as a gift from God.”[6]
So far, then, reasons for healing prayer include requests for recovery or cure, thankfulness if such a cure took place, and atonement for sin which might have brought on illness. Prayer might also be a means for achieving healing of soul and spirit in addition to the body. Rabbi Richard Hirsch defines healing from such a theological approach, focused on the attainment of wholeness:
“A liberal Jewish theology of healing might then be based upon the following understanding: Healing is the transcendence of illness, of body and/or spirit, through the affirmative response to the blessing of life and the acknowledgement of the gift of living. This is not only cure, not only recovery, not only caring; it defines healing as the worked-for and worked-through path from despair to affirmation, and from denial to acceptance.”[7]
The eighth benediction of the Amidah in the weekday service is a communal prayer for healing. The classical Ashkenazic Siddur Rinat Yisrael includes the Hebrew text below. The contemporary translation is by Joel Hoffman:
“Heal us, Adonai, that we shall be healed. Save us that we shall be saved, for You are our praise. Bring complete healing to all of our wounds. For you are our sovereign, steadfast, merciful healing God. Praised are You Adonai, who heals the sick among his People Israel.”[8] / ”רפאנו ה' ונרפא הושיענו ונושעה כי תהלתנו אתה. והעלה רפואה שלמה לכל מכותינו כי אל מלך רופא נאמן ורחמן אתה. ברוך אתה ה' רופא חולי עמו ישראל.“[9]Ismar Elbogen explains, “In the current version the opening is taken from Jeremiah 17:14, altered to the plural, as appropriate for public worship.”[10]B. S. Jacobson notes seven variants of this prayerin such classical sources as the Genizah, the Siddur of R. Amram Gaon, the Siddur of R. Saadiah Gaon, the Machzor Vitri, and the Code of Maimonides, in addition to current Sephardic and Ashkenazic versions.[11]
There are different variations within newersiddurim that Jacobson’s 1978 publicationcould not know about.For example, the eulogy of this prayer in the Reform Gates of Prayerreads ברוך אתה ה' רופא החולים[12]instead of רופא חולי עמו ישראל. Rabbi David Ellenson writes about this change,“liberal liturgies have expanded the particularism of this declaration to include all sick people, by replacing ‘among his people Israel’ with rofei cholim, ‘who heals the sick,’ a phrase that they found in the Talmud Yerushalmi (Ber. 4:3).”[13]
Some siddurim include another verse within this prayer, into which a specific name can be inserted as part of a personal healing prayer. Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin points to Psalm 116:16 as a precedent for the convention of naming the sick person here as “So-and-so son of [mother’s name]” instead of referring to the father’s name as is typical for a Torah aliyah.[14]The text of Psalm 116:16is here, clearly showing the maternal connection:
“O Lord, I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have undone the cords that bound me.”[15] / ”אנה ה' כי-אני עבדך אני-עבדך בן-אמתך פתחת למוסרי.“15The Amidah prayer’s inserted text is:
“May it find favor before You, my God and my ancestors’ God, that you speedily send complete healing from the heavens, spiritual healing and physical healing to ____ who is sick, along with others who are sick among Israel.”[16] / ”יהי רצון מלפניך יי אלהי ואלהי אבותי שתשלח מהרה רפואה שלמה מן השמים רפואת הנפש ורפואת הגוף לחולה____ בתוך שאר חולי ישראל.“16Rabbi Ellenson explains, “While most classical non-Orthodox liturgies removed this personal petition from their prayer books, the growing interest in the spiritual dimensions of healing has led to its reintroduction (in Kol Haneshamah, Siddur Lev Chadash, Siddur Sim Shalom, and Avodah Shebalev.)”[17]
Daniel Landes adds a halachic note: “It is an old and honored tradition for people saying this blessing silently to insert a personal prayer for specific people who are ill.”[18]This last point might explain why healthy individuals recite this prayer three times a day during weekday tefillot:they are praying for someone else.
In Reform usage, the MiShebeirachrefers to a specific prayer for healing, which is recited immediately after the reading of the Torah on Shabbat. In classical usage, there is a set of blessings beginning with the words מי שברך. Each has a similar formulaic structure with places for the insertion of a name, and they are used to mark a number of life cycle events or personal milestones. Ha-Siddur Ha-Shalem includes versions for the person called to the Torah for an aliyah, for the occasion of naming a newborn daughter, and for a sick man or woman.[19] Siddur Rinat Yisrael has versions for a Bar Mitzvah celebrant and for soldiers in the Israeli army.[20]The draft version of the new Reform siddur, Mishkan Tefillah, provides a classical version of the prayer as well as the lyrics to Debbie Friedman’s contemporary version in both the Erev Shabbat and Shabbat morning editions. I think the expectation is that congregations will use one or the other, but probably not both within the same service.
This is the Birnbaum version:
On behalf of a sick man:He who blessed our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, Aaron, David and Solomon, may he heal . . . who is ill. May the Holy One, blessed be He, have mercy and speedily restore him to perfect health, both spiritual and physical; and let us say, Amen.[21] / On behalf of a sick man:
מי שברך אבותינו, אברהם יצחק ויעקב, משה ואהרן, דוד ושלמה, הוא ירפא את החולה...הקדוש ברוך הוא ימלא רחמים עליו להחלימו ולרפאתו, להחזיקו ולהחיותו, וישלח לו מהרה רפואה שלמה, רפואת הנפש ורפואת הגוף; ונאמר אמן.21
Debbie Friedman’s Mi Shebeirach as presented in Mishkan Tefillah:
Mi sheberach avoteinuM’kor ha’bracha l’imoteinu. / מי שברך אבותינו מקור הברכה לאמותינו
May the Source of strength who blessed the ones before us help us find the courage to make our lives a blessing and let us say, Amen.
Mi sheberach imoteinu
M’kor ha’bracha l’avoteinu. / מי שברך אמותינו מקור הברכה לאבותינו
Bless those in need of healing with refuah shleima, the renewal of body, the renewal of spirit and let us say, Amen.[22]
Finally, the classical version from Mishkan Tefillahis below. The Hebrew is similar to that in the Birnbaum, but with these changes: First, instead of invoking the God who blessed seven male patriarchs of Judaism, the Reform version invokes the God who blessed three patriarchs and four matriarchs. Second, the Reform version has all of the Hebrew pronouns in the plural – healing is requested for more than one individual. The third and final change is the addition of another phrase in the Hebrew and English: בעבור שאנו מתפללים בעבורם(because we are praying for them.)
May the One who blessed our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, bless and heal those who are ill * because we are praying on their behalf. May the Blessed Holy One be filled with compassion for their health to be restored, and their strength to be revived. May God swiftly send them a complete renewal of body and spirit, and let us say, Amen.[23]* Names of the sick might be mentioned here. / מי שברך אבותינו ואמותינו, אברהם יצחק ויעקב, שרשרבקה, רחל ולה, הוא יברך את החולים*בעבור שאנו מתפללים בעבורם. הקדוש ברוך הוא ימלא רחמים עליהם,להחלימם ולרפאתם להחזיקם,וישלח להם מהרה רפואה שלמה מן השמים, רפואת הנפש ורפואת הגוף,השתה בעגלא ובזמן קריב. ונאמר אמן.23
The addition of that extra phrase emphasizes that this is a communal prayer on behalf of the ill. The result is a clear differentiation from the רפואהprayer of the Amidah described above. In the classic Amidah, the personalization is private and silent. Here, the prayer is communal; and lists of names to be recited are often prepared in advance. The community is the focus, and supporting its members – even those who are absent – is important. According to Rabbi Richard Hirsch, “while some may pursue healing as a private path, the communal nature of Judaism suggests that a first step (necessary but not sufficient) is to create a communal context in which the complex emotions of illness and healing can be discretely and appropriately shared.”[24]
Concern for those unable to attend religious services was the topic of a CCARresponsum in 1989. The question was whether Shabbat and holiday worship services at a nearby synagogue could be televised and broadcast over a private cable channel for hospitalized patients who are bedridden. Part of the response reads:
“A public service requires a minyan, but if that is not possible for those who are ill and who may pray individually, they should be encouraged to do so. We may properly consider the service broadcast over the cable network as a stimulus to individual prayer. Those who are capable of participating in prayer at the same time as the broadcasts occur should do so with their own prayerbook, and perhaps with members of the family present to be part of that private service. Certainly such prayer would be much enhanced by being part of a larger group through television. Furthermore, for those individuals who are very ill and therefore unable to use a prayerbook, a broadcast service may lead them to direct their thoughts toward prayer.”[25]
While this responsum does not deal with “healing prayers” per se, it does reflect the opinion that prayers can aid in healing. It also brings me to a discussion of בקור חולים, or visiting the sick. Rabbinic literature is rich with stories of one sage visiting another.
“The rabbinic sages made visiting the sick a moral imperative, virtually an additional commandment…This emphasis on visiting, connecting to, and communicating with the sick person, the rabbis said correctly, contributes to healing. Illness isolates; from isolation comes depression; and from depression comes a worsening of disease. The Sages knew that visiting is more than a social courtesy; it is therapeutic.”[26]
Part of that therapy might be from reading prayers or psalms with or for the patient. The “home” section of a prayer book is one source of readings. Birnbaum’s Ha-Siddur Ha-Shalemincludes Psalms 6 and 23 in Hebrew and English on pagesentitled “Prayer for the Sick.”[27]Siddur Rinat Yisrael contains no similar offering.
The CCAR’s Union Home Prayer Book published in 1951 has three options, all in English. The first was to be recited by the patient during illness, and it includes Psalms 20, 56, and 103. The second set was to be recited upon recovery, and it has Psalm 30. The final section was recited by someone else on behalf of the sick, and it begins with a reading that has a place to insert a name. It continues with Psalm 103 and Psalm 116.[28]
When the CCAR published Gates of the House as a revision to the Union Home Prayer Book in 1977, it had seven variations and added Hebrew to some of them. In many cases, the Hebrew was the ending of the refuah prayer of the Amidah, i.e.ברוך אתה ה' רופא החולים. The additional variations included versions for a child who is sick and another for a child to recite upon recovery.[29]
Similar prayers and psalms are provided in the various rabbis’ manuals that are used by the clergy when they make hospital or home visits; or when they want to augment the liturgy found in the prayer book. What fascinated me as I reviewed them was the presence or absence of “stage directions” to guide the rabbi in conveying his or her message. The instructions for “rabbi” torecite a certain blessing while “holding the patient’s hand”[30]or the footnote suggesting, “In certain situations the best procedure may be to request the congregation to unite in silent prayer”[31]provide windows into the social norms and expectations of both congregant and rabbi during the time in which the manuals were published.
Interestingly, the suggested handholding that appeared in the 1985 draft revision of the CCAR manual did not appear in the 1988 final publication.[32] I know that in the corporate world, the early 1990’s marked the onset of sexual harassment policies in the workplace, and fear of litigation if employees did not abide by such policies. Perhaps similar sensitivities governed rabbinic body language, particularly as more women entered the rabbinate. (This is pure speculation on my part!)
In 1928, the CCAR Rabbi’s manual provided a prayer for the sick in English, to be read on his/her behalf by the rabbi. There was also a public prayer for the sick and a public prayer for a sick child. Both of these were in English, with places to insert names.[33] The 1961 edition had no prayers that were private or individual. There were “public” prayers in English for the sick and for a sick child, with “fill-in-the-blanks” for a congregant’s name. There was also a “Family Prayer for One Seriously Ill or About to Undergo Surgery.” All three of these asked God to provide guidance to the physicians tending to the patient; this was an aspect of healing prayers not seen in 1928.[34]
The final type of healing prayer is one that Rabbi Richard Hirsch calls “an essential tool for the healing of wholeness.”[35] He is referring to a special Viddui (confessional prayer) recited as death approaches. His text of the prayer is:
“I acknowledge before you, my God and God of my ancestors, that both my recovery and my death are in your hand. May it be Your will to send me a complete healing. But if death be Your decree, I will accept it in love from Your hand…Into your hand I entrust my spirit…Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad; Listen, People-Of-Which-I-Am-A-Part, Adonai is Our God, Adonai Alone.”[36]