CARING CONGREGATION | THE JEWISH WAY OF HEALING

The Jewish Way of Healing

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In times of sickness, many Jews seek spiritual comfort and healing by turning back to ancient tradition. Such seekers can find abundent resources in Judaism, which has addressed questions of health and recovery for millenia. The tradition has long recognized that, at times of illness, the body and spirit together need healing. The Mi Shebeirach prayer, traditionally recited for someone who is ill, asks God for r'efu'ah sh'leimah, a complete healing, and then specifies two aspects: r'fu'at hanefesh, healing of the soul, spirit or whole person, and r'efu'at haguf, cure of the body itself. Another Jewish healing practice empasizes recitation of excerpts from the Book of Psalms.

A fundamental feature of Jewish spiritual healing is bikur cholim (visiting the sick), a practice that is particularly important in contemporary life, when isolation and lack of community are two of the greatest burdens people face. At times of illness, bikur cholim offers the comfort of human connection and interdependance, a sense of desperately needed community.

The mitzvah (obligation) of bikur cholim, required of every Jew, helps fulfill the obligation to love our neighbor as ourselves. Like comforting mourners and performing other acts of kindness, bikur cholim brings goodness to the world.

Mi Shebeirach
Words by Debbie Friedman
Mi she-bei-rach a-vo-tei-nu
M'kor ha-b'ra-cha l'i-mo-tei-nu

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 she-bei-rach i-mo-tei-nu
M'kor ha-b'ra-cha l'a-vo-tei-nu

Bless those in need of healing with r'fu-a sh'lei-ma
The renewel of body, the renewel of spirit
And let us say, Amen