Dear Friends,

The Mi Shebeirach list. It grows longer and longer (ours is longer than the ones at some congregations twice our size). How does it work, though? It is one thing to add a name before a surgery or of someone who has caught the last round of the flu or a bad cold. But what of those who are on it for a long time? What about those who are on it but will not get better?

Studies do show that when people pray for other people’s health or healing, it helps. So those who have a short-term need do indeed benefit from our prayers – as do those who are thinking of them as well. We might not be doctors or have the ability to cure someone, but we can keep them in our hearts and send out those healing prayers. Maybe that reminds us to give them a call, or a visit, too.

Healing is not always an option. Not every illness has a cure. Sometimes the best we can do is keep people comfortable (as much as we can) until the end. As Rabbi Sara transitions into doing Hospice Chaplaincy, this is a lot of what she will be doing. For the rest of us, remembering people and sharing their names helps keep them in our minds. Especially when an illness is prolonged, people need us to remain close to them, to check in on them, to keep praying for them. There is a wide chasm between healing and the end. It is filled with hard moments, pain, occasional laughter, and hopefully, the presence of loving friends and family.

For them, the list is a reminder to the rest of us that those needs are ongoing. While it is there for those whose loved ones are ailing, it may be for the rest of us even more. It reminds us that someone (maybe someone we know, but certainly someone connected to a member of our community) needs that prayer. And the person who added the name to the list needs it too. It is a chance for them to say, “someone I love is hurting, and I hurt too.” That is why we read the names, even for years.

This is also true for our prayers regarding peace in the world. War takes a toll, and our prayers of peace and healing, while not likely to physically end a conflict, do have an impact. The power of the prayers themselves is hard to quantify. The effect they have on the ones saying them is more evident. We continue to remember that people are suffering in the world. We do not forget that peace is a gift not everyone can enjoy. And we keep thinking about the value of peace and how we might dedicate ourselves in ways that actually can end a conflict. As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel famously said, “prayer may not save us, but it may make us worthy of being saved.” Indeed, let us all pray for health and healing and peace, and may we all be spurred to work for it ourselves.

Yours,
Rabbi Benjamin