About Healing/Refuah: "I will keep you in my prayers"

Over the past several years, I have been adding a phrase to the mi'she'be'rach healing prayer that is found in many editions of the Siddur.

"Ve'chazek et yi'day ha'oskim be'tzor'chay'hem..." --  'May God strengthen the hands of those who care for them [for those who are ill].'

This addition to the prayer is meaningful to me since, despite the fact that when we are seek we feel alone, we are surrounded by people - caregivers, volunteers, family, other visitors, strangers...

Some of these people work to help make us better, but do not necessarily pray for us to feel better.  Some of these people can only pray for us to feel better.  Still others, the strangers, may not even be aware of our presence - like passing shadows we may not even know their names nor do they know ours.  In all three cases though, there is healing power at work.  At the bare minimum, recognizing someone else is present near us keeps us connected to our humanity - especially in a clinical setting where people become 'patients' (even 'health care consumers').

In bikur cholim moments, visiting the sick - whether in person, by card, or phone - we extend our prayers, and we may hear, "I will keep you in my prayers."  This is comforting, the idea that someone else is thinking about us.  That someone thinks of us is the power of the mi'she'be'rach in the first place.  It is a reminder to 'keep' the person 'in our prayers' during our lives that we can only really keep our attention on one activity at a time.  We take upon ourselves the responsibility of praying on behalf of someone when we say 'I will keep you in my prayers'.

But we should not avoid saying it even if we're concerned we will not follow through...Even if we keep that person in our prayers for the few minutes between when we leave and return to the rhythm of our lives, there is value in those minutes of conscious empathy and connection to someone we care about.

During the month of Elul, a time when we seek healing for our souls, and healing for our loved ones and friends, whether physical or spiritual, let's keep them in our prayers at one level more actively than before - if we sent a card before, now let's call; if we called before, let's arrange a visit; if we visited once before, let's make a meal or visit again.

A note about being a pray-er/caregiver:  It's stressful!  It takes courage, energy, and time to do this work.  Let's make sure that we care for ourselves as we are caring for others.

*Are you caring for/praying for someone right now?  How has that work impacted you?