Skip to main content

Loving Healing

 

Tehilim 147

 

As I was davening the Pesukei D’Zimra (morning blessings of praise) this morning and reached the five closing psalms of Sefer Tehilim (Psalms), I was struck by these two phrases (with gratitude to Sefaria for the translation):

הָ֭רֹפֵא לִשְׁב֣וּרֵי לֵ֑ב וּ֝מְחַבֵּ֗שׁ לְעַצְּבוֹתָֽם:

He heals their broken hearts, and binds up their wounds. (147:3)

 

Or as I understand the targum as articulated by the Siddur Yesod Malchut:

ה׳ מרפא לאלה השבורים בלבם, ומרפא את צערתם: Hashem heals those who are broken in their hearts and heals their anguish.

 

מוֹנֶ֣ה מִ֭סְפָּר לַכּוֹכָבִ֑ים לְ֝כֻלָּ֗ם שֵׁמ֥וֹת יִקְרָֽא

He reckoned the number of the stars; to each He gave its name. (147:4)

Again, with a little bit of help from my friend, the Yesod Malchut targum:

יודע למנות את מספר הכוכבים, ולכל אחד בשם מיוחד יקרא: He knows to count the number of the stars, and He has given each one by a special, individual name, which, as Rabbi Weinbergנ׳׳י has taught, suggests that each person is counted as important and has a special relationship with Hashem.

I felt that these passages could serve as a kavana (heartfelt intention) for anyone who is ill and suffering, that their pains and anguish can be healed and replaced with the loving, caring healing of Hashem, along with the knowledge that they are uniquely special and much loved by Hashem.

By: Nathan Kruman

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Shekalim 1

Parent and Child: Rabbi Shlomo Kluger (Kehillat Yaakov; Shekalim 1) explains that when the Holy One, Blessed is He, created a person with a body and soul, He gave them as a gift to  the person. We belong to ourselves, and God relates to us as independent children. However, when we rebel against God, it is considered as if we have stolen the gift of our lives from the Creator. A thief who cannot repay what he has stolen is sold into slavery to pay his debt. It is impossible for us to repay the Creator for the gift of life, and we are sold, so to speak, into slavery. When we offer the Half Shekel we are paying half the debt, the second half is forgiven by God, Who never completely lets go of the relationship of parent to child.   The Half-Shekel is a statement that we are acting in partnership with God, our Father. One must have intention that he is giving his half of the shekel together with God. One should focus on God as a loving parent when giving the Half Shekel.  By: ...

TAKING IT WITH YOU-MISHPATIM-ALEINU

Our sages teach us, “On the Red Sea, God appeared to them like a young boy, while at Sinai, He appeared like an old man.” At first thought, this is extremely difficult to understand, since it is written, “You have not seen   any image (To see Deuteronomy 4:15).” We can explain this with an example. When a parent loves his child, this great love causes the child’s image to be engraved on the parent’s mind. It is therefore as if the child were actually standing in the presence of the parent. When the child is young, he exists in his parent’s mind in the image of a small child. Later, when he grows, the image in the parent’s thoughts is that of an older person.   It is known that, “Israel rose first in thought.” This means that they are constantly engraved in the Supernal Thought, just as a child is in its parent’s mind. When a child acts properly and does what its parent wishes, this is the image that is engraved in its parent’s thoughts. The same is true when the child goes aga...

Goodness and Blessing

 “May it be Your Will, God, our Lord, and the Lord of our forefathers, that You inaugurate this month upon us for goodness and for blessing.” We pray for Moshe’s third trip even before we receive his report of his second. We pray assuming that we will not only be forgiven, but will be granted even more as Moshe ascends Sinai for a third time. We acknowledge God, that He is our Lord. We call on the merit of our forefathers. By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg