Healing Prayers and Readings

·   Prayer for Healing (Mi Shebeirach Prayer)

·   Finding Strength in Difficult Times

·   Traditional Stories for Inspiration

·   Telling Our Stories

Prayer for Healing (Mi Shebeirach Prayer) O God, who blessed our ancestors, Abraham Isaac and Jacob; Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah, send Your blessing to _______________. Have mercy on him/her, and graciously restore his/her health and strength. Grant him/her a refu-a shleima, a complete recovery, along with all others who are stricken. May God grant him/her health of spirit and health of body. May healing come speedily, and let us say: Amen.

Finding Strength in Difficult Times

·   Give Me the Vision

·   Finding God in Times of Grief-The Journey of Life

·   The Power of Hope

·   The Divine Light Within (Psalm 121)

·   Prayer for When You Are Lonely, Fearful (Psalm 23)

·   When All Seems Lost

·   When You Are Suffering  

Give Me The Vision

by Rabbi Morris Adler  

Shall I cry out in anger, O God, Because Thy gifts are mine but for a while?

Shall I be ungrateful for the moments of laughter, The seasons of joy, the days of gladness and festivity, When tears cloud my eyes and darken the world And my heart is heavy within me?

Shall I blot from mind the love I have known and in which I have rejoiced When a fate beyond my understanding takes from me Friends and kin whom I have cherished, and leaves me Bereft of shining presences that have lit my way Through the years of companionship and affection?

Those I have loved, though now beyond my view, Have given form and quality to my being. They have led me into the wide universe I continue to inhabit, and their presence Is more vital to me than their absence.

What Thou givest, O Lord, Thou takest not away, And bounties once granted Shed their radiance evermore.  

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Finding God in Times of Grief-The Journey of Life

by Rabbi Alvin Fine  

Birth is a beginning, and death a destination; But life is a journey, a going - a growing from stage to stage. From childhood to maturity and youth to age. From innocence to awareness and ignorance to knowing; From foolishness to discretion and then perhaps to wisdom. 

From weakness to strength or strength to weakness - and often back again. From health to sickness and back, we pray, to health again.

From offence to forgiveness, From loneliness to love, From joy to gratitude, From pain to compassion and grief to understanding, From fear to faith.

From defeat to defeat to defeat - until, Looking backward or ahead, We see that victory lies not at some high place along the way, But in having made the journey, stage by stage - A sacred pilgrimage.

Birth is a beginning, and death a destination; But life is a journey, A sacred pilgrimage made stage by stage - From birth to death to life everlasting.

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The Power of Hope
Adapted from "The Power of Hope" by Maurice Lamm

Hope is God's gift to humanity. When darkness falls and we have lost our way, hope is the spiritual light inside us which refuses to be extinguished.

Hope defies logic. It is the magical quality, which encourages us to go on when life seems impossible. It is the irrepressible force, which turns us to the future when we are tempted to give up. Hop is what makes us talk of success in the presence of fear and hope is what gives us the power to leap over obstacles that, at first glance, may appear insurmountable.

The ancients understood what scientists often do not - that despair only inhibits healing, while hope only enhances it. A little anxiety can be lethal, but a little confidence and hope can save your life.

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The Divine Light Within
Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where will my help come?

My help comes from the Lord; Maker of heaven and earth.

The Lord will not allow your foot to slip; Your Guardian who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, the Guardian of Israel Neither slumbers nor sleeps.

The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shelter at your right hand.

Although the sun shall no longer shine on you by day, Nor the moon by night,

The Lord will guard you from all evil; He will keep safe your life.

The Lord will guard you, coming and going, From this time on, and forevermore.

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When You Are Lonely, Fearful
Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

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When All Seems Lost
"Gates of Healing", Central Conference of American Rabbis Press, New York , 1988

Please listen to my call - help me find the words help me find the strength within help me shape my spirit and find You in prayer In words only my heart can speak In songs only my soul can sing Lifing my eyes and heart to You.

Adonai S-fatai Tiftach - Open my lips, precious God, so that I can speak with You again.

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When You Are Suffering
Debbie Perlman, "Psalms for a New Day", Rad Publishers, Wilmette, IL 1994

Help me, O God, to find still moments, Quiet spaces within to refresh my soul; Cease my questions, my inner debates, And let me meditate on Your goodness.

Help me, O God, to nurture my courage, Recalling moments of strength, Remembering days of fortitude, The certainty of Your regard.

Help me, O God, to grasp changed visions, Filmy curtains to blur my unhappiness And wrap my tears with radiance, Your hand upon my face.

Help me, O God, to turn to the light, Warmed face and fingers outstretched, Alive, alive in Your sight.

Traditional Stories for Inspiration The Healed Stone
From Jewish Stories, Board of Jewish Education, NY, 1987

A King once owned a diamond of great value. He was proud of his gem and kept it close to himself; never allowing it to be displayed for fear of someone stealing it. One day, as he held it, it managed to slip out of his hand and crashed on to the beautiful mosaic floor of his secret bedroom where he isolated this great jewel. To his horror, he saw a terrible blemish right in the middle of his diamond. A long crooked line marred its center.

The King lamented of his disaster and consulted every diamond cutter and jewel expert, but they all told him the same. Even if they worked endlessly, they would never be able to remove the imperfection. One day a jeweller from a distant land came having heard the story and offered to work on it for the king. "Why I could make it even more beautiful than it was before the accident," said the diamond cutter, "if you let me try."

The jeweller worked earnestly. He made the imperfection the center of his carving. Out of the crooked line he cut out the roots and stem of a rosebud. The great diamond carver imitated the way in which a root, sunk down into the earth, gradually unfolds, grows into the stem and finally produces a perfect rosebud. Everyone came to understand the meaning: out of a blemish, out of imperfection, out of a wound, there can come delicate beauty. The worst thing can be changed into a virtue.

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The Wisdom of Holy Shift
From The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, by I. Yalom, New York : Basic Book 1975

There is an old Hasidic story of the Rabbi who had a conversation with God about Heaven and Hell. "I will show you Hell," said God and led the Rabbi into a room in the middle of which was a very big, round table. The people sitting at it were famished and desperate. In the middle of the table there was a very large pot of stew, enough and more for everyone. The smell of the stew was delicious and made the Rabbi's mouth water. The people around the table were holding spoons with very long handles. Each one found that it was just possible to reach the pot to take a spoonful of the stew, but because the handle of his spoon was longer than a person's arm, a person could not get the food back into the mouth. The Rabbi saw that their suffering was terrible. "Now, I will show you Heaven," said God, and the same big round table and the same pot of stew. The people, as before, were equipped with the same long-handled spoons - but they were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. At first, the Rabbi could not understand. "It is simple, but it requires a certain skill," said God. "You see, they have learned to feed each other."

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Telling Our Stories On Being a Temple Family
by Bunni Bresver

On a rainy weekday afternoon in early spring, members of the Caring Community Committee received a call requesting our presence at a minyan. A member of Temple had died. The grieving spouse had no family aside from the life partner being buried. Ten members of Temple Sinai answered the call and paid respects to a long-standing Temple member that most of us had never met. For that brief time we were no longer members of a community but members of a family. We listened to the eulogy. We learned about someone who had shared our place of worship. We listened to the notes fill the air as the prayers were chanted. We recited the mourner's kaddish in unison. We offered our condolences.

I've replayed this scene in my mind again and again over the last number of weeks. The loss of someone dear, suddenly or after a lengthy illness, typically feels like more than one can bear. Our tradition spells out what needs to be done and when. There are "built-in" structures and supports that provide the scaffolding for survival during the difficult, and often, overwhelming hours, days, weeks and months that follow a death. We look to others for practical and emotional guidance and support. But we need to ask: who is there for those within our Temple community with no family or support network?

Temple Sinai is a caring community. Our leadership keeps us aware, attuned, and united. There will be times when we will be called upon, and times when we can come forward on our own, to support and to honour others in our congregation who stood before us completing mitzvot for others. Standing there on that rainy afternoon, I looked around and knew that each of us, while saddened and contemplative for all kinds of reasons, was honoured to have extended our condolences and support during this family's time of need. Please consider calling the office or Caring Community to add your name to the list of the Temple Sinai family that ensures that no one in the congregation ever has to be alone at one of life's most difficult times.

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A Sunday in the Parks
by Lana Rottenberg

It was only a few weeks ago, a sunny, blustery fall Sunday when we headed out. My husband and I, and a lovely woman who called Temple asking for a ride, went to visit her departed spouse, parents and other family members at two different cemeteries in town. She, a long time Temple member, my husband and I just newly minted members. We spent the better part of the day together, criss-crossing town to Lambton and Pardes Shalom, sharing stories and getting to know one another. We, my husband and I, had trepidations before setting out, fearing the day would just be too sad - but in fact, it was just the opposite. It was a day of connection, of coming together, of meeting someone new and really sharing our life histories and stories about our loved ones - a living history lesson. And what we learned, or should I say confirmed, is that when we give to others, we really give to ourselves. In those few hours, as we shared our griefs and sorrows our hearts were lightened. There we were, a community of three - just a small example of something so much larger, the good that can happen when people choose to call on one another, to come together, and help each other.

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I want to tell you what it's like to visit the elderly for the Caring Community of Temple Sinai. Sometimes I enter their rooms with great trepidation, but by the time I leave I am filled with the overwhelming feeling that I have done something good for the person you visited and for myself as well. The satisfaction that I get from the smile on the face of the patient is with me for a long time after I've been there. Personally, I visit patients of nursing homes, perhaps the loneliest people in existence. These people spend hours looking at walls and ceilings. We can bring so much enjoyment into their lives, through music, art, literature and maybe just evoking some long lost memories. If anyone out there in the Temple community is interested in helping us in this endeavour, please contact us and we can tell you more.

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On the Mitzvah of Visiting
By Debbie Swartz

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Give me the vision, O God, to see and feel That imbedded deep in each of Thy gifts Is a core of eternity that survives the dread hours Of affliction and misery.