Illustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman
Prayer in the Parashah תְּפִלָּה
The skin disease צָרַעַת (tzara’at) is more spiritual than the illnesses we’re used to. But you can still pray for people who have tzara’at. We know this from Moshe, who prayed for Miriam when she got tzara’at (Bemidbar 12:13).
R. Alexander Ziskind of Grodno wrote that spiritual healing is actually the main thing we’re supposed to be thinking about when we pray for someone who is sick:
"רְפָאֵנוּ ה' וְנֵרָפֵא...וְהַעֲלֵה רְפוּאָה שְׁלֵמָה לְכָל מַכּוֹתֵינוּ" יְכַוֵּן בְּמַחְשַׁבְתּוֹ עַל רְפוּאַת הַנֶּפֶשׁ יוֹתֵר מֵרְפוּאַת הַגּוּף... וִיקַיֵּם בָּזֶה מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה מִן הַתּוֹרָה: "וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ" (ויקרא יט:יח)...
In the Amidah prayer, when you say “Heal us God… grant full healing to all our afflictions,” you should focus your mind on asking for healing a person’s spirit more than healing their body… this way you observe the positive mitzvah in the Torah: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Vayikra 19:18)...
R. Ziskind notices the words שְׁלֵמָה (shelemah, full) and לְכָל (lekhol, to all). He suggests that full healing from all of our illnesses means that there is more to think about than just what’s physically wrong.
- Why is that? Why is it important to pray for spiritual health? Why is it as important as physical health?
- Try it! How does it change the way you pray for people who are sick if you have in mind their spiritual selves as well as their physical selves?
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