Bikkur Cholim – visiting the sick – and Mi Shebeirach – the prayer for healing — are two ways our congregation reaches out to support others who are ill. Because of Federal confidentiality regulations (HIPAA), hospitals no longer advise the Temple if a congregant is hospitalized. Our Clergy, when asked to do so, visit congregants and close members of their family in local hospitals.

Many of us rely on community to support us when we are in pain. Each Erev Shabbat, we sing Debbie Friedman’s Mi Shebeirach prayer for those who are ill. The Clergy, when notified of  a congregant, family member or close friend of a congregant who is ill, recites the names and also invites those in attendance to mention the names of those not on the list. When we hear the name of a congregant who is ill, we are offered the opportunity to reach out to them and their family, and to provide support, send a card, or make a friendly phone call to let them know we care.

We invite you to provide us with the name(s) of loved ones who are facing the challenge of illness, that we may support them, and you, by inclusion in our communal Mi Shebeirach prayers and by hospital visits. Please contact Jackie Lehner, administrative assistant to the Clergy if you have a name to add to the list. Contact or call her at 215-886-8000, ext. 148.

The Mi Shebeirach prayer is one of the central Jewish prayers for those who are facing the challenge of illness. The prayer includes pleas for both physical and spiritual healing within the community of others facing illness. In modern times, the Mi Shebeirach is often said by professional health caregivers, patients, and loved ones at various times during treatment and recovery from illness of all sorts.