[HANASHIR:16409] Re: Shabbat services

[Freedabet <Freedabet...>]

At the three Conservative synagogues I've served we didn't routinely say a Mi 
Sheberach for each Aliyah, so 'a' MS for Refuah Sheleimah was the only one done 
on a regular basis, hence the shorthand.  If we did others, they had qualifiers 
(MS for an aufruf, etc.).  I don't think the shorthand does any harm.

Michael

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: adrian (at) durlester(dot)com 
  To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org 
  Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2004 8:12 AM
  Subject: [HANASHIR:16408] Re: Shabbat services




  Sue:

  Thank you for bringing this up. I have on several occasions, including one
  fairly recent message on this list, made the point that what has sloppily
  come to be called "the" Mi Shebeirach commonly in (predominantly) Reform
  settings in the U.S. is really just the Mi Shebeirach for refuah shleima.
  Because Debbie Friedman wrote such a lovely song for it and simply titled it
  Mi Shebeirach, and because, as you suggest, the custom of a mi shebeirach
  being offered for all who have an aliyah during the Torah service has
  largely been lost or forgotten at many (but not all) Reform synagogues, the
  words Mi Shebeirach have largely come to denote only the refuah shleima
  form.

  I will note that many Reform leaders and websites do try and make it a point
  to use the phrase "Mi Shebeirach for healing" or "for the sick" or something
  of that nature. Sadly, a search of the web will find just as many sites that
  simply call "the Mi Shebeirach" the "Jewish prayer for healing." And I'll
  wager that a random survey of American Reform Jews would indicate that most
  simply think "the" Mi Shebeirach" is "the" Jewish prayer for healing. In
  fact, I wonder how many even realize it's a prayer at all, rather than
  simply a pretty song. [I wish to cast no slur or aspersion on Debbie's
  setting of the Mi Shebeirach for healing. It is a remarkable musical and
  spiritual phenomenon that I know comes from a place deep inside its
  composer, and has taken its well-deserved place in contemporary worship
  minhag. I suspect she herself might be among the first to remind us that the
  Mi Shebeirach prayer has more than one form and more than one usage.]

  Mi Shebeirach is a utility prayer, and can be celebratory as well as for
  healing. Even in celebratory settings, it is generally invoked for the
  purpose of praying for well-being--as, for example, after one has given
  birth, or prior to a circumcision, and for those who read the Torah or have
  a Torah aliyah. There are even some forms of the Mi Shebeirach that do not
  begin with the words "Mi Shebeirach."

  Torah teaches us to be careful with our words. I reiterate my call on this
  list to educate ourselves and our congregations that the Mi Shebeirach is
  one of Judaism's utility prayers, with a number of differing versions for
  differing situations/occasions, with the "refuah shleima" version being just
  one of them. If we could all just start saying and writing things like "A Mi
  shebeirach for healing"  rather than "The Mi Shebeirach" or "Debbie
  Friedman's (or Lisa Levine's) setting of the Mi Shebeirach prayer for
  healing" perhaps we can stem the tide.

  B'vracha,

  Adrian

  Adrian A. Durlester, MTS
  E-mail: adrian (at) durlester(dot)com  www.durlester.com
  Director of Education & Congregational Life, Bethesda Jewish Congregation,
  Bethesda, MD
  www.bethesdajewish.com
  Co-Director, Hazamir/JTAI Choir of Greater DC
  Past Conf Chair, CAJE 27, August 4-8, 2002, Trinity University, San Antonio,
  TX
  List Owner, hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org; Jewish Songleaders/Performers List
  www.ehavanashira.org
  Co-Owner, l-torah (at) shamash(dot)org; Liberal Torah Discussion List


  -----Original Message-----
  From: owner-hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org [mailto:owner-hanashir (at) 
shamash(dot)org] On
  Behalf Of Sue Esterman
  Sent: Monday, January 05, 2004 10:02 PM
  To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
  Subject: [HANASHIR:16406] Re: Shabbat services


  This discussion started me thinking about the differences! in NZ, it is the
  custom to give a (not The) mishabeirach for every aliyah to the Torah. I
  gather from this discussion that the term is often applied in the US to the
  blessing for a refuah shlemah.  That being sorted, [snip]


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