Avrohom Rapoport
Rabbi and Judaism Expert
Education
- Rabbinic Ordination from the United Lubavitcher Yeshiva in NY
Professional Achievements
- Is a congregational Rabbi, musician, filmmaker, and motivational speaker
- Has over 20 million views and more than 450,000 followers on Instagram, TikTok, etc. (@RabbiRaps)
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Forum Comments (3)
It goes, “Yisgadal be yisgadash shemei rabba, may God's name be made great.” And the belief is that every human being holds a spark of God inside of them. In our job, in our mission, every person is to shine that light on the world and make the world a better place. So when God takes someone from this world, it's almost like a piece of God is missing from this world, although that's not really possible because God's everywhere, but it's like that light is removed, and the family members say the Kaddish to replace that beautiful light that that person carried, a godly light that that person carried inside of them. That’s the Kaddish.
For a parent, it's done for 11 months, every single day. For siblings, it could be done for 30 days, and different family members have different lengths of time they're supposed to say the Kaddish.
That said, Judaism does have prayers that are specifically for healing. One is found in a part of the prayer that's called the “Amida,” where we stand with our feet together and we read silently, and in that prayer, there's a verse called “Rifa'enu,” and it says, “God heal us.” That prayer is said three times a day—morning, afternoon, and evening. It's part of the morning service, the afternoon service, and evening service.
Another way to do a prayer for healing is to read or recite the different psalms that were written by King David. Each one has a different message, and there are select psalms that are specifically for healing. Psalm 20 is often used, but there are other psalms as well.
The third most common prayer for healing is done in the synagogue when the Torah is being read. Just before they finish reading the Torah and they put it away, there's something called a “Mishaberach,” which is where people can line up in the synagogue to receive a prayer for healing, and you don't need to be religious or knowledgeable to line up, all you need to know is the person's name and the person's mother's name. You come to the front, and whoever's leading the service, you whisper to them the person's name and the person's mother's name, and a Mishaberach is made.
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