Prayers during a time of illness are a natural religious instinct. 

In times of distress, when one’s fate or that of a loved one feels particularly uncertain, we turn to God with the hope that He might provide salvation. In the Bible, we see this with figures like Moshe, who prays for his sister Miriam. “Oh God, please heal her” (Bamidbar 12:13). We even see the success of such prayers from figures like Hagar, the wife of Avraham, who beseeches God for the salvation of their baby Ishmael.  Chazal added that the heartfelt prayers of the sick themselves – even the wordless cries of a baby – are most impactful in Heaven (Breishit Rabbah 53:14).  As these stories indicate, no set text is necessary to beseech God.

Over the centuries, however, the book of Psalms (Tehilim) has been utilized as a text for many Jews to express their feelings to God. Some of the chapters seemed to have been composed for specific occasions, like war. “How long will my enemy have the upper hand,” the Psalmist declares in chapter thirteen. The powerful words of the Tehillim, nonetheless, are frequently utilized for other circumstances, especially when the texts are more generic. Prayers like “Out of the depths I call to You, God” (chapter 130) can be applied for many circumstances.

What is the deeper meaning behind reciting Psalms for the sick?

The phenomenon of Jews utilizing Tehilim for healing, however, seems to go against a Talmudic ruling, “One is prohibited from healing himself with words of Torah” (Shavuot 15b). Some, like the Tosafists and Rabbi Yosef Karo (YD 179:8), asserted that this prohibition didn’t apply when a person’s life was endangered. Others seem to limit the prohibition to cases in which a person was whispering invocations over an open wound.  Utilizing Scriptures in such a manner would be a heretical because it treats words like a holy potion, akin to soothsaying. This is particularly true when one further spits into the wound (Sanhedrin 101a). Otherwise, the prohibition would not apply. Figures ranging from Rav Hai Gaon, Rashba, and Rabbi Hayim David Azulai (Hid”a) have all designated different Psalms for therapeutic purposes.

Yet Rambam (Maimonides) seems to have understood the stricture more broadly.  He writes, “A person who whispers an incantation over a wound and then recites a verse from the Torah, who recites a verse over a child so that he will not become scared, or who places a Torah scroll or tefillin over a baby so that it will sleep, is considered to be a soothsayer or one who cast spells. Furthermore, such people are included among those who deny the Torah, because they relate to the words of Torah as if they are cures for the body, when, in fact, they are cures for the soul, as stated in Proverbs 3:22, ‘And they shall be life for your soul.’” (Mishneh Torah, Avodat Kochavim 11:12)

Rambam’s critique is theological: The words of the Torah cannot be manipulated for physical healing, just as the Torah scroll in tefillin or a mezuzah cannot serve as an amulet. Torah treats the soul, not the body.  As such, he asserts that healthy people may recite Biblical verses or Tehillim so that the merit of reading them will provide protection from becoming ill. This constitutes prayer for the soul, not the body.

Some struggled to reconcile Rambam’s ruling with public practice.  Rabbi Menachem Ha-Meiri suggested that perhaps reciting Psalms or other verses are only problematic when they are utilized as the sole therapy. If they are only supplementing more conventional healing medicine, then this remains acceptable (Meiri Shabbat 67a). Others stressed the importance of recognizing that the ultimate goal of reciting Psalms is to inspire a connection with God, the true Healer. Reading verses that inspire faith can heal the soul and provide merits to those need it.

Does it matter which Psalms are recited, or can they be randomly selected or simply read in order of the book?

One might argue that by singling out specific texts, one is inappropriately claiming that only these chapters have healing powers. As such, it is better to simply recite or learn any chapter.

However, this might be problematic since by selecting random chapters with no concern for their meaning, as if they were randomly chosen, one might be utilizing Psalms as an amulet. In this vein, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach convincingly taught that it is critical for people to understand the words that they are reciting.  They should comprehend these words of Torah just as they should have had they been learning a Jewish book for inspiration. After all, the goal is to inspire heartfelt expressions of trust in God.

The Ematai Tefilot Project

Toward this goal of creating a meaningful prayer experience, Ematai’s Tefilot Project is a central resource of prayers to recite during times of illness. These include prayers before & after medical treatment, for the critically or terminally ill, and final vidui (confession). We also provide the texts of Psalms which are most appropriate for these occasions alongside an English translation. The webpage also includes a brief explanation of why these chapters were chosen and what makes them most meaningful in this context. The prayers may also be downloaded and printed for use on Shabbat and holidays.

It is our belief that heartfelt prayers recited with greater understanding can be a source of solace and inspiration.