The Mitzvah of Healing: An Anthology of Jewish Texts, Meditations, Essays, Personal Stories, and Rituals Book

	Foreword	ix
	Acknowledgments	xi
	Introduction	xvii
I.	On Jewish Healing	1
	The Jewish Healing Tradition in Historical Perspective	3
	The Jewish Way of Healing	16
	Reflections on "Healing" in Contemporary Liberal Judaism	23
	A Perspective on Jewish Healing	37
	Can Prayer Heal? A View From Tradition	42
	Overcoming Our Pain: The Life Lessons of Dr. Bernie S. Siegel	48
	Healing of Body; Healing of Spirit	53
	Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 5b from The Outstretched Arm	57
II.	Personal Stories of Healing	65
	Illness is My Teacher	67
	Our Power to Touch and Heal	76
	How I Spent My Summer Vacation	80
	Passage to Wholeness	87
	The Fabric of Life	92
III.	Traditional Healing Texts	95
	Praying for Ourselves-Genesis 21; B'reishit Rabbah 53:14	97
	Choose Life-Deuteronomy 30:12-15, 19	98
	Offering Thanks for Recovery-Isaiah 38:9-20	99
	Hope in God-Isaiah 40:31	101
	Healing through Music-I Samuel 16	102
	God and Prayer Are Always with Us in Our Healing-Midrash, Psalm 4:9	103
	Trust in God-Psalm 20	104
	Adonai is My Light-Psalm 27	105
	Do Not Forsake Me-Psalm 38	107
	In My Distress-Psalm 86	109
	Do Not Hide Your Face-Psalm 102	111
	My Help Comes from God-Psalm 121	115
	Suffering and Joy-Mishnah Avot 1:7	116
	How Can We Tell When Prayer Works? - Babylonian Talmud, B'rachot 34b	117
IV.	Healing Prayers, Poems, and Meditations	119
	As the darkness lifts ...	121
	Hope	122
	Courage	124
	God, I need to know ...	125
	Five: A Lullaby for Courage	126
	A Prayer for Prayer	127
	Be Strong and of Good Courage!	129
	Bless the Healer	130
	A Prayer for Strength	131
	As we make our way ...	132
	Open Us to Healing	133
	Healing	134
	I am hurting, God ...	135
	I ask God for health ...	136
	Nine: For Complete Healing	137
	Psalm 28: For the Caregivers	138
	On Recovery	139
	Meditation	140
	The world is new to us ...	141
	Why does it take a traumatic event ...?	142
	God, often I think ...	143
	Hineini	144
	Ten: For Healing	146
	Mi Sheberach for Shalom Bayit	147
	On the Loss of a Child	148
	Upon Terminating a Pregnancy	149
	Prayer after a Miscarriage	150
	Healing after a Miscarriage	151
	Divorce is a true passage ...	152
	A Song for Comfort before Surgery	153
	HIV Positive and AIDS	154
	A Special Prayer in Time of Illness	155
	My Prayer	156
	A Patient's Prayer	157
	The Dew of Life	158
	A Yizkor Meditation in Memory of a Parent Who Was Hurtful	160
	Soften my hardened heart ...	161
	Blessings and Prayers from When the Body Hurts, the Soul Still Longs to Sing	162
	Portal to Light	165
V.	Rituals of Healing	167
	Mastectomy: Twelve Months after Surgery--A Bathing Ritual for the End of Mourning	169
	Mikvah Ceremony for Laura	174
	A Ritual of Loss	182
	Healing Ritual for Abused Women	193
	Laying T'fillin: A Ritual of Emotional Healing for Men	196
	Mikveh and Embodiment: Healing the Spirit after a Medical Scare	203
	Ready for Redemption: A Mikveh Experience of Personal Healing	205
VI.	Holidays and Healing	209
	A Healing Resource for the Jewish High Holiday Season: Psalm 27	211
	One Hundred Sixty-Five: In the Sukkah	214
	Blessing and Extending the Light: A Ritual of Healing for the Eight Nights of Hanukkah	215
	The Masks of Purim	220
	Haggadah for Healing	222
VII.	Resources	229