When we work to refine ourselves and our connection to Hashem, we can arouse the Divine Assistance we need to not only succeed in our endeavors but to also change our very mazal. Through t’filah, t’shuvah, and tz’dakah, we can merit brachos and y’shuos that were previously not suitable for us. A negative Heavenly decree can be rescinded; and a y’shuah can come even “when a sword is resting on your neck.”
Many mitzvos are well-known s’gulos, for example, giving tz’dakah is a s’gulah against natural death, honoring parents leads to a long life, separating challah and eating the m’laveh malkah meal after Shabbos is a s’gulah for an easy childbirth, and properly keeping Shabbos is associated with all manner of brachah. According to Chazal, when someone sincerely davens for the welfare of another, it is a s’gulah to have his or her own t’filos answered (see Bava Kama 92a).
Of course, a person’s level of kavanah while performing a given mitzvah is important and gives the resulting spiritual impact a boost. As a Sages taught, “Praying without proper kavanah is like a body without a soul.” (Tanya, chapter 38) and “…halachah rules that [all] mitzvos require kavanah” (P’ninei Halachah, T’filah 15:8).
However, even where the intent is, for some reason, limited, it can still have an impact. It’s widely known, for instance, that reciting words of Torah and T’hilim have an influence on the person and in the Heavenly realms, even if the person reciting them does not fully understand what he or she is saying.
The s’gulah should ultimately strengthen our special, treasured connection to Hashem, His Torah, and the tzadikim. Regardless of whether a given s’gulah itself has the potential to be effective, the sense of hope and mental relief that it offers has the power to lift us out of a destructive state of depression, self-pity, and grief, and gives us a chance to reconnect to the Source of brachah and an eventual y’shuah.
(Material was previously published on ShiratMiriam.com.)
List of People Who Need a r’fuah sh’leimah (a complete recovery)
Please recite Psalms 20, 30, 88, 121, and 130.
Yossi Azriel ben Chayah Michal
Aviel ben Ktziyah Batyah
Eliyahu ben Sophia
Mordechai ben Rachel Anba
Nissim ben Devorah
Ezra ben Farida
Yossi ben Vardit
Yaakov ben Mazal
Nissan ben Yael
Yehoshua ben Miriam
Eliyahu ben Miriam
Aharon Mordechai ben Sharon
Moshe ben Rachel
Gavriel ben Imo-Shalom
Marik ben Tamara
Yitzchak ben Chanom Chanah
Yosef ben Leah
Shlomo ben Miriam
Shalom Baruch ben Malkah Freida
Ilay Eliezer ben Rivah Rivkah
Misha Moshe ben Tamara
Meir Yaakov ben Esther
Shlomo Hartzel ben Eka
Chaim Zanvil ben Sarah Dinah
Reuven HaKohen ben Golda
Amram ben Perla
Arkady Avraham ben Mazal
Itai ben Ahuvah
Eliyahu ben Rachel
Pinchas Yitzchak ben Beila
Yosef Gideon Yaakov ben Peninah
Yaakov Reuven ben Brachah
Rachamim ben Rachel Leah
Tzvi ben Ratza
Tovah Yocheved bas Esther Bukas
Ruchamah Perel Malkah Leah bas Chanah Serel
Esther Hadasah bas Devorah
Alizah bas Miriam
Shoshanah Shurah bas Zina
Luna bas Rachel
Malkah bas Miriam
Malkah bas Reicha Shifrah
Adele bas Adi
Evon bas Sally
Karen bas Rachel
Chavah bas Sarah
Brachah Chanah bas Sarah
Tovah Chanah bas Sarah Devorah
Rachel bas Edith
Chanah Elianah bas Naomi
Gittel bas Malkah
Mira Gitta bas Beila Mariasha
Adele bas Sofia Sarah
To add names of individuals who need a r’fuah sh’leimah to next week’s T’hilim column, please email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and complete the Google form.
