During the Ten Days of Repentance between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, B’nei Yisrael take upon themselves to recite T’hilim, because saying T’hilim is a s’gulah for t’shuvah. According to Likutei Moharan II:73, saying T’hilim is a great way to rouse feelings of awakening toward Hashem.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov also teaches that reciting T’hilim is an important practice for inspiring someone to truly do t’shuvah. He explains in his teachings: “Everybody wants to revere G-d’s Name but not everyone is able to repent. Sometimes a person feels no arousal whatever. Even one who is aroused to repent may not reach his unique gate of t’shuvah; and even if he does, it could be that the gate is closed. This is why not everyone attains repentance. But through reciting Psalms, even one who feels no arousal can be inspired to repent. The Psalms can take him to his unique gate and open it up, thereby bringing him to t’shuvah.”
For this reason, King David called himself “the man who raised the yoke...the sweet singer of Israel” (II Samuel 23:1). Our sages explain that David called himself “the man who raised the yoke” because he elevated the yoke of repentance through his own t’shuvah. David was a great tzadik and should not have sinned, but G-d caused him to sin in order to teach everyone the way of t’shuvah. King David was the prime exemplar of t’shuvah, and his pathway is set forth in the Psalms, which he wrote with such a spirit of holiness that everyone can find himself in them and thereby return to Hashem.
List of People Who Need a R’fuah Sh’leimah (a complete recovery)
Please recite Psalms 20, 30, 88, 121, and 130.
Boris Baruch ben Frecha Frida
Alter Shmuel ben Chavah Leah
Chaim Avraham ben Shifrah Zisel
Chaim Yitzchak ben Feiga Hinda
Yitzchak Chaim ben Altoon Aura
Yosef Yitzchak ben Gittel
Eliezer ben Roma
Yosef Ezriel ben Chayah Michal
Aharon ben Feiga
Menachem Mendel ben Gitta Perel
Moshe ben Rachel
Yitzchak Nissim ben Luna
David ben Zina Priyev
Yosef ben Zackie
Yehoshua ben Miriam
Asher ben Rima
Tinok ben Chanah
Yechiel Nasan ben Sarah
Chaim Shmuel ben Leah
Shlomo Chaim ben Liza
Meir Moshe ben Ilanah
David Yehudah ben Maya Mazal
Avraham Refael ben Esther
Yisrael Meir ben Daphne Bruriah
Rafael ben Zilpah
Eitan Moshe ben Tal
Moshe ben Shoshanah
Gavriel ben Simi
Mordechai ben Evelyn Chavah
Miriam bas Orah
Esther Pesel bas Beila Chayah
Minna Rivkah bas Chanah Frahdl
Tovah Yocheved bas Esther Bukas
Ruchamah Perel Malkah Leah bas Chanah Serel
Esther Hadassah bas Devorah
Leah bas Malkah
Avigayil bas Sarah
Ronit bas Olga
Perel bas Nechamah
Tehilah Hadassah bas Elanah
Berta Duchtar bas Rivkah
Avivah bas Yehudis
Chanah Chayah bas Rivkah Breina
Rivkah Esther bas Nina Naomi
Miriam bas Esther
Casey Naomi bas Larisa
Shaindel Frana bas Gittel
Mahnaz Ilanit bas Nosrat
Yaffah bas Nava Natali
Pnir bas Sarah
Alana bas Esther
Hadassah Liana bas Chavah Brachah
Shulamis bas Esther
Esther bas Naomi
Yocheved Esther bas Devorah Henya
Devorah Henya bas Rivkah Leah
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.