Mi Sheberach for Mental Health: Cultivating Mental Wellness with the Jewish Prayer for Healing​

The mi sheberach dates back to ancient Babylonia, initially as a blessing rabbis said over their congregations. The original mi sheberach—recited only on Mondays and Thursdays, never on Shabbat—asked G-d to “bless all those brothers and sisters who come to the synagogue for prayer and to give.” Only in the twelfth century did it start to be said for individuals for a variety of reasons, including illness. But until the 1980s, the traditional prayer for the sick could only be found in a rabbi’s manual; “regular” Jews did not have a copy in their prayer books and therefore could not read along.