Loosen, loosen baby You don’t have to carry The weight of the world in your muscles and bones Let go, let go, let go.
Holy breath and holy name Will you ease, will you ease this pain? - “Loosen” by Aly Halpert
I had a conversation with a member of our community a few months ago in which she shared with me that she began to come to services each week to say the name of her grandson aloud and pray along with the community for his healing. So many of us can relate to the pull she feels to pray for healing. We all have names to say; we all have loved ones in our lives who need healing; we all have bodies that break, spirits that need repair, and souls that yearn for wholeness.
Asking for healing has become such an important part of our community since the outbreak of COVID-19 that our morning minyan made the radical and empathetic decision to recite a mi sheiberach for healing not just on Torah reading days, as is traditional, but on every single day of the year. There is inexpressible power to asking for healing aloud and together as a community. For the very act of praying for healing is, in itself, healing.
We invite you to join us on Yom Kippur afternoon for a Healing Service of song and story, conversation and prayer outside on the HEA Sukkah Patio at 4:00 p.m. Whether you come to ask for healing for yourself, for another, or to support the healing of those around our circle, we know your presence will be healing. We want to thank you for bringing light into dark places, expansiveness into narrow places, and healing into moments of pain for so many in our community.
We look forward to spending the holidays with you.
G’mar Chatimah Tova – May you be inscribed for good and for healing
