As rabbi Menachem Mendel said, "There is nothing so whole as a broken heart." When we say broken heart, we are not just talking about love because hearts can break for so many reasons. Judaism teaches us that being whole means allowing ourselves to be broken. Illness, pain and heartbreak are part of life, but Judaism can help us get through it.
Moses wandered for 40 years and never got to Israel. That's heartbreak.
The first healing prayer ever, as far as we know, can be found in the Torah. It is Moses’ prayer for healing for his sister, Miriam, who had become ill with leprosy. (Spoiler alert – the prayer works and Miriam is healed.) This prayer is commonly chanted everywhere from synagogues to Jewish meditation classes. It’s quite beautiful. And short.
Ana El Na R’fa Na La
Please God, I ask, hear her now.
Seriously? You're asking if Jews know heartbreak?
The Jewish calendar dedicates one whole month to healing! It’s called Iyar. Iyar is the second month of the Jewish calendar, which comes during April/May on the secular calendar. It’s known as the month of natural healing because the name, Iyar, is an acronym for “I am God your healer.” But the important part as far as JewBelong is concerned is that Judaism recognizes the need for healing so deeply that we’re given a lot of time for it.
A famous rabbi said: There is nothing as whole as a broken heart. Of course, the rabbi had a date to his sister's wedding.
In the bible, Miriam never married. But now we have Tinder!
Why make an account and save your favorite JewBelong stuff? Because someday Jack is going to get off his ass and pop the question and you’re going to get to plan that wedding you've been thinking about since third grade.
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It makes us happy to know that you’re back. Have a great day!
Because why use any of your precious brain cells to remember where you kept those great readings that you’ll use someday at Jeffrey’s B Mitzvah? Make an account, keep the readings there. Easy peasy. The only thing you’ll need to remember is your password, and from personal experience that’s hard enough.
Hey, can you watch the phones on Friday? We have a thing.