Dear friends and family,
For Abba, yesterday was shabbat, his day of rest, and today is his birthday, the zero-day. Abba finished his pre-transplant meds on Wednesday, rested on Thursday, and today he receives his donor-marrow.
To mark this moment, Abba crafted a bracha (blessing) with dear friend Rabbi Marc Berkson. It is tradition in Judaism to say blessings out loud, so others can hear them and participate in them by responding to them with “Amein.” Given that Abba is in quarantine, we cannot be with him in person to hear his bracha and participatorily say Amein. He authorized me to share his bracha with you and I invite you to join me in participating by saying Amein, wherever you are, in response:
G-d of our fathers and mothers,
bless this generous young lady
who has shared her bone marrow with me.
May her recuperation be speedy and complete
and may she be blessed with a long life
filled with love and shalom.
Of course Abba is not the only one praying for the healing of others. Many of you have shared that you are praying for him. Inspired by Abba, I thought it would be fitting to share a rendition of the traditional Jewish prayer for healing. It is below with the Hebrew on the right, the transliteration on the left and the English translation in the middle.
| Mi shebeirach | May he who blessed | מי שברך |
| avoteinu v’imoteinu | our fathers and mothers, | אבותינו ואמותינו |
| Avraham Yitzchak v’Yaakov, | Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, | אברהם יצחק ויעקב, |
| Moshe v’Aharon, | Moses and Aaron, | משה ואהרן, |
| Dovid v’Shlomo, | David and Shlomo, | דוד ושלמה, |
| Sarah Rivka Rachel v’Leah, | Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, | שרה רבקה רחל ולאה, |
| hu yivarech v’yirape | bless and heal | הוא יברך וירפא |
| et hacholeh | the one who is sick, | את החולה, |
| Yitzchak ben Edis hazikuk | Jerry, the upright, son of Edie, | יצחק בן אדיס, הזקוק, |
| l’rifuah shleimah, | with a complete healing, | לרפואה שלמה, |
| bavur she’anachnu | because we | בעבור שאנחנו |
| mitpallelim l’hachalimo. | are praying for his recovery. | מתפללים להחלמו. |
| B’sachar zeh | For the merit [of our prayer] | בשכר זה |
| hakodesh baruch hu | may the Holy One, blessed is He, | הקדוש ברוך הוא |
| yimaleh rachamim alav | be filled with mercy for him | ימלא רחמים עליו |
| l’hachalimo u’lirifuato | and restore him and cure him | להחלימו ולרפאותו |
| u’lihachziko | and strengthen him | ולהחזיקו |
| u’lihachayoto | and invigorate him | ולהחיותו |
| vayishlach lo miheirah | and quickly send to him | וישלח לו מהרה |
| refuah shlemah | complete healing | רפואה שלמה |
| min hashamayim, | from the heavens, | מן השמים, |
| b’toch she’ar cholei Yisrael, | among the other sick of Israel, | בתוך שאר חולי ישראל, |
| rifuat hanaefesh | soul-healing | רפואת הנפש |
| v’rifuat haguf, | and body-healing, | ורפואת הגוף, |
| hashata b’agala | may it come speedily | השתא בעגלא |
| u’vizman kariv. | and soon. | ובזמן קריב. |
| V’ne’emar Amein. | And we say, Amein. | ונאמר אמן. |
The unknown remains among the highest on the list of terrifying things. Part of that fear comes from a lack of control. I am confident that Abba has done everything within his power to survive this threat, but at this moment what comes next is out of our hands. As Eama often reminds me, one foot in front of the other.
For that reason, I include Dr. Antin and all of the medical professionals on his team in my prayers. Paraphrasing Numbers 6:24-26:
I pray that G-d blesses and keeps them.
I pray that G-d makes his face shine on them and that he is gracious to them.
Finally, I pray that G-d lifts up his face to them and gives them peace.
As it is written in Proverbs 2:11:
Discretion will watch over them; discernment will guard them.
Because, as it is written in Proverbs 4:6:
Don’t forsake wisdom, as she will preserve you; love her, and she will keep you.
In these moments when we are facing that dubious unknowable future, it may help to look at others who have walked that path and found light on the other side. One of those who came through overwhelming fear was King David, author of the Psalms. King David, a shepherd himself, wrote in Psalm 23:1-6:
| The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. | … ה’ רעי, לא אחסר. |
| He causes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me besides the still waters. |
בנאות דשא, ירבציני; על־מי מנחות ינהלני. |
| He restores my soul; he guides me on the righteous path, for his namesake. |
נפשי ישובב; ינחני במעגלי־צדק, למען שמו. |
| And though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. |
גם כי־אלך בגיא צלמות, לא־אירא רע־־ כי אתה עמדי; שבטך ומשענתך, המה ינחמני. |
| You set a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you have anointed my head with oil, my cup overflows. |
תערך לפני, שלחן־־ נגד צררי; דשנת בשמן ראשי, כוסי רויה. |
| Certainly goodness and kindness will pursue me all the days of my life; and I will sit in the house of the Lord for the rest of my days. |
אך, טוב וחסד ירדפוני־־ כל ימי חיי; ושבתי בבית־ה’, לארך ימים. |
Singing also helps calm me and so I thought I would share a song from verse 4 above. You can listen to it here: https://abbaupdates.newphaseinnovations.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Gam_Ki_Eilech.mp3. Speaking of singing, the late Debbie Friedman took the prayer for healing and created a beautiful song from it. You can watch Debbie performing her song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHKo3CjuzpY
Her song is as follows:
Mi Shebeirach by Debbie Friedman, Z”L
Mi shebeirach avoteinu
M’kor hab’racha l’imoteinu
May the source of strength,
Who blessed the ones before us,
Help us find the courage to make our lives a blessing,
and let us say, Amen.
Mi shebeirach imoteinu
M’kor habrachah l’avoteinu
Bless those in need of healing with r’fuah sh’leimah,
The renewal of body, the renewal of spirit,
And let us say, Amen
Thank you for keeping Abba in your hearts and in your prayers. The doctors remain hopeful that he will be discharged 24-48 hours after the transplant. He can’t wait to get out of there. Been cooped up in his tiny house for too long. I’ll let you know when there is more to know.
Ariel
PS
Eama provided some pictures of the tiny house:
