Sh'ma on Health, Healing, Suffering, and Hope

This issue of Sh’ma focuses on health, illness, suffering, healing, and hope. William Cutter, Deborah Kram, & Julie Pelc Adler each explore the power of prayer — in particular, the Misheberach, the prayer for healing. Abby Caplin & Rachel Brodie look at ritual and its capacity to effect healing; Michael Agus shares insights about managing a realistic sense of hope in the face of illness; David Ellenson reflects on how we measure a life, our accomplishments and our impact on the world around us; Maayan Ravid & Stav Bar-Shany write about maintaining hope as activists on behalf of Israel; several rabbis and doctors discuss pastoral care education and self-care for caregivers in our Roundtable. We dedicate this issue to the life and work of Debbie Friedman, whose music has inspired hopefulness in the face of despair and perseverance in the face of an embattled spirit. Much of what appears in these pages touches on Debbie’s gift to create music and connection. Evan Kent writes about Debbie’s music, Elie Spitz walks us through deliberations in the Conservative movement about including musical instruments on Shabbat and Yom Tov, and Shefa Gold writes about the power of chanting as a healing modality. Jason Weiner reviews Facing Illness Finding God, a book about Jewish sources on healing; Kate Alkarni expresses, through photographs and a short reflection, her own process of healing from addiction, and Sharon Salzberg writes about a Buddhist approach to suffering.