David HaMelech said: “Va’ani kirvas Elokim li tov” (As for me, being close to Hashem is what’s considered good). What King David (David HaMelech) desired was only one thing: to be close with Hashem.
The time between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur is known as the Ten Days of Repentance. T’shuvah enables us to become close to Him again. The Rambam (Hilchos T’shuvah 7:6-7) expresses that the main point of t’shuvah is rebuilding our relationship with Hashem: “T’shuvah is great because it brings a man closer to the Sh’chinah… Yesterday, he was loathsome, distanced from Hashem, and an abomination; but today, he is beloved, a delight, close, and a friend… Before, when he davened, Hashem did not listen; and when he did mitzvos, they were torn up before Him… Today, he clings to the Sh’chinah… He calls out to Hashem and is answered…and he does mitzvos that are received with joy.”
Many have the custom of taking on extra stringencies on themselves in order to develop a pattern of more meticulous religious observance. It is also customary to listen to shiurim, learn musar, and to give tz’dakah during this period.
The Rambam in Hilchos T’shuvah, The Laws of Repentance (2:6), says, “Despite the fact that t’shuvah and crying out to Hashem are always timely, during the Ten Days between Rosh HaShanah and Yom HaKippurim it is exceedingly appropriate, and is accepted immediately, as it says, ‘Seek Hashem when He is to be found’ (Yeshayahu 55:6).” In Maseches Rosh HaShanah (18a) it explains that “‘Seek Hashem when He is to be found’ are the days between Rosh HaShanah and Yom HaKippurim.”
The Rambam continues in Hilchos T’shuvah (3:4): “…Every person should view himself all year as if he were half innocent and half guilty. And that is the way he should look at the world, as well, as if it were half innocent and half guilty. If he would do just one sin, he would thereby tip both himself and the entire world towards the “guilty” side and cause great destruction. And if he would do just one mitzvah, he would tip both himself and the entire world towards the “innocent” side and cause for himself and for them salvation, as it says, “The righteous person is the foundation of the world” – because his being righteous tipped the world for good and saved it.”
List of People Who Need a R’fuah Sh’leimah
(a complete recovery)
Please recite Psalms
20, 30, 88, 121, and 130.
Boris Baruch ben Frecha Frida
Alter Shmuel ben Chavah Leah
Chaim Avraham ben Shifrah Zisel
Chaim Yitzchak ben Feiga Hinda
Yitzchak Chaim ben Altoon Aura
Yosef Yitzchak ben Gittel
Eliezer ben Roma
Yosef Ezriel ben Chayah Michal
Aharon ben Feiga
Menachem Mendel ben Gitta Perel
Moshe ben Rachel
Yitzchak Nissim ben Luna
David ben Zina Priyev
Yosef ben Zackie
Yehoshua ben Miriam
Asher ben Rima
Tinok ben Chanah
Yechiel Nasan ben Sarah
Chaim Shmuel ben Leah
Shlomo Chaim ben Liza
Meir Moshe ben Ilanah
David Yehudah ben Maya Mazal
Avraham Refael ben Esther
Yisrael Meir ben Daphne Bruriah
Rafael ben Zilpah
Eitan Moshe ben Tal
Moshe ben Shoshanah
Gavriel ben Simi
Mordechai ben Evelyn Chavah
Akiva ben Malkah
Zev ben Leah
Yehudah ben Tziporah
Yehudah Yudel ben Miriam Gittel
Refael Meir HaLevi ben Esther
Miriam bas Orah
Esther Pesel bas Beila Chayah
Minna Rivkah bas Chanah Frahdl
Tovah Yocheved bas Esther Bukas
Ruchamah Perel Malkah Leah bas Chanah Serel
Esther Hadassah bas Devorah
Leah bas Malkah
Avigayil bas Sarah
Ronit bas Olga
Perel bas Nechamah
Tehilah Hadassah bas Elanah
Berta Duchtar bas Rivkah
Avivah bas Yehudis
Chanah Chayah bas Rivkah Breina
Rivkah Esther bas Nina Naomi
Miriam bas Esther
Casey Naomi bas Larisa
Shaindel Frana bas Gittel
Mahnaz Ilanit bas Nosrat
Yaffah bas Nava Natali
Pnir bas Sarah
Alana bas Esther
Hadassah Liana bas Chavah Brachah
Shulamis bas Esther
Esther bas Naomi
Yocheved Esther bas Devorah Henya
Devorah Henya bas Rivkah Leah
Regina bas Sveta
Sarah bas Leah