During the Ten Days of Repentance between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, B’nei Yisrael take upon themselves to recite T’hilim, because saying T’hilim is a s’gulah for t’shuvah. According to Likutei Moharan II:73, saying T’hilim is a great way to rouse feelings of awakening toward Hashem.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov also teaches that reciting T’hilim is an important practice for inspiring someone to truly do t’shuvah. He explains in his teachings: “Everybody wants to revere God’s Name but not everyone is able to repent. Sometimes a person feels no arousal whatsoever. Even one who is aroused to repent may not reach his unique gate of t’shuvah; and even if he does, it could be that the gate is closed. This is why not everyone attains repentance. But through reciting Psalms, even one who feels no arousal can be inspired to repent. The Psalms can take him to his unique gate and open it up, thereby bringing him to t’shuvah.”
For this reason, King David called himself “the man who raised the yoke – the sweet singer of Israel” (II Samuel 23:1). Our sages explain that David called himself “the man who raised the yoke” because he elevated the yoke of repentance through his own t’shuvah. David was a great tzadik and should not have sinned, but God caused him to sin in order to teach everyone the way of t’shuvah. King David was the prime exemplar of t’shuvah, and his pathway is set forth in the Psalms, which he wrote with such a spirit of holiness that everyone can find himself in them and thereby return to G-d.
List of People Who Need a r’fuah sh’leimah (a complete recovery)
Please recite Psalms 20, 30, 88, 121, and 130.
Yisrael ben Raizel Shoshanah Miriam
Eliyahu ben Rachel
Robert ben Mazal
Yosef Yehudah ben Devorah
David ben Maya
Yosef Meir ben Malkah Charna
Amir ben Azar Avivah
Binyamin Nesanel ben Brachah Tovah
Eliyahu ben Zoya
Eliyahu ben Sophie
Lavi Rafael ben Olga
Moshe Reuven ben Sima Taybela
Shalom Reuven ben Shima
Shia Hersh ben Surel
Baruch Bendit ben Chanah Gitel
Chai Yitzchak ben Esther Rivkah
Moshe Reuven ben Sima Taybela
Yosef Gideon Yaakov ben Peninah
Rafael ben Sonya Sarah
Tinok ben Shiran
Alexander ben Shoshanah
Leah bas Michal
Chayah Esther bas Barba
Esther bas Rachel
Tovah Yocheved bas Esther Bukas
Ruchamah Perel Malkah Leah bas Chanah Serel
Esther Hadassah bas Devorah
Tziporah bas Fruma
Behnaz Chayah bas Yafah
Chayah Rivkah bas Yocheved Kayla
Beindel Frimet bas Rachel Miriam
Leah bas Talia
Sarah Miriam bas Chanah Batsheva
To add names of individuals who need a r’fuah sh’leimah to next week’s T’hilim column, please email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and complete the Google form.
