Debbie Friedman and the Healing Power of Music

On Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook page this past September, the Facebook founder and CEO posted that he was "celebrating Rosh Hashanah." In his Facebook post, Zuckerberg offered the following blessing to his millions of followers:

I want to wish L'Shana Tova to everyone celebrating Rosh Hashanah -- the Jewish new year and a moment to reflect on our limited time here so we may live more meaningfully. My favorite Jewish prayer is called Mi Shebeirach. It has a line that has always touched me and that I reflect on when I face challenges: "Help us find the courage to make our lives a blessing." I hope you all have a wonderful year ahead and that you find the courage to make a positive and meaningful change in the world this year.

There was something beautiful about Zuckerberg's Rosh Hashanah greeting, but I also took notice that his favorite Jewish prayer is called "Mi Shebeirach." There are actually several Mi Shebeirach prayers, but of course the one Zuckerberg was referencing is the popular prayer for healing. Thirty years ago, when Zuckerberg was a year old, it would be unlikely for someone to cite the prayer for healing as ones favorite prayer. The reason that Zuckerberg, like so many others, considers the "Mi Shebeirach" as their favorite prayer is thanks to one woman.

This past Shabbat marked five years since the well known singer/songwriter Debbie Friedman passed away following a long battle with cancer. Her contributions to Jewish prayer and spirituality have endured since her passing and whenever I hear someone mention the Mi Sheberach for healing, as Zuckerberg did, I'll think of Debbie Friedman and her beautiful rendition of this prayer that brought it to the level of mass appeal.

A couple weeks from now we will observe Shabbat Shira when we chant the Song of the Sea from Chapter 15 of Exodus. It is an appropriate time to reflect on both the power of music in prayer and on Debbie Friedman's immense contributions to synagogue spirituality through her powerful music.

Prayers After the Boston Marathon Tragedy

Driving yesterday afternoon I heard on the radio that two bombs had gone off at the Boston Marathon and I immediately said a private prayer. Then my thoughts quickly turned to the people I knew who were running the race. I was on my way to the Jewish Community Center and as soon as I got there I sent a text to a mutual friend to make sure a friend who was running in the marathon was okay. I immediately got a response that she and her family were fine because she had finished the race so quickly (her personal best) and crossed the finish line 15 minutes before the bombs went off.

I then went on Facebook using my phone to check on another friend, Noam Neusner from Washington D.C., who runs the Boston Marathon each year. His Facebook page was already filling up with concerned friends asking if he was okay. Noam's wife Andrea, who waited over ten hours to hear from her husband in New York City on 9/11, then posted that he had finished the race several minutes before the explosions and was fine. Then his own posts began at about 4 PM to let people know he was fine: "Hi everyone I'm fine. Didn't hear explosion, but it's bad. Pls pray for the victims, this is bad."

An event like the attack at the Boston Marathon changes the narrative. How interesting that the marathon runners are now reporting their finish times as "20 minutes before the blasts," "15 minutes before the blast," and so on. And I'm sure there are runners who are thinking of how fortunate they are to have not been running faster as their slower pace kept them from being affected by the explosions.