When You Need a Prayer and Time Is Short
Sometimes the news comes fast. A phone call. A text. Someone you love is sick, and you want to daven right now — not later, not when things are calmer. Right now. You need a brief tefillah that you can say from wherever you are, with whatever time you have.
The Mi Shebeirach (the One who blessed) is exactly that. It is a brief tefillah that has been said in shuls for generations whenever someone is ill. In just a few lines, it asks Hashem to send a complete healing — refuas hanefesh u’refuas haguf (healing of the soul and healing of the body). It covers everything.
You do not need a minyan to say it. You do not need to be in shul. You can say this tefillah at a hospital bedside, in your car before walking into a waiting room, or quietly at your kitchen table. Hashem hears you wherever you are.
Before You Say This Tefillah
Take a moment to focus. Have the person you are davening for in mind, then speak to Hashem:
Ribono Shel Olam, You know who I am davening for right now. I am asking You for a refuah sheleimah — a complete healing, body and soul. Please ease their pain, strengthen what is weak, and bring them back to health. I do not have the power to heal them. Only You do. In the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, please hear my tefillah. Elokah d’Meir aneni.
If giving tzedakah, add:
In the zechus of the tzedakah I am giving to Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities, please send a complete refuah to the one I love. Let this act of chesed open the gates of healing.
Mi Shebeirach: The Full Prayer
Prayer for a Male
מִי שֶׁבֵּרַךְ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן דָּוִד וּשְׁלֹמֹה הוּא יְבָרֵךְ וִירַפֵּא אֶת הַחוֹלֶה [שֵׁם] בֶּן [שֵׁם הָאֵם] הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יִמָּלֵא רַחֲמִים עָלָיו לְהַחֲלִימוֹ וּלְרַפְּאוֹתוֹ וּלְהַחֲזִיקוֹ וּלְהַחֲיוֹתוֹ וְיִשְׁלַח לוֹ מְהֵרָה רְפוּאָה שְׁלֵמָה מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם רְפוּאַת הַנֶּפֶשׁ וּרְפוּאַת הַגּוּף בְּתוֹךְ שְׁאָר חוֹלֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הַשְׁתָּא בַּעֲגָלָא וּבִזְמַן קָרִיב וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן
Prayer for a Female
מִי שֶׁבֵּרַךְ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן דָּוִד וּשְׁלֹמֹה הוּא יְבָרֵךְ וִירַפֵּא אֶת הַחוֹלֶה [שֵׁם] בַּת [שֵׁם הָאֵם] הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יִמָּלֵא רַחֲמִים עָלֶיהָ לְהַחֲלִימָהּ וּלְרַפְּאוֹתָהּ וּלְהַחֲזִיקָהּ וּלְהַחֲיוֹתָהּ וְיִשְׁלַח לָהּ מְהֵרָה רְפוּאָה שְׁלֵמָה מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם רְפוּאַת הַנֶּפֶשׁ וּרְפוּאַת הַגּוּף בְּתוֹךְ שְׁאָר חוֹלֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הַשְׁתָּא בַּעֲגָלָא וּבִזְמַן קָרִיב וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן
Mi shebeirach avoiseinu Avrohom Yitzchok v'Yaakov Moishe v'Aharon Dovid u'Shloimoi, hu y'voreich virapei es hachoileh [Name] ben/bas your mother's Hebrew name. HaKodosh Boruch Hu yimalei rachamim olov/olehoh l'hachlimoi/l'hachlimoh ul'raposoi/ul'raposoh ul'hachzikoi/ul'hachzikoh ul'hachayoisoi/ul'hachayoisoh. V'yishlach loi/loh m'heiroh r'fuoh sh'leimoh min hashomayim, r'fuas hanefesh ur'fuas haguf, b'soich sh'or choilei Yisroel. Hashtoh ba'agoloh uvizman koriv, v'nomar Omein.
Mi sheberach avotenu Avraham Yitzchak ve-Ya'akov Moshe ve-Aharon David u-Shelomo, hu yevarech virapei et hacholeh [Name] ben/bat your mother's Hebrew name. HaKadosh Baruch Hu yimalei rachamim alav/aleha lehachalimo/lehachalimah ulerapoto/ulerapotah ulehachaziko/ulehachazikah ulehachayoto/ulehachayotah. Ve-yishlach lo/lah meherah refuah shelemah min hashamayim, refuat hanefesh u-refuat haguf, betoch she'ar cholei Yisrael. Hashta ba'agala u-vizman kariv, venomar Amen.
May the One who blessed our forefathers Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, Moshe and Aharon, David and Shlomo, bless and heal the one who is ill, [Name] son/daughter of your mother's Hebrew name. May the Holy One, blessed is He, be filled with compassion for him/her, to restore his/her health, to heal him/her, to strengthen him/her, and to give him/her life. And may He send him/her speedily a complete healing from heaven, a healing of the soul and a healing of the body, among the other sick of the Jewish people. Swiftly and soon, and let us say Amen.
The Mi Shebeirach is traditionally recited in shul when the Torah is read, with the gabbai calling out the name of the choleh. But it is also said privately, any time, any place. Its power is in its brevity and completeness; in just a few sentences, it asks Hashem for everything a sick person needs.
Understanding the Words
Mi shebeirach avoiseinu “May the One who blessed our forefathers.”
The tefillah opens by turning to the same Hashem who blessed Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov, and by placing our request within that ongoing relationship. In Tanach and tefillah, invoking the Avos is not because Hashem needs a reminder, chas v’shalom, but because we approach Him through the covenant and kindness He established with them. These words anchor our bakashah in the enduring bond between Hashem and Klal Yisrael, and in the trust that the One who blessed the Avos is the One we turn to now.
R’fuoh sh’leimoh min hashomayim “A complete healing from heaven.”
We do not ask for a partial healing. We ask for r’fuoh sh’leimoh — a healing that is whole. The word sh’leimoh shares a root with shalom, peace. A complete healing is not just the absence of illness. It is a return to complete health, which is what this prayer asks for.
R’fuas hanefesh ur’fuas haguf “A healing of the soul and a healing of the body.”
The tefillah names both because the need may be in one, the other, or both. Sometimes the suffering is in the body. Sometimes it is in the heart, the mind, or the spirit. Often it is both. This tefillah recognizes that a person is not only a body, and not only a neshamah. We ask Hashem for the refuah that is needed, wherever it is needed.
B’soich sh’or choilei Yisroel “Among the other sick of the Jewish people.”
Even in private pain, we daven as part of Klal Yisrael. The Gemara teaches that when praying for someone ill, we include them among all the sick of Israel rather than presenting the person as an isolated case. This is why we say b’soich she’ar cholei Yisrael — placing our loved one within the tefillah of the many.
How to Say This Tefillah
While the Mi Shebeirach for the sick is often recited in shul, you can also pray privately for someone who is ill at any time. You may stand or sit. If you know the sick person’s Hebrew name and mother’s Hebrew name, include them.
There is a deep connection between tefillah and tzedakah, especially when davening for the sick. Rephrase to: ‘The Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 16b) teaches that tzedakah is among the acts that can avert a heavenly decree and bring divine mercy.’ When you say this tefillah and pair it with tzedakah in the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, your words carry extra weight. After the Mi Shebeirach, say: Elokah d’Meir aneni!
Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness
The Gemara in Avodah Zarah 18a tells how Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess worked to rescue his sister-in-law from captivity, when there seemed to be no natural way out. In that moment of danger, he invoked “Eloka d’Meir aneini” — “God of Meir, answer me” — and Hashem brought salvation. The Gemara presents these words as bound up with Rabbi Meir’s extraordinary faith and merit. When we pray in his merit, we ask that the same God Who answered Rabbi Meir should answer us as well, and we seek to draw on the כוח of those holy words and the zechus they represent.
When someone you love is sick, you know that feeling — the feeling that this is out of your hands. Giving tzedakah in the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness is asking Hashem to hear your tefillah in the combined zechus of a great tzaddik and your own act of chesed.
Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities was founded in 1799. The fund supports Torah scholars and the poor in Eretz Yisrael. Talmidei chachamim at the kever of Rabbi Meir in Tiberias daven for those who send their names. When you give through this fund, your chesed joins their tefillos — all rising together toward Shamayim.
Yes. While the Mi Shebeirach is traditionally said in shul during the Torah reading, you can say it anywhere. At home, at a hospital, in the car. Hashem hears your tefillah wherever you are. You do not need a minyan.
When davening for a choleh , the usual practice is to say the person’s Hebrew name together with the mother’s Hebrew name — for example, Moshe ben Sarah or Rachel bat Leah . If the mother’s name is not known , you may use the father’s name instead, because the main point is to identify the person clearly in the tefillah.
God of Meir, answer me." Rabbi Meir coined these words when he needed a miracle, and Hashem answered. Saying them after the Mi Shebeirach is asking Hashem to answer our tefillah in the merit of this great tzaddik who merited miracles.
Yes. This is the traditional Mi Shebeirach l'cholim — the blessing for the sick — that the gabbai says during the Torah reading. The text here is the standard version used in Ashkenazi communities.
A Blessing for the One You Love
We end with a bracha for the person you are davening for.
May the One who blessed our forefathers send a refuah sheleimah to the person in your heart. May their body heal, their spirit find rest, and their strength return. May the doctors have clarity, the treatments bring relief, and the days ahead be filled with hope. And may you, who carried this worry to Hashem, be comforted with the knowledge that your tefillah was heard.
You can submit a prayer request to the scholars who will daven at the kever of Rabbi Meir in Tiberias at no cost — they will daven for your loved one’s healing by name through Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities. And if you would like to give tzedakah in Rabbi Meir’s zechus as well, your kindness will rise together with your prayer.
