Tefillah livri’ut — The Prayer for Healing
This is a traditional Jewish prayer for health and healing, drawing its opening verses directly from the Book of Proverbs and its closing lines from the Psalms. It invokes the merits of the patriarchs — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — and asks God for strength, protection, and wholeness of body and mind. The prayer is recommended by the Chida (Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai, 18th century) alongside Psalms 91 and 130. Whoever you are and wherever you come from, you are welcome to bring these words before God.
A prayer for health
She is a tree of life to those who hold fast to her, and those who support her are blessed.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
The name of Adonai is a tower of strength; the righteous runs into it and is raised high.
May it be Your will before You, Adonai our God and God of our forefathers,
That You be filled with compassion toward us,
And act for the sake of our holy forefathers:
Abraham, the man of lovingkindness; Isaac, girded with strength; Jacob, the embodiment of beauty —
And annul from us all harsh and evil decrees,
And shelter us in the shadow of Your wings.
May we be healthy in all our limbs and sinews,
And may You guard us from all distress, all fear, and all illness,
And save us from all forms of sorcery and from confusion of mind.
May our hearts not ache, may our eyes not grow dim,
And may we be settled and clear in our understanding.
Grant us strength, health, and sufficient capacity,
And fortify and brace our limbs, our sinews, and our bodies,
To stand our watch,
So that no pain and no ache befall us,
And may we be joyful, good, and healthy in Your service and in Your reverence.
Save us from all evil.
Lengthen our days in goodness and our years in pleasantness;
Fill out our years — add to us length of days and years of life in Your service.
And shelter us in the shadow of Your wings.
Save us — us and all the members of our households — from all harsh and evil decrees.
May we be calm and tranquil, nourished and flourishing,
In Your service and in Your reverence.
For with You is the source of life; in Your light we see light.
In all that we turn to, may we act wisely; in all that we do, may we succeed.
Amen — so may it be Your will:
May Your kindness, Adonai, be upon us, as we have hoped in You.
Show us Your kindness, Adonai, and grant us Your salvation.
As for me, I have trusted in Your kindness; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation —
I will sing to Adonai, for He has dealt bountifully with me.
Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid,
For Yah Adonai is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.
Then recite Psalms 91 and 130.
(The Chida, Shomer Yisrael, Tzipporen Shamir)
Tefillah al habriyut
Etz chayyim hi lamachazikim bah, vetomcheha me'ushar.
Deracheiha darchei no'am, vechol netivoteha shalom.
Migdal oz shem Adonai, bo yarutz tzaddik venissgav.
Yehi ratzon milfanecha, Adonai Eloheinu velohei avoteinu,
Shetitmaleh rachamim aleinu,
Va'aseh lema'an avoteinu hakedoshim,
Avraham ish hachesed, Yitzchak ne'ezar bigvurah, Ya'akov kelil tiferet,
Utevattel me'aleinu kol gezeirot kashot vera'ot,
Uvetzell kenafecha tastireinu,
Venihyeh bri'im bechol eivareinu vegideinu,
Vetishhmereinu mikol tzarah umikol pachad umikol choli,
Vetatzileinu mikol minei keshuf umibilvul hade'at.
Ve'al yidveh libbenu, ve'al yechshchu eineinu,
Venihyeh meyyushavm bede'atenu.
Veten banu ko'ach uvri'ut veyecholet masppik,
Vechazzek ve'ammetz be'eivareinu vegideinu ugeviyyateinu,
La'amod al hamishmar,
Velo yei'ara lanu shum machush veshum ke'ev,
Venihyeh semeichim vetovim uvri'im la'avodatecha uliyr'atecha.
Vetatzileinu mikol ra.
Veta'arich yameinu batov veshototeinu bane'imim,
Umalleh shenoteinu, orech yamim ushenot chayyim tosif lanu la'avodatecha.
Uvetzell kenafecha tastireinu.
Vetatzileinu lanu ulechol bnei veiteinu mikol gezeirot kashot vera'ot.
Venihyeh shekettim ushanannim, dashanim vera'ananim,
La'avodatecha uliyr'atecha.
Ki immecha mekor chayyim, be'orecha nir'eh or.
Uvechol asher nifneh naskil, uvechol asher na'aseh natzli'ach.
Amein ken yehi ratzon:
Yehi chasdecha Adonai aleinu ka'asher yichalnu lach.
Har'enu Adonai chasdecha veyish'echa titen lanu.
Va'ani bechasdecha vatachti, yagel libbi bishu'atecha,
Ashirah l'Adonai ki gamal alai.
Hinneh El yeshu'ati evtach velo efchad,
Ki ozzi vezimrat Yah Adonai, vayhi li lishu'ah.
Ve'omrim et happerakim tzadi-alef ve-kuf-lamed shebetehillim.
(HaChida, Shomer Yisrael, Tzipporen Shamir)
Common Questions
While the well-known Mi Sheberach prayer for healing is typically recited by a community on behalf of a specific ill person, this prayer is written in the first-person plural — 'we' and 'us' — making it a personal or communal petition for ongoing good health, not only recovery from illness. It also weaves together several biblical verses at its close, giving it a scriptural richness that grounds the petition in the language of Torah and Psalms. Its scope is notably broad, addressing physical ailments, mental clarity, fear, and spiritual vitality all at once.
Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai (1724–1806), known by the acronym Chida, was one of the most prolific and respected Sephardic Torah scholars and kabbalists of the modern era. He traveled widely across Europe and the Middle East, collecting manuscripts and spreading Torah, and authored dozens of works on halachah, kabbalah, and Jewish bibliography. His endorsement of this prayer — recorded in his work Tziporen Shamir — lends it significant authority in the Sephardic world and explains why it is found in many traditional Sephardic and Mizrachi prayer books.
The prayer describes Abraham as 'the man of chesed (lovingkindness),' Isaac as 'girded with gevurah (strength and restraint),' and Jacob as 'the embodiment of tiferet (beauty and harmony).' These three qualities — chesed, gevurah, and tiferet — are central concepts in Jewish mystical tradition, representing different dimensions of divine and human character. By invoking the merits of the patriarchs through these spiritual qualities, the prayer asks God to extend healing not merely as a mechanical act but as an expression of the deepest values the Jewish people aspire to embody.
The Chida directs that Psalm 91 and Psalm 130 be recited after this prayer. Psalm 91, sometimes called the 'Psalm of Protection,' is one of the most ancient prayers for safety from harm, plague, and fear, and has been associated with healing and protection throughout Jewish history. Psalm 130, the De Profundis ('Out of the depths I call to You'), is a profound cry of trust in God's mercy and redemption. Together, they deepen the petition by moving from a declaration of trust in divine protection to a humble acknowledgment of human vulnerability and hope.
You are warmly welcome to pray these words. The prayer's core longing — for health, clarity of mind, freedom from fear, and the strength to live with purpose — is universal. Non-Jewish readers should know that the prayer does address God specifically as 'our God and the God of our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,' which reflects its Jewish identity; there is no need to obscure or alter that. Many non-Jews who pray alongside Jewish tradition find that engaging honestly with its particular language, rather than softening it, actually deepens the experience. If these words resonate with your heart, bring them to God as your own.
The prayer does not belong to the fixed daily liturgy (Shacharit, Minchah, or Maariv) and therefore has no single prescribed time. It may be recited at any point — morning, before sleep, during illness, or as a regular private devotion for those who wish to maintain a practice of praying for their health. Some recite it on Shabbat or following Torah reading. The Chida's inclusion of it in Tziporen Shamir suggests it was intended as a practical, accessible prayer for everyday life rather than a formal liturgical set-piece.