Is the service too long for a mi sheberach? In the seventeenth century, the fiery Rabbi Yaakov Emden condemned the additional prayer for the sick as an unnecessary addition to the service. Although he favoured cancelling the practice, he was unsuccessful in his quest.
The Maggid of Melbourne is an ongoing series by Rabbi Dr. Levi Cooper – teacher of Hasidut, community rabbi, lawyer, IDF reservist, father to six and native Australian – in which he shares some short Torah ideas on topics of current interest from his Pardes classroom, his research and from his shul in Zur Hadassa. To the Beit Midrash!
See www.elmad.pardes.org/maggidofmelbourne for more episodes in the series.
