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Tefilah Tool
Prayer
is a form of chessed and chessed touches people. With prayer there’s an
additional opportunity, which is that it lends itself to helping
someone connect to the Almighty as well.
If
you know someone who’s sick or going through a difficult time of any
sort, tell them that you will pray for them. Usually people will be
touched.
If they do appreciate it, you can tell
them that it’s even better if they pray for themselves, and ask them
what they think of trying that. Of course, you will continue as well,
but explain to people that G-d understands English very well(!), and
that when you prayer in your own words, by requesting help from above,
you are fulfilling the command of the Torah to pray. This is, in fact,
the essence of prayer - that we express our needs to Hashem and show
that we realize that He is ultimately in charge.
And, please G-d, it can make a difference.
It
might also be a nice touch to say that you will pray at candle lighting
time (especially for women). This also gives you an “in” to suggest
that they do the same and therefore also gives you an opportunity to
connect them to Shabbos.
In
addition once you find out about their Hebrew name, you can find out
about what it means or where it is found in the Torah – possibly even
learn together about the name / person in the Torah.
If you know their Hebrew name and birthday – you can tell them about it by going to: http://www.aish.com/a/myhebrewbirthday/
The following links explain Hebrew names (men and women separately)
http://www.aish.com/literacy/lifecycle/Boys_Names.asp
http://www.aish.com/literacy/lifecycle/Girls_Names.asp
While you’re praying for them, don’t forget to pray for the Almighty to bring them back to Him, to Torah and mitzvos – it helps!
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