Healing Service – Biyur Hametz
Congregation Etz Hayim – April 7, 2020

1.Psalm 57, verse 9
Awake, O my soul! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will bring the dawn’s light.
‘Urah kevodi, ‘urah hanevel v’kynor. A’yrah shahar.
:ט עוּרָה כְבוֹדִי עוּרָה הַנֵּבֶל וְכִנּוֹר אָעִירָה שָּׁחַר:

2. Tanach – Isaiah Chapter 38

9. The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and recovered fromhis sickness;
10. I had thought: I must depart in the middle of my days; I have been consigned to the gates of She’ol for the rest of my years.
11. I thought, I shall never see the Eternal, the Eternal, in the land of the living; or ever see people among those who inhabit the earth.
12. What shall I say? God has both spoken to me, and God has done it; my sleep has fled because of the bitterness of my soul.
13. My God, for all that and despite it, my life-breath is revived; you have restored me to health and revived me.
14. (…) You have, in love, saved my soul from the pit of destruction; for you have cast all my offenses behind your back.
15. For Sheol cannot praise you, nor the Land of Death extol You; they who go down into the Pit cannot hope for Your grace.
16. The living, only the living, shall praise You, as I do this day; the parents will tell the children Your truth.
17. The Eternal was ready to save me; that is why we offer music all the days of our life in the House of the Eternal.
18. Psalm 121 (translation by Hara E. Person)
    A song of Ascents
    I lift my eyes to the mountains, from where will my help come?
    My help comes from the Eternal, Maker of heaven and earth.
    The Eternal will not let your foot give way; your Guardian will not slumber.
    See, the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps!
    The Eternal is your keeper. The Eternal is your shade upon your right hand.
    By day the sun will not strike you, nor the moon by night.
    The Eternal will guard you from all harm, keeping your soul.
    The Eternal shall guard your going out and your coming in, from this time forth and forever.

:א שִׁיר לַמַּעֲלוֹת אֶשָּׂא עֵינַי אֶל־הֶהָרִים מֵאַיִן יָבֹא עֶזְרִי: ב עֶזְרִי מֵעִם ה’ עֹשֵׂה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ:
‘Essah ‘einay ‘el heharim me’ayin yavoh ‘ezry? ‘Ezry m’yim Adonai, ‘osseh shamayim va’aretz.

4. A Prayer – Rabbi Chayim Stern
   Give me the good sense to be afraid when there is something to fear, so that I make ready, as well as I can, for whatever threatens. And give me courage to stand up with grace against the troubles I cannot keep from coming my way. And make me willing to learn from what hurts me instead of feeling sorry for myself.
5. Sh’ma: Personal Declaration of Faith, by Marcia Falk
   Hear, O Israel –
   The Divine abounds everywhere
   and dwells in everything;
   the many are One.

Loving life
and its mysterious source
with all my heart
and all my spirit,
all my senses and my strength,
I take upon myself
and into myself
these promises:
to care for the earth
and those who live upon it,
to pursue justice and peace,
to love kindness and compassion.
I will teach this to our children
throughout the passage of the day –
as I dwell in my home
and as I go on my journey,
from the time I rise
until I fall asleep.
And may my actions be faithful to my words
that our children’s children
may live to know:
Truth and kindness have embraced,
peace and justice have kissed
and are one.

6. Tikun HaNefesh – Alison Iser
   There is no one among us whose body or soul is not permeated by cracks, some wide, some narrow, some deep, others shallow. At times, so many of us feel fragile, fractured, wanting only to gather up shattered pieces. If only we could put them back together, to be smooth, unblemished once more. But, our journey is not back into the past, but forward, into a future where we transform our pieces into a whole that is both strong and weathered.
7. Haggadah for Healing — Dr. Sherry Blumberg
   A community may ask: How can we create a haven for safety, a support system, and a place of true prayer for those whose lives revolve around illness and healing? On this night and all nights, how can we serve God and the Jewish people?
8. Mi SheBerach: Prayer for Healing (Siddur Lev Shalem)
   May the one who blessed our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Sarah Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, bring blessing and healing to _. May the Holy One mercifully restore him/her/them to health and vigor, granting him/her/them spiritual and physical well being, together with all others who are ill, and may God grant strength to those who tend to them. We hope and pray that healing is at hand. And let us say, Amen.
9. Prayer for Healing, by Debbie Friedman and Drorah Setel
   Mi sheberach avoteinu, m’lor hab’rachah l’imoteinu,
   May the Source of strength, who blessed the ones before us, help us find the courage to make our lives a blessing, and let us say: Amen.
   Mi sheberach ‘imoteinu, m’lor hab’rachah l’avoteinu,
   bless those in need of healing with refuah shlemah.
   The renewal of body, the renewal of spirit, and let us say: Amen.
10. Moses’ Prayer
    God, please heal her/him/them.
    El nah refah na lah/lo/lahem.
11. The search and elimination of Hametz
    Blessing

.בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל בִּעוּר חָמֵץ.

Baruh atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melekh haolam, asher kidhsanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al bi’ur hametz
Blessed are you Adonai, our God Sovereign of the Universe, who has sanctified us with commandments and commanded us to eliminate Hametz from our lives.

Declaration
Every sort of hametz in my possession, which I can see or can’t see, let it be null and void, ownerless like the dust of the earth.

Prayer
May it be your will, our God and god of our ancestors, that in the same way I have removed the hametz from my home and from my possession, I may be able to remove the hametz that festers in my heart. May I begin anew, journeying towards freedom, from hurt, from sickness, and from sadness. May my removal of hametz have a positive influence in the lives of all people on the earth, so we may live in peace, love, and freedom, bringing a complete healing to our fractured world.