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Tehillim for a [gentile]?



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Aribenj




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 18 2008, 11:05 am
A friend of mine from College who I've kept in touch with sporadically, has been going through some tough times with her 2 year old son. He's been in and out of the hospital with some kind of lung infection no one can figure out. Recently he's taken a turn for the worse. He is now in a paralytic coma (the doctors had to do it because he was moving around too much and it was taxing his lungs.) and is on a ventilator. He's crashed a few times in the past few days but they've been able to bring him back. They wanted to put in a chest tube, but now they're afraid to because they think he's hemmoraging into his lungs. Sad Sad

She lives very far away and when I asked her what I could do, she told me to pray. She knows I'm Jewish. She doesn't mind that we don't pray to the same entity (diety? don't know how to word it, but YKWIM...)


So how do I pray for a [gentile]? I mean, he doesn't have a Hebrew name... do you say tehillim??

My heart is just breaking for her...
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 18 2008, 11:09 am
Unless she is polytheist, you do pray the same entity/deity...

you can pray for "John Doe" or "John son of Jack" or whatever you like, as far as I know. I have read on the topic because the situation came up for me. I also asked my rav who told me to just pray "as I would talk". I suppose you can also do tehillim.
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octopus




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 18 2008, 11:09 am
Of course you can pray for her son! I don't know about saying names. I never really thought about it.
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greenfire




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 18 2008, 11:09 am
God is one and all encompassing ... Hashem should hear your prayers and I will pray as well !!!
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HindaRochel




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 18 2008, 11:16 am
Aribenj wrote:



So how do I pray for a [gentile]? I mean, he doesn't have a Hebrew name... do you say tehillim??

My heart is just breaking for her...


I believe you pray using the father's name.
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ChossidMom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 18 2008, 11:23 am
I pray for my non Jewish friend all the time.
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bashinda




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 18 2008, 8:37 pm
Yeah. I even told my mom she can say her friend's psalm when her friend was dangerously ill. Why not?
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cookielady




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 18 2008, 8:39 pm
As part of different mi sheberachs in shul, dh says a "prayer for the safety of the armed forces".
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 19 2008, 9:03 am
cookielady wrote:
As part of different mi sheberachs in shul, dh says a "prayer for the safety of the armed forces".


oh true, there are prayers for armies, presidents, royal families...
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 20 2008, 12:44 pm
Why wouldn't you pray for a [gentile]? Didn't Avraham Avinu plead on behalf of the people of S'dom? Just use his name as you know it.The Eybershter knows who you mean. I've seen siddurim that have a mi sheberach for King George and Queen Mary. They were very old siddurim. Obviously. But they mention George and Mary, not George ben Edward and Mary bas Francis.

Last edited by zaq on Thu, Nov 20 2008, 12:52 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Chocoholic




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 20 2008, 12:45 pm
Of course you can! Go ahead!
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happyone




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 20 2008, 2:06 pm
Why not? As far as using a name, trust me G-d knows who you are referring to. You never know if it's your prayers that will help your friend.
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Tapuzi




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 20 2008, 3:22 pm
In my shul we make misheberachs for non-Jews using "ben Noach" after there first and last names.
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Aribenj




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 20 2008, 8:45 pm
Just to update, he was not reacting to the treatment and was basically just surviving, which at this point isn't enough. They were going to put him on ECMO (a lung bypass) which was their last option, but they decided to see if he could be ok on less oxygen, and lo and behold, he's now only on 75%.

He's still in a coma, and in very critical condition... But at least he's fighting.

Thanks to all for your tehillim. I will keep you updated.
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greenfire




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 20 2008, 8:47 pm
sounds difficult ... I will continue prayers for him !!!
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Nov 21 2008, 4:33 am
zaq wrote:
Why wouldn't you pray for a [gentile]? Didn't Avraham Avinu plead on behalf of the people of S'dom? Just use his name as you know it.The Eybershter knows who you mean. I've seen siddurim that have a mi sheberach for King George and Queen Mary. They were very old siddurim. Obviously. But they mention George and Mary, not George ben Edward and Mary bas Francis.


Fascinating. wow!!!
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