The Sin of Worrying

Here is a vort that I heard in the name of R' Boruch of Mezhibuzh on the words in the pasuk in Tehillim 38:19 "כי עוני אגיד, אדאג מחטאתי" -

The simple meaning of the pasuk is, "For I relate my iniquity, I worry about my sin." The vort reads the pasuk like this: "For I relate my iniquity, worry is one of my sins."

Why? Because worrying is useless.  Action is where it's at.  It has been noted that the word for worry in Hebrew, דאגה, has four out of the first five letters of the alef-beis.  It is missing the letter ב which stands for bitachon, because that is what worry is about, a lack of bitachon.

Praying for IDF soldiers

Once again, I'm seeing requests that we join the program that pairs up Israeli soldiers with Jews around the world who do acts of chesed, tefilla and study Torah in the merit of "their" soldier.  They say:

Any mitzvah that you do, be it once or on a daily basis, on behalf of a soldier truly makes a difference - to the soldier and to Jewish unity. Pick a mitzvah that can easily be a part of your life and dedicate it to 'your' soldier. Be realistic. Write your soldier's name out and post it where you'll see it: near the Shabbos candles; on the refrigerator; in your car; in your phone. Then, when you are going to do something positive in the world - stop and think of  'your' soldier and include him or her in your mitzvah.

 

I think the idea has merit since it personalizes the war for us.  It's like those who go on the March of the Living and are given the identity card of someone their age who perished in the Holocaust.  It enables the person to see the Holocaust in a personal way.  We don't relate to the number six million, but we can relate to the life of a person just like us who lived at that time. 

 

However, I was surprised to see a very strong reaction to this idea.  A person wrote a comment in which he wondered why these gimmicks are needed and why we can't just pray like our Bubbies and Zeides did "and shed an honest earnest tear for the better health and safety of our fellow bretheren in Eretz Yisroel. No fanfare or organizations needed."

Endless Names on Tehillim Lists

As far as I know, it's a new thing in the Jewish world to have long lists of names of people we don't know who need a refuah shleima that are recited in some shuls for a Mi Sh'Berach or recited before a shiur or recited before saying Tehillim. 

Whatever happened to saying the few names of people you know or have some connection to, and including the rest in the phrase, "rofei cholei amo Yisrael" that ends the bracha of Refa'einu in Shmone Esrei? Or in the phrase "b'soch sh'or cholei Yisrael" that is sometimes inserted in the Yehi Ratzon in the Refa'einu bracha and is in the Mi Sh'Berach?

Is anybody responsible for ensuring that these long lists of names are updated? Do names on the list remain there forever no matter if the person recovered or passed on? I think it's an imposition on the tzibbur when long lists of names are recited.

As for myself, the names I keep in mind in my prayers are people I know personally or people whose condition I can readily check out.  If a request is made to say Tehillim for someone via email or some other announcement, I will often say one perek of Tehillim then and there and that's all.  They don't go on my list.