The opening line of this blessing is a variant on a passage from the prophet Jeremiah. As is often the case when rabbis quote the Tanach, they “cut and paste” in their own way. Here, they shifted the text from Jeremiah from singular to plural. In addition, by taking it out of context, they shift the whole thrust of the prophetic sentiment.

Here’s the quote from Jeremiah 17:13-15:

“Israel’s hope is in the Lord. All who forsake You shall be shamed. And those who swerve from You shall be cut off, for they forsook the source of living water, the Lord. Heal me, O Lord, that I may be healed, rescue me, that I may be rescued for You are my praise. Look, they say to me: Where is the Lord’s word? Let it come now!”

As pointed out by Rabbi Samuel Barth, the rabbis not only changed the text from singular to plural (“Heal me, O Lord” vs. “Heal us, O Lord,”) but they wrenched it out of context. In our prayers, the healing in question seems to center around the body (“Heal our wounds…”). But clearly the issue in Jeremiah was more emotional, psychological, and spiritual than it was physical. He was being taunted (as was G-d). “Where is the Lord’s word?” is a devastating attack on a person of faith. It ridicules the believer for his supposedly outlandish belief, while at the same time attacking the Divine which, for a true believer, is a scandal, a blasphemous desecration of the most precious thing in the whole world.

So where do the rabbis come off transposing all those emotion into a prayer that on the face of it seems to be all about physical healing? To this, I would offer two answers. First, our tradition has not forgotten our priorities. That is why when we pray for “refuah” (“healing”), we prioritize “refuat hanefesh” (“healing of the soul”) over “refuat haguf” (“healing of the body”).

Second, and perhaps more provocative, it is possible that the rabbis are trying to teach us something by this shift of focus. Just think about how passionately we pray for our physical healing. I daresay that there is nothing that leads us to heart-filled prayer more than an acute awareness of our pain, suffering, and mortality. The old adage is that there are no atheists in foxholes. I can assure you that there are no atheists in hospital beds, either, or in hospital waiting rooms.

Maybe the rabbis are saying to us something like this: think about how concerned you are for your physical well-being. You should be at least as concerned for your spiritual well-being. And think of how concerned you are for yourself. Shouldn’t you be that concerned for the Lord of Heaven and Earth?

We pray to G-d to heal us from our corruption. But that obligates us to do what we can to heal the spiritual corruption of G-d’s world.

One final note: This blessing is the 8th blessing of the Amidah. That is not a coincidence. It echoes the surgical procedure that is done on the 8th day, namely circumcision (brit milah). As we pray for the healing of the young child newly entered into the covenant of Abraham, we pray as well that our people of Israel will be healed from its long exile and return to our ancestral homeland.