Ribono shel olamLit. Master of the Universe A term sometimes used in the Jewish liturgy to refer to God., today I offer a small piece of myself for the sake of the mitzvahLit. Commandment. It is traditionally held that there are 613 mitzvot (plural) in Judaism, both postive commandments (mandating actions) and negative commandments (prohibiting actions). Mitzvah has also become colloquially assumed to mean the idea of a “good deed." of pikuakh nefesh, saving a life. We learn in TorahThe Five Books of Moses, and the foundation of all of Jewish life and lore. The Torah is considered the heart and soul of the Jewish people, and study of the Torah is a high mitzvah. The Torah itself a scroll that is hand lettered on parchment, elaborately dressed and decorated, and stored in a decorative ark. It is chanted aloud on Mondays, Thursdays, and Shabbat, according to a yearly cycle. Sometimes "Torah" is used as a colloquial term for Jewish learning and narrative in general., “You shall not stand idly by”1 the suffering of your neighbors.
I stand here today ready to take the first step toward being a donor.
If I am a match, I pray for the healing of the patient and support for their family, for “whoever saves one soul … it is as if (s)he had saved a full world.”2
Hakham razim,3 Knower of Secrets, accept my prayers and my donation.
1 Leviticus 19:16
2 MishnahThe first layer of Jewish oral law, written down in Palestine around 200 CE. The Mishna consists of six books or sedarim (orders), each of which contains seven to twelve tractates or masechtot (singular masechet). The books are Zeraim (Seeds), Moed (Festival), Nashim (Women), Nezikin (Damages), Kodashim (Holy Things), and Tehorot (Purities). Sanhedrin 4,5
3 Hakham razim is a name used for God in the blessing for witnessing a large gathering of people, Berakhot 58a
ריבונו של עולם היום אני מקדישה חלק קטן ממני לקיום מצוות פיקוח נפש, הצלת חיים שנאמר : לֹא תַעֲמֹד עַל-דּםַ רֵעֶך (ויקרא יט:טז). אני עומד/ת כאן היום מוכן/ה לקחת את הצעד הראשון לקראת היותי תורם. אם תמצא תרומתי תואמת אני נושאת תפילה לרפואה שלימה של המטופל ותמיכה למשפחתו.” לפיכך נברא אדם יחידי בעולם, ללמד שכל המאבד נפש אחת , מעלים עליו כאילו איבד עולם מלא.”
חכם רזים אנא קבל תרומתי ותפילתי לטובה
Created for Gift of Life by Rabbi Roni Handler, Ritualwell.org. Hebrew translation by Rabbi Ela Merom
