What Is the Prayer When Consuming a Chemo Pill?
What is the prayer for a chemo pill To get this damn cancer quarantined? To reduce all those nodes, Bring down those high loads, And destroy this obnoxious cancer fiend?
What is the prayer for a chemo pill? Is it בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן, borei p'ri hagafen (Creator of the fruit of the vine)? For it gladdens the heart Just to know we can start, Praying, “Please, God, let this work just fine.”
Still, while wine leaves us lightheaded with hope, This chemo's a far different slope. With the nausea and pain, It leaves us quite drained, So we pray for the strength just to cope.
Do we recite הַמּוֹצִיא לֶחֶם מִן הָאָרֶץ, hamotzi lechem min haaretz (Who brings forth bread from the earth), Like for falafel in pita we eat, no regrets? For this pill, too, comes from the earth, And we pray for its net worth, Though it's hardly the meal one requests.
Still, pita, sourdough, and challah fill the belly, As do bagels and whitefish from our beloved Brent's Deli. But this pill takes us for a ride, As it battles the cancer inside, May it knock those bad cells into jelly.
Is it שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ, Shehecheyanu v'kiy'manu v'higianu (Who has given us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this moment), For reaching this moment we never wanted to? May this pill fend off the “Oy,” And someday deliver the joy, Of hearing, “It worked. Mazel Tov! You made it through.”
Yet there's little about chemo that's pleasant, Like an unwanted, ill-fitting birthday present. Still, surrounded by your bitches, Through the nausea and glitches, We pray this damn pill proves heaven-sent.
Perhaps the prayer should be simple and brief, Calling forth all our forces for medical relief. So we stand and salute This oafish, pill-shaped brute, And swallowing, we pray cancer feels overwhelming grief.
So I'll offer a blessing for modern medication, For the science, the skill, and this strange situation. I'll bless בּוֹרֵא מִינֵי כַּדּוּרִים, borei minei cadurim (Creator of all sorts of pills), These pills coursing through the bloodstream, May they bring healing, hope, and elation.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא מִינֵי כַּדּוּרִים
Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech HaOlam, borei minei cadurim.
Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Guide of the Universe, Creator of All Sorts of Pills.
This prayer was written for Arlene is valiantly fighting the cancer within her and will beat it
A Few Notes and D'var Acher (Another Opinion):
On borei minei cadurim
Rabbi Patti Haskell and Janet Seltman created the blessing borei cadurim (Creator of pills) in their “Prayer for Taking Medication” on Ritualwell. It inspired my variation, borei minei cadurim (Creator of all sorts of pills), echoing borei minei mezonot (Creator of varieties of nourishment).
The Talmud suggests
Our rabbis understood that seeking medical treatment could be accompanied by prayer. The Talmud offers this Yehi Ratzon (May it be Your will):
יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ יְיָ אֱלֹהַי שֶׁיְּהֵא עֵסֶק זֶה לִי לִרְפוּאָה, כִּי אֵל רוֹפֵא נֶאֱמָן אַתָּה וּרְפוּאָתְךָ אֱמֶת
Yehi ratzon milfanecha, Adonai Elohai, sheyehei esek zeh li lirfuah, ki El rofei ne'eman Atah, urfuatcha emet.
May it be Your will, Eternal my God, that this undertaking bring me healing, for You are a faithful Healer, and Your healing is true.
My Other Prayer for Chemotherapy
Years ago, when a friend was beginning chemotherapy, I wrote a more serious prayer, later published by ReformJudaism.org:
Holy One of Blessing, whose Life Force courses through our bodies, help me feel Your Presence as I open my body to chemicals that will protect and renew. Grant me the courage to face the unknown, and the fortitude to endure the difficulties of treatment. Allow me the openheartedness to feel the love that surrounds me. And bless me with healing and peace. Amen.
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