[Avodah] Tehillim for a choleh

[Chanoch (Ken) Bloom]

[Originally posted to Areivim; reposted here with permission. I changed
the subject line and replaced the attempt to email Hebrew to the list
with transliteration. The emphasis on "*Ani*" was in the original. -micha]

> Would somebody please explain to me why we are asked to do something
> specifically banned in the Talmud and the codes, that is the chanting of
> versus for a sick person?(Shavous 15B, I think)

> Chazal created a beautiful prayer that we say thrice daily for such
> purposes.

> This reeks of cultic behaviour, especially as many are chanting words that
> they have no clue to their meaning. This is especially true in women's
> tehillim groups but not exclusively.

It's a mishna in Sanhedrin 10:1 (perek Chelek), and it refers specifically
to the verse quoted [... hamachalah asher samti veMitzrayim lo asim
alekha, ki *Ani* Hashem rofe'ekha], in which the one who says it seemingly
equates himself with god.

--Ken