[Avodah] why stop learning?

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Micha Berger cited, on how a Mi Sheberach works:

> Rav Soloveitchik answers that the tefillah turns the personal
> tragedy into a communal one. Across the community, someone does
> not deserve to hear of the tragedy. ...

This brings up one of my pet peeves. It is all too common to hear in shul, "We're going to say Tehillim now, for a member of the shul who will be having surgery later today" -- without ever mentioning the name of this person. Following Rav Soloveitchik's logic, wouldn't our tefilos be more meaningful if we knew who we were davening for? Heck, following ANYONE's logic, wouldn't our tefilos be more meaningful if we knew who we were davening for?

And the reverse is true as well. If there is a chasan or baal bris in shul, and I don't know who it is, do I really get enough simcha to justify skipping tachanun?

Akiva Miller

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