A collective mi shaberach for Congresswoman Giffords and for Debbie Friedman

Tonight in North America, two Jewish women are fighting for their lives. Collective prayers are being said for their full recoveries. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) was shot while she was meeting with her constituents in Tucson Arizona. She was gravely wounded. A dozen victims were injured and five or more were reportedly killed, including Gabe Zimmerman and a 8 year old child. In Orange County California, Jewish song and prayer writer, musician, teacher and performer, Debbie Friedman, is also battling for her life.

Jewish groups worldwide are organizing prayers this evening for these leaders. At 9:12 PM (Eastern NY Time) (6:12 PM Pacific Time) a mi shaberach will be said for Ms. Friedman. Visit this site here, to get more information on the prayers. A brief statement released by Rabbi Richard Levy of Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles said, “Please pray for Debbie’s recovery. She is a strong believer in the power of prayer, she has elevated so many prayers with her music, and has taught us how to pray through the melodies she has written.”

Cantor Shira Adler has posted this video on youtube to help you pray for her.

Congresswoman Gabby Giffords represents the Tucson Arizona area in the U.S. Congress. A Democrat in a predominantly Republican district, she survived a tough recent election battle, she started a new term, her third, in Congress this week. A graduate of Cornell and Harvard, she has the nachas of being the granddaughter of one of Arizona’s leaders of Hadassah, Arizona’s founder of Bnai B’rith, and being the g-great granddaughter of a Lithuanian rabbinical leader. Her marriage to an astronaut a few years ago was profiled in The New York Times.

Our prayers go out to all those ill, those injured, all those murdered, their friends and families and their medical professionals