Halachically, are you allowed to "remove" a sick person from the Mi Sheberach "list"?

Question

In my shul, people mention or write the name of a sick person on a slip of paper and give this to the rabbi who adds it to an existing stack of names. Since I am the Torah reader, I announce Mi Sheberach and include these names at the end of each Torah reading. The list averages about 40 - 50 names.

At the end of the month, the rabbi announces that he is cleaning up the stack and he discards "old" names unless someone specifically requests that the name remain on the list. The main problem is that for many of the names that are there, the person that requested it is not a regular shul attendant. So we have a strange dilemma. If we delete the name, that person may still be sick. If we keep saying Mi Sheberach for that person, that person may have either recovered or, worse, died. We have no way of knowing. No, the rabbi has no way to contact the requester because the slip of paper just has a name, and we don't know who requested it.

My question is - is it OK to delete a sick person's name based on assuming automatically that the person doesn't need it, or do we have to say Mi Sheberach for someone indefinitely if we have no way of knowing the person's status. Is the rabbi correct in employing this strategy?

Answer 1

I had this question myself, so I asked on the Chabad "Ask the Rabbi" website and this is the answer I received:

Hi,

while it is important to pray for the sick, there is also a very important halacha which is the concept of "Tircha D'tzebura" loosely translated as not causing the congregation extra or undue burden and wait for the congregation. This concept is actually the reasoning behind various things we do (or don't do) in Shul. Having the congregation wait while over fifty names are read, is indeed burdensome for some in the congregation, however, at the same time, it is also very important to pray for those who need it. Your Rabbi seems to be doing the smart and proper thing of striking a balance between the need for prayers and the halachik concept of not overburdening the congregation...

Have a great shabbos, Rabbi Yehuda Shurpin

Answer 2

There is a very extensive discussion of this question (or at least a similar enough question) involving a consider amount of back and forth, in the teshuvos of the Nachalas Shiva (a student of the Taz). His conclusion is quoted by the Shaarei Teshuvah (288:3)

עיין בשו"ת נחלת שבעה סי' ל"ט שעשה מעשה לברך החולה בשבת בבה"כ אע"פ שהחולה לא היה שם בעיר רק בישוב שהיה רחוק מהלך שעה ויותר ודלא כלקוטי מהרי"ל שכתב שאין לברך כשאינו בעיר דשמא מת או הבריא ע"ש מגיטין דאפי' הניחו זקן או חולה נותנו לה בחזקת שהוא קיים וגדול אחד כתב להעמיד דברי מהרי"ל והוא חזר והשיב לו ע"ש מסי' ע"ז עד סי' פ"א

See Responsa Nachlas Shiva, where they prayed for a sick person in the shul despite the fact that he wasn't in the city, rather he was from a farther city. This is against the Maharil, who wrote that one should not pray [for the sick who is] not in the city, because he may have died or became healthy, but [the reasoning of the Nachlas Shiva is sourced in] the Gemara/laws of Gittin that even if a person is left sick or elderly, he is assumed to have remained that way [and not assumed to have died, so the woman may not remarry].

The above quote is referring the Teshuvah 39, but someone had written a letter to the Nachlas Shivah arguing this point, and the two of them go back and forth in several letters, numbered teshuvos 77-80.

Thus, it appears that the more correct practice would be to keep the names on the list indefinitely. However, tircha detzibura is probably a greater concern in contemporary shuls than in those of the Nachalas Shiva and Shaarei Teshuva, because there are many more people on the list who would be from 'out of town', so this isn't such a definitive answer (if something to consider).

Answer 3

In my shul in Montreal, the list of names of the sick is growing all the time. It seems to me that we should do the mi shehbayrach for those who are sick today or very recent, and those who are having an operation. However, those who are chronically sick, should be reduced to perhaps once a week. This is one solution. Another solution would be to divide the chronically sick names into three lists and invoke their names once a week - Mon. am, Thurs. am and Shabbat Mincha. Any comments.

Answer 4

This is not a formal answer to my own question, but I figured this info would be more noticeable to readers if it were an answer rather than a comment.

I located an on-line Mi Sheberach manager, http://www.misheberachlcholim.org/pages/view/About_CLM

I just registered as Gabbai, and I included one of my friends. This looks very helpful! I will update my answer when I can get one of my shul members or rabbi to enter a few names in there. Offhand, I think this type of system will simplify the problem and perhaps get members to help us manage this list as they can delete the name themselves!