One who says Tehillim or prays for a sick person: if the sick person is before him, he may say it in any language; if the sick person is not before him, he should say it only in Lashon HaKodesh (the Holy Tongue).
Sources and Explanations
Thus ruled Maran the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah 335:5): “When one requests mercy for him, if he requests in his presence, he may request in any language he wishes; but if he requests not in his presence, he should request only in Lashon HaKodesh.” The Ramban in Torat HaAdam (Sha’ar HaMeichush) explained this based on what we learn (in the first chapter of Shabbat, 12b): “Rabbah bar bar Chanah said: When we would go after Rabbi Elazar to inquire about the welfare of a sick person (meaning, to visit the sick person), sometimes he would say, ‘HaMakom yifkadecha leshalom’ (in Lashon HaKodesh), and sometimes he would say, ‘Rachmana yidkerinach lishlam’ (in Aramaic).” The Gemara asked: How could he do so? Did not Rav Yehudah say in the name of Rav: A person should never ask for his needs in the Aramaic language; and Rabbi Yochanan said: Whoever asks for his needs in the Aramaic language, the ministering angels do not attend to him, for the ministering angels do not recognize the Aramaic language? The Gemara answered: “A sick person is different, for the Shechinah is with him.” That is to say, the one praying does not need the ministering angels to attend to him to bring in his prayer. This applies only to the prayer of an individual, but in the prayer of the tzibbur one is permitted to pray in any language one wishes, as explained in the Tur (Orach Chaim, siman 101) in the name of the Rif. This can also be inferred precisely from the wording of the Ramban there, who wrote: “We learn from this that requesting mercy in the presence of the sick person may be in any language. And if he requested mercy for him not in his presence, it is in Lashon HaKodesh, like other prayers of an individual.” This implies that in public one may say it in any language.
From the sefer “Shaf Veyativ – Laws of Saying Tehillim” by Rabbi Shay Tahan, Chapter 9: Saying Tehillim for the Sick, Halacha 3 (p. 138 in the print edition). Translated from the Hebrew original.
