When chapters of Tehillim are recited by a tzibbur on behalf of the recovery of a sick person, they should take care to announce his name before they begin reciting for him. After the recitation of the Tehillim, they should mention his name and add, saying that Hamakom (the Omnipresent) should have mercy on him among the sick of Israel.
Sources and Explanations
So wrote Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach in Halichot Shlomo (Tefillah, chapter 8, Devar Halachah, ot 22), and he added that the reason for this is so that the tzibbur will direct their prayer for him. In the notes (Orchot Halachah) they added that the Rav so instructed in Yeshivat Kol Torah, and he emphasized that specifically in this manner there is the virtue of the prayer of the many for the sick person. He also pointed out that those who lead before the ark should take care to say the ‘Mi Sheberach’ prayer aloud afterward, and that the entire tzibbur should wait until its conclusion to answer Amen after it.
We have learned from his broad understanding a wonderful novel point: unless the tzibbur knows explicitly for whom to have kavanah, this prayer does not have the great virtue of public prayer for the sick person. From a precise reading of his words, it appears that apparently there is at least still the merit of each individual’s private recitation of the Tehillim.
We have found something similar in Sefer HaZechirah (Inyan Olam HaZeh, p. 237), that one should specify before the recitation for what purpose one is reciting. He writes that there is a segulah (spiritual remedy) that if, Heaven forbid, there is a calamity in the city, each person should say pesukim (verses) from Tehillim that begin with the letters of the name of the city, and they should say this in the synagogue, and specify before the prayer for which calamity they are saying it.
After the recitation, they should be careful to include the sick person among the other sick of Israel, as the Shulchan Aruch writes (Yoreh De’ah, siman 335): “He should include him among the sick of Israel, saying, ‘May Hamakom have mercy on you among the sick of Israel.’”
The reason is as the Shach writes (se’if katan 4): because he includes him with others, his prayer is heard more. This reason is explained more clearly in Rashi (Shabbat 12a): because he includes him with the others, his prayer is heard in the merit of the many.
From the sefer “Shaf Veyativ – Laws of Saying Tehillim” by Rabbi Shay Tahan, Chapter 9: Saying Tehillim for the Sick, Halacha 8 (p. 141 in the print edition). Translated from the Hebrew original.
