A child
Kever Rachel, the mother who weeps for her children and is answered. Shmuel HaNavi, the prophet given to Chana after years of asking. And Rashbi at Meron.
Strongest of all: the eleventh of Cheshvan, Rachel Imeinu's yahrzeit.
Whatever you are carrying
There is always somewhere to daven, and always someone going.
You do not have to wait for a date in the calendar. Rav Weinreb lives in Tzfat, among the kevarim of the Galilee and a few hours from Yerushalayim, and he goes all year. Tell him what you need and he will take the name.
Start here
What are you asking for?
A shidduch
Amuka, where Jews have come for centuries to daven for a zivug, twenty minutes from Tzfat. And Maaras HaMachpela in Chevron, where the couples of Bereishis are buried.
Strongest of all: Tu B'Av, and the twenty sixth of Sivan.
A refuah
Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes on the shore of the Kinneret, the master of the miracle. And the Rambam in Teveria, who was a doctor as well as a posek.
Strongest of all: Pesach Sheni, the fourteenth of Iyar.
Parnassah
Rashbi at Meron, and the Baba Sali in Netivot. Two places people go when the natural way forward has closed.
Strongest of all: Lag BaOmer, and Tu BiShvat.
Protection
Rashbi at Meron, whose merit is said to shield a generation. For a soldier, for a journey, for a family that feels exposed.
Strongest of all: Lag BaOmer, the eighteenth of Iyar.
Something lost
Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes in Teveria. Whether what is lost is an object, a person, or a way forward.
Any day of the year.
Success in learning
The Arizal and Rav Yosef Karo, both buried in Tzfat, and Rabbi Yehuda bar Ilai just outside the city. For a child struggling, or for yourself.
Strongest of all: the fifth of Av, and the thirteenth of Nisan.
A decree you are dreading
Forty consecutive days at the Kotel, the traditional length for a matter that needs to be overturned. A judgment, a diagnosis, a case.
Any day of the year. Forty days from whenever you ask.
For someone who has passed
Torah learned in their merit, Tehillim said, kaddish where a family cannot say it themselves, and a siyum on a yahrzeit.
Any day. Yahrzeits arranged in advance.
Happening now
Elul has begun, or is about to.
From Rosh Chodesh Elul until Yom Kippur is forty days, the same forty Moshe spent on the mountain the second time. Three chapters of Tehillim a day finishes the whole sefer by Yom Kippur, and Rav Weinreb goes to the Kotel for all forty days with the names families give him.
Through the year
The days when the gates are widest.
None of these is a deadline. They are the days people have always felt were stronger, kept here so you know when they fall.
- Rosh Chodesh Elul to Yom KippurForty days. Everything.
- 11 CheshvanRachel Imeinu, at Kever Rachel. Children.
- Shabbos Chayei SarahMaaras HaMachpela, Chevron. Marriage and family.
- 20 TevesThe Rambam, Teveria. Health.
- 4 ShevatThe Baba Sali, Netivot. Yeshuos.
- 15 ShevatTu BiShvat. Parnassah and growth.
- 13 NisanRav Yosef Karo, Tzfat. Clarity.
- 14 IyarRabbi Meir Baal HaNes, Teveria. Health, and what is lost.
- 18 IyarLag BaOmer, Rashbi at Meron. The largest day of the year.
- 28 IyarShmuel HaNavi, Jerusalem. Children.
- 26 SivanRabbi Yonatan ben Uziel, Amuka. Marriage.
- 15 TammuzThe Ohr HaChaim, Har HaZeisim. Yeshuos of every kind.
- 5 AvThe Arizal, Tzfat. Depth and closeness.
- 15 AvTu B'Av. Marriage and love.
Customs differ between communities and some dates are held differently in different places. Ask your own rav where it matters. This page is a guide, not a ruling.
Send a name
Tell him what you are carrying.
The name, the place if you have one in mind, and what to ask for. If you do not know which place, say what you need and he will choose.