The Mother's Name

Q: Why is the mother’s name used in a mishaberach (prayer for the sick) when in almost every other instance we use the father’s name?

A: The use of the matronymic is a custom, not a firm law.  Yet, it is usual to use the mother’s name and not the father’s when appealing to God for healing.  There are several reasons for this custom.

1.     In every instance where a woman utters a prayer in the Torah her request is answered.  Think of Sarah, Leah and Hannah.

2.     In our tradition the mothers have the greatest merit as their prayers are filled with both altruism and fervency.

3.     Ancestry goes through the maternal line.

4.     A mother’s prayer is considered to be the most powerful as her life is bound up with that of her child.