Rebecca Harrison, ReutersPublished: Tuesday, February 19, 2008

JERUSALEM – Some want a wife. Others long for children, a miracle cure for illness or a quick fix for their finances.

Believers are seeking divine intervention for as little as $80 at www.westernwallprayers.org, a Jerusalem-based website that dispatches a squad of “agents” to pray at one of Judaism’s holiest sites on behalf of those who can’t get there themselves.

Batya Burd, a devout Jew who lives in Jerusalem’s Old City, set up her proxy prayer business to provide spiritual succour and, she says, religious miracles for the faithful while raising funds for those who devote their lives to biblical study.

The 33-year-old mother of two, who gave up a career as a corporate lawyer in Canada to come to Israel, collects e-mailed requests from around the world, then composes personal prayers for each client and assigns them an agent.

The emissary recites the prayer at Jerusalem’s Western Wall — a remnant of the ancient Jewish temple compound — every day for 40 days. Many visitors to the holy site write their prayers on slips of paper, which they press into the wall’s crevices.

“When I looked at the needs around me here in Jerusalem they were mostly financial, whereas the needs of people where I come from were mostly spiritual,” said Burd in a cafe overlooking the Western Wall. “This was a way of merging both.”

Burd has composed prayers for 700-800 people and says she has several “miracles” under her belt, including a man who met his soul mate, a woman who won the lottery and two people who say their cancer disappeared after they signed up for prayer.

Sceptics will argue that believers looking for results will always find them, and that many so-called answers to prayers are simply canny coincidences.

Some might say it’s a scam.

But Burd believes fervently in the power of prayer and challenges sceptics to try it themselves.

“There are always sceptics, but without experiencing it you’re just ignorant,” she said. “The more sincerely you believe in something, the more God allows it to happen.”

The minimum donation is $2 a day, which will pay a member of Burd’s 35-strong squad of observant Jews to pray at the Western Wall for 40 days.

A total of $720 will get you exclusive prayer at the wall and at an Old City synagogue.

A special request and at least $1,800 will pay for 10 observant men to pray together for 40 days deep in the tunnels under the Western Wall that are off-limits to public worship.

Burd splits the money between the members of the prayer squad, who live in Jerusalem and devote most of their time to biblical study rather than secular work, so do not earn big salaries.

Although 70 per cent of her clients are Jewish, Burd also gets requests from people of other religions, or of none at all.

Most come from the United States and Canada, but some hail from as far afield as India, South Africa or Mexico.

Burd denies it’s a quick fix for cash-rich but spiritually poor Westerners, arguing clients are also asked to pray themselves every day during the 40-day period and to take on good deeds — a process she says brings them closer to God. “We hope they will become more connected to God, more connected to themselves and better human beings,” said Burd.

By Rebecca Harrison

JERUSALEM (Reuters Life!) – Some want a wife. Others long for children, a miracle cure for illness or a quick fix for their finances.

Believers are seeking divine intervention for as little as $90 at www.westernwallprayers.org, a Jerusalem-based Web site that dispatches a squad of “agents” to pray at one of Judaism’s holiest sites on behalf of those who can’t get there themselves.

Batya Burd, a devout Jew who lives in Jerusalem’s Old City, set up her proxy prayer [organization] to provide spiritual succor and, she says, religious miracles for the faithful while raising funds for those who devote their lives to biblical study. [The organization is recognized as a non-profit in Israel with a non-profit counterpart in America].

The 33-year-old mother of two, who gave up a career as a corporate lawyer in Canada to come to Israel, collects emailed requests from around the world, then composes personal prayers for each [donor] and assigns them an agent.

The emissary recites the prayer at Jerusalem’s Western Wall — a remnant of the ancient Jewish temple compound — every day for 40 days. Many visitors to the holy site write their prayers on slips of paper, which they press into the wall’s crevices.

“When I looked at the needs around me here in Jerusalem they were mostly financial, whereas the needs of people where I come from were mostly spiritual,” said Burd in a cafe overlooking the Western Wall. “This was a way of merging both.”

Burd has composed prayers for 700-800 people and says she has several “miracles” under her belt, including a man who met his soul mate, a woman who won the lottery and two people who say their cancer disappeared after they signed up for prayer.

Skeptics will argue that believers looking for results will always find them, and that many so-called answers to prayers are simply canny coincidences. Some might say it’s a scam.

But Burd believes fervently in the power of prayer and challenges Skeptics to try it themselves.

“There are always Skeptics, but without experiencing it you’re just ignorant,” she said. “The more sincerely you believe in something, the more God allows it to happen.”

“A LITTLE HELP FROM ABOVE”

The minimum donation is $2 a day, which will pay a member of Burd’s 35-strong squad of observant Jews to pray at the Western Wall for 40 days. A total of $720 will get you exclusive prayer at the wall and at an Old City synagogue.

A special request and at least $1,800 will pay for 10 observant men to pray together for 40 days deep in the tunnels under the Western Wall that are off-limits to public worship.

Burd splits the money between the members of the prayer squad, who live in Jerusalem and devote most of their time to biblical study rather than secular work, so do not earn big salaries.

Although 70 percent of her [donors] are Jewish, Burd also gets requests from people of other religions, or of none at all. Most come from the United States and Canada, but some hail from as far afield as India, South Africa or Mexico.

Burd denies it’s a quick fix for cash-rich but spiritually poor Westerners, arguing [donors] are also asked to pray themselves every day during the 40-day period and to take on good deeds — a process she says brings them closer to God.

“We hope they will become more connected to God, more connected to themselves and better human beings,” said Burd.

She believes she herself was an answer to her husband’s prayers, after he completed the 40-day prayer marathon to ask for a wife after a string of failed dating forays.

“He was set up with all the right girls but could just never find the right person,” Burd said. “People were ready to give up on him so he decided to get a little help from above.”

About the same time as her future husband was asking for a wife, Burd says she decided it was time to settle down. Days later a friend announced she knew just the man, and five dates later, the two were married.

Was it a miracle?

“It was certainly out of the ordinary for it to be so clear and to get married so fast,” said Burd. “I guess I’ll only really know when I die.”

(Editing by Sara Ledwith and Paul Casciato)

By Rebecca Harrison

JERUSALEM (Reuters Life!) – Some want a wife. Others long for children, a miracle cure for illness or a quick fix for their finances.

Believers are seeking divine intervention. at www.westernwallprayers.org, a Jerusalem-based Web site that dispatches a squad of “agents” to pray at one of Judaism’s holiest sites on behalf of those who can’t get there themselves.

Batya Burd, a devout Jew who lives in Jerusalem’s Old City, set up her proxy prayer [non-profit] to provide spiritual succor and, she says, religious miracles for the faithful while raising funds for those who devote their lives to biblical study.

The 33-year-old mother of two, who gave up a career as a corporate lawyer in Canada to come to Israel, collects emailed requests from around the world, then composes personal prayers for each client and assigns them an agent.

The emissary recites the prayer at Jerusalem’s Western Wall — a remnant of the ancient Jewish temple compound — every day for 40 days. Many visitors to the holy site write their prayers on slips of paper, which they press into the wall’s crevices.

“When I looked at the needs around me here in Jerusalem they were mostly financial, whereas the needs of people where I come from were mostly spiritual,” said Burd in a cafe overlooking the Western Wall. “This was a way of merging both.”

Burd has composed prayers for 700-800 people and says she has several “miracles” under her belt, including a man who met his soul mate, a woman who won the lottery and two people who say their cancer disappeared after they signed up for prayer.

Skeptics will argue that believers looking for results will always find them, and that many so-called answers to prayers are simply canny coincidences. Some might say it’s a scam.

But Burd believes fervently in the power of prayer and challenges skeptics to try it themselves.

“There are always skeptics, but without experiencing it you’re just ignorant,” she said. “The more sincerely you believe in something, the more God allows it to happen.”

“A LITTLE HELP FROM ABOVE”

The minimum donation is $2 a day, [and] a member of Burd’s 35-strong squad of observant Jews [will be sent] to pray at the Western Wall for 40 days. A total of $720 will get you exclusive prayer at the wall and at an Old City synagogue.

A special request and at least $1,800 will pay for 10 observant men to pray together for 40 days deep in the tunnels under the Western Wall that are off-limits to public worship.

Burd splits the money between the members of the prayer squad, who live in Jerusalem and devote most of their time to biblical study rather than secular work, so do not earn big salaries.

Although 70 percent of her clients are Jewish, Burd also gets requests from people of other religions, or of none at all. Most come from the United States and Canada, but some hail from as far afield as India, South Africa or Mexico.

Burd denies it’s a quick fix for cash-rich but spiritually poor Westerners, arguing clients are also asked to pray themselves every day during the 40-day period and to take on good deeds — a process she says brings them closer to God.

“We hope they will become more connected to God, more connected to themselves and better human beings,” said Burd.

She believes she herself was an answer to her husband’s prayers, after he completed the 40-day prayer marathon to ask for a wife after a string of failed dating forays.

“He was set up with all the right girls but could just never find the right person,” Burd said. “People were ready to give up on him so he decided to get a little help from above.”

About the same time as her future husband was asking for a wife, Burd says she decided it was time to settle down. Days later a friend announced she knew just the man, and five dates later, the two were married.

Was it a miracle?

“It was certainly out of the ordinary for it to be so clear and to get married so fast,” said Burd. “I guess I’ll only really know when I die.”

[WesternWallPrayers.org is recognized as a non-profit organization both in Israel and in the United States.]

(Editing by Sara Ledwith and Paul Casciato)

According to a kabbalist tradition, God answers the prayers of those who visit the Western Wall for 40 consecutive days. But not everyone lives in Jerusalem, and even residents of the holy city find it a challenge to visit the Wall daily for nearly six weeks to avail themselves of divine intervention.

Recognizing this need, in 2004 Jewish Quarter resident Batya Burd, 33, established Western Wall Prayers to say proxy prayers at the Wall for those unable to do so themselves.

The requested donation? Two dollars per day, or $90, for heavenly help, smiles the petite brunette.

“Once I was told I was selling snake oil. But.,” she says. “I’m not doing this for public approval. You have to believe in God to actually believe this works. Otherwise it’s just superstition.”

Burd herself and her Chicago-born husband Gershon are proof of the efficacy of the 40-day ritual, she continues, even as she emphasizes there is no guarantee. The two met in December 2002, a week and a half after Gershon had completed his own 40-day stint at the Wall – where his prayers had focused on finding his beshert (God-given match).

After five dates in a whirlwind 15 days, the couple became engaged, and were married two months later, she smiles.

A son and daughter quickly followed. While Gershon works as the executive director of the Yeshivas Bircas Hatorah seminary, money is tight, Burd acknowledges.

“In our first year of marriage before this service was started, we had to rely on miracles almost weekly just to survive,” she recalls.

Indeed Burd’s biography reads as an extended miracle of Jewish survival. In 1973, her parents Efim and Anna Fefer escaped Ukraine, then part of the USSR, on exit permits for Israel. Like tens of thousands of Soviet emigres, the Fefers were disappointed with the reality of life in the Jewish state. Indeed, their arrival coincided with the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

In 1976, with their new-born daughter in tow, the Fefers decamped to Ostia Lido, Italy, outside Rome where they waited three difficult years for a visa to Canada. Raised in the Toronto suburb of Thornhill, . Batya – then called Lisa Fefer – came to Israel on a life-changing birthright israel trip in January 2001. The rest, she says, is history.

[Burd] is also a certified therapist trained at the Jerusalem Therapy Psycho-Spiritual Institute. Besides composing the prayers to be said verbally at the Western Wall, [she] does a lot of counseling.

“It’s easier for a third party to see straight. Often people can’t see beyond their suffering,” she explains. “I use a lot of [therapist] skills.”

In May [2006] Burd . set up her personal prayer [organization’s] not-for-profit status. Today the charity employs herself and another half-time worker, and pays 35 prayer agents “99 percent of whom are either teaching or learning Torah.”

Each surrogate worshiper spends a minimum of 10 minutes of prayer per party, while some remain for hours at the Wall.

Burd declines to reveal her income. “It’s a sensitive subject,” she says, adding that the largesse is well-appreciated and well-spent by her Torah team, all of whom are spirituality rich but cash-poor.

Bottom line . Western Wall Prayers has served more than 700 people seeking divine intervention on matters such as fertility, health or marriage. Burd points to a raft of success stories of prayers answered, the most moving of which are posted online at www.westernwallprayers.org.

Unusual requests have included divine help in being released from prison, losing weight and obtaining American citizenship…

Though the majority of donors live in New York and Toronto, others are from the Philippines, South Africa, Australia and Britain. Three-quarters are Jewish. Promoted by word of mouth and advertisements on Google and the haredi newspaper Hamodia, numbers are increasing, Burd adds.

“We pray for you out of gratitude for your donation,” she says. Burd says donors feel very satisfied with her service, and have reported “nearly 140” stories of prayers answered, ranging from love discovered to health regained. Many donors are repeats.

“Even people who didn’t see open miracles feel very grateful for how connected they feel during the process,” she explains. “It’s not magic, but it is a Torah recipe for success.”

JERUSALEM – According to a kabbalist tradition, God answers the prayers of those who visit the Western Wall for 40 consecutive days. However, not everyone lives in Jerusalem and even denizens of the Holy City find it a challenge to visit the Old City shrine daily for nearly six weeks to avail themselves of divine intervention.

Recognizing this need, Jewish Quarter resident Batya Burd, 33, established Western Wall Prayers in 2004 to say proxy prayers at the Kotel for those unable to be there personally.

The requested donation? Two dollars per day for 40 days, for heavenly help, smiles the petite brunette – who was a corporate lawyer in Toronto before getting into the God game.

“Once I was told I was selling snake oil. But that’s okay,” she demurs. “I’m not doing this for public approval. You have to believe in God to actually believe this works. Otherwise it’s just superstition.”

Burd and her Chicago-born husband Gershon are proof of the efficacy of prayer but stress there are no guarantees. The two met in December 2002, a week and a half after Gershon had completed his own 40-day stint at the Kotel – where his prayers had focused on finding his beshert (God-given match). After five dates in a whirlwind 15 days, the couple became engaged and were married two months later, she said.

A son and daughter quickly followed. While Gershon works as the executive director of the Yeshivas Bircas ha-Torah seminary, money is tight, Burd acknowledges.

“In our first year of marriage, before this service was started, we had to rely on miracles almost weekly just to survive. I remember once we owed 200 shekels and had to pay it that day. We didn’t have it, and just turned to God. A couple of hours later a friend came to the door with exactly 200 shekels. She put it in my hand and asked if I could buy a book for her on my credit card because hers wasn’t working. She gave me the cash instead. That gave us 30 days to pay. And it seemed as if the whole year was like that. But we always made it, and learned that ha-Shem always provides.”

Indeed Burd’s biography reads as an extended miracle of Jewish survival. Her parents Efim and Anna Fefer are Russian scientists who in 1973 were able to escape Ukraine, then part of the USSR, on exit permits for Israel. Like tens of thousands of Soviet emigres, the Fefers were disappointed with the reality of life in the Jewish state. Indeed their arrival coincided with the disastrous 1973 Yom Kippur War.

In 1976, with their new-born daughter in tow, the Fefers decamped to Ostia Lido, Italy, outside Rome where they waited three difficult years for a visa to Canada. Raised in the Toronto suburb of Thornhill, and educated at the prestigious Osgoode Hall Law School, Batya – then called Lisa Fefer – came to Israel on a life-changing 10-day Birthright trip in January 2001. The rest, she observes, is history.

Apart from Burd’s legal background specializing in entertainment contracts, she is also a certified therapist trained at the Jerusalem Therapy Psycho-Spiritual Institute. Besides composing the prayers to be said verbally at the Western Wall, the former lawyer does a lot of counselling.

“It’s easier for a third party to see straight. Often people can’t see beyond their suffering,” she explains. “I use a lot of lawyerly skills.”

And why does God give people issues? “To help them improve,” she responds.

In May 2004 Burd decided to set up her personal prayer business. Two years later she obtained not-for-profit amuta status. Today the charity employs herself and another half-time worker, and pays 35 prayer agents “99 per cent of whom are either teaching or learning Torah.”

Each surrogate worshipper spends a minimum of 10 minutes of prayer per party. Some remain for hours at the Kotel, which formed the western retaining wall of King Herod’s massive enlargement of the Temple complex on Mount Moriah, and from which according to Jewish tradition God’s presence is said to permanently dwell.

Burd declines to reveal payment to her surrogates. “It’s a sensitive subject,” she notes, adding the largesse is well-appreciated and well-spent by her Torah team, all of whom are spirituality rich but cash poor.

Bottom line, since 2004 Western Wall Prayers has served more than 700 people seeking divine intervention on matters such as fertility, health or marriage. Burd points to a raft of success stories of prayers answered, the most moving of which are posted online at www.westernwallprayers.org.

Unusual requests have included divine help in being released from prison, losing weight and obtaining American citizenship.

One Christian donor, who sought prayers for Jesus’s resurrection, was politely declined, she says.

Though the majority of donors live in New York and Toronto, others are from the Philippines, South Africa, Australia and Britain. Three-quarters are Jewish. Promoted by word of mouth and advertisements on Google and the haredi newspaper Hamodia, numbers are increasing, Burd adds.

“We pray for you out of gratitude for your donation,” she notes.

Burd claims donors feel very satisfied with her service, and have reported “nearly 140” stories of prayers answered, ranging from love discovered to health regained. Many donors are repeats.

“Even people who didn’t see open miracles feel very grateful for how connected they feel during the process,” she concludes. “It’s not magic, but it is a Torah recipe for success.”

“There’s scientific evidence that prayer works.”

For more information, contact Batya Burd at 011.972.2.627.7068 or bburd@westernwallprayers.org.

We all know someone who wishes to get married, or have a baby, or recover from health problems, or overcome financial setbacks, or… Perhaps that person is you.

When all our efforts and prayers seem to be going unanswered, the great rabbis of Jerusalem have long recommended a more powerful track—40 days of prayer at the Western Wall. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Jerusalemites will testify that their heart’s desires were fulfilled after 40 consecutive days at the Kotel.

In early 2003, Gershon Burd experienced this for himself: At the time, he was learning in a yeshiva in Jerusalem. After five years of searching for his soul mate, he tried 40 days at the Kotel. During that period, across the city, a young woman named Batya, who had not even been dating, suddenly felt that she was ready for marriage.

An acquaintance introduced them and they were engaged two weeks later.

In order to bring the power of the 40-day prayer to the world while raising money for needy Jerusalem families, Gershon and Batya Burd started Western Wall Prayers ( www.westernwallprayers.org ) in 2004. Users sign up online and are invited to request their prayer. They are then matched with a kollel man or wife who goes to the Kotel for 40 consecutive days, giving charity for them each time, and speaks the prayer, word-for-word, asking for Divine Mercy on their behalf.

Meanwhile, the donor prays the same prayer every day along with their agent, creating a potent partnership and growth experience. In return for spiritual services rendered, the donor gives a minimum $90 donation to support needy kollel families in Jerusalem.

“Under Jewish law, if you appoint an agent to do something for you, it is exactly as if you are doing it yourself,” says Batya Burd. “The donation is a material blessing that we connect to the spiritual blessing of praying at the Kotel. It’s prayer and charity in one—a blessing for all involved.”

Obviously, Western Wall Prayers is not guaranteeing answers to every person’s prayers, as all is ultimately in G-d’s hands. But the Western Wall Prayers website lists 110 “success stories,” from the cute to the downright miraculous.

Brooklyn’s Ella Sanders had been on the shidduch scene for five years when she heard about Western Wall Prayers. When she asked that her agent pray that she marry the man that she was then dating seriously, she was advised to make her prayer more general. “Well, that shidduch didn’t work out,” says Sanders. “Instead, I met another man, with incredible midos, and we got married a few months later! It was amazing. We now have a baby boy.”

After Eli P., of Chicago, was diagnosed with colon cancer, his son contacted Western Wall Prayers and asked them to pray 40 days for a complete recovery. “On the 36th day, the doctors operated and were astounded to find nothing but a small wound,” says Eli. “I was also surprised until I found out that my son had sponsored a prayer agent for me.”

Other notable stories include Paulina Aguilar, of Chile, who says that she gave birth to her daughter exactly one year after her agent began praying that she become a mother and Lisa M. who says that her mother’s wondrous recovery from cancer has her doctor “looking to the Heavens for an explanation.”

To sign up for prayers for yourself or a loved one, fill out a form online at www.westernwallprayers.org.

By Naomi Elbinger

We all know someone we desperately wish would get married, or have a baby, or recover from a health condition, or overcome a financial setback. Perhaps that person is you.

When all our efforts fail and seem to be going nowhere, we have an option that has long been recommended by the Gedolim of Yerushalayim — 40 days of prayer at the Western Wall. Hundreds of Yerushalmim will testify that their heart’s desires were fulfilled after 40 consecutive days at the Kosel.

In early 2003, Gershon Burd was learning in a yeshivah in Yerushalayim. After five years of searching for his zivug, he tried 40 days at the Kosel. During that period, across the city, a young woman named Batya, who hadn’t even begun looking into shidduchim, suddenly felt that she was ready for marriage. An acquaintance introduced them, and they became engaged two weeks later.

In order to bring the power of the 40-days-of-prayer segulah to the world while raising money for Yerushalmi families, Gershon and Batya Burd started Western Wall Prayers in 2004. The service enables anyone anywhere in the world to request a prayer for a minimum donation of $90. The donor is matched with a ben Torah or the wife of a ben Torah who goes to the Kosel for 40 consecutive days, giving tzedakah for them each time.

Meanwhile, the donor offers the same prayer every day along with his or her shaliach, creating a potent partnership. The donation is used to support kollel families in Yerushalayim. Rabbi Berel Wein acts as a reference for the program, and Rabbi Avigdor Nebensahl, Chief Rabbi of the Old City, recites a Mi Sheberach for those who donate $360.

“Under Jewish law, if you appoint an agent to do something for you, it is exactly as if you are doing it yourself,” says Batya Burd. “The donation is a gashmi blessing that we connect to the ruchni blessing of praying at the Kosel. It’s tefillah and tzedakah in one — a blessing for all involved.”

Obviously, Western Wall Prayers does not guarantee answers to every person’s tefillos; everything is ultimately in Hashem’s hands. But the couple has published some 110 success stories, including that of Brooklyn’s Ella Sanders, who had been searching for her zivug for five years when she heard about Western Wall Prayers. When she asked that her agent pray that she marry the man she was then seeing seriously, she was advised to make her prayer more general.

“Well, that shidduch didn’t work out,” says Sanders. “Instead I met another man with incredible middos, and we got married a few months later… We now have a baby boy.”

After Eli P. of Chicago was diagnosed with colon cancer, his son contacted Western Wall Prayers and asked them to pray for 40 days for a complete recovery. “On the 36th day, the doctors operated and were astounded to find nothing but a small infection,” says Eli. “I was also surprised until I found out that my son had sponsored a prayer agent for me.”

Other notable participants include Paulina Aguilar of Chile, who gave birth to her daughter exactly one year after her agent began praying that she would become a mother, and Lisa M., who says that her mother’s wondrous recovery from cancer has her doctor “looking to the heavens for an explanation.”

To sign up for prayers for yourself or a loved one, call 1-866-343-4173.

We all know someone who wishes to get married, or have a baby, or recover from health problems, or overcome financial setbacks, or… Perhaps that person is you.

When all our efforts and prayers seem to be going unanswered, the great rabbis of Jerusalem have long recommended a more powerful track—40 days of prayer at the Western Wall. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Jerusalemites will testify that their heart’s desires were fulfilled after 40 consecutive days at the Kotel.

In early 2003, Gershon Burd experienced this for himself: At the time, he was learning in a yeshiva in Jerusalem. After five years of searching for his soul mate, he tried 40 days at the Kotel. During that period, across the city, a young woman named Batya, who had not even been dating, suddenly felt that she was ready for marriage. An acquaintance introduced them and they were engaged two weeks later.

In order to bring the power of the 40-day prayer to the world while raising money for needy Jerusalem families, Gershon and Batya Burd started Western Wall Prayers (www.westernwallprayers.org) in 2004. Users sign up online and are invited to request their prayer. They are then matched with a kollel man or wife who goes to the Kotel for 40 consecutive days, giving charity for them each time, and speaks the prayer, word-for-word, asking for Divine Mercy on their behalf.

Meanwhile, the donor prays the same prayer every day along with their agent, creating a potent partnership and growth experience. In return for spiritual services rendered, the donor gives a minimum $90 donation to support needy kollel families in Jerusalem.

“Under Jewish law, if you appoint an agent to do something for you, it is exactly as if you are doing it yourself,” says Batya Burd. “The donation is a material blessing that we connect to the spiritual blessing of praying at the Kotel. It’s prayer and charity in one—a blessing for all involved.”

Obviously, Western Wall Prayers is not guaranteeing answers to every person’s prayers, as all is ultimately in G-d’s hands. But the Western Wall Prayers website lists 110 “success stories,” from the cute to the downright miraculous.

Brooklyn’s Ella Sanders had been on the shidduch scene for five years when she heard about Western Wall Prayers. When she asked that her agent pray that she marry the man that she was then dating seriously, she was advised to make her prayer more general. “Well, that shidduch didn’t work out,” says Sanders. “Instead, I met another man, with incredible midos, and we got married a few months later! It was amazing. We now have a baby boy.”

After Eli P., of Chicago, was diagnosed with colon cancer, his son contacted Western Wall Prayers and asked them to pray 40 days for a complete recovery. “On the 36th day, the doctors operated and were astounded to find nothing but a small wound,” says Eli. “I was also surprised until I found out that my son had sponsored a prayer agent for me.”

Other notable stories include Dr. Stephen Finstein, of Dallas, who credits the 40-day prayer with the safe return of his son from 12 months in Iraq as an infantry soldier. Paulina Aguilar, of Chile, says that she gave birth to her daughter exactly one year after her agent began praying that she become a mother. Lisa M. says that her mother’s wondrous recovery from cancer has her doctor “looking to the Heavens for an explanation.”

To sign up for prayers for yourself or a loved one, fill out a form online at www.westernwallprayers.org.

By Thanassis Cambanis
GLOBE STAFF

JERUSALEM – Batya Burd is a devout Jew, dedicated to following to the letter every instruction contained in the Torah – from how to dress and what to eat to whether to neuter a pet cat. The 31-year-old former corporate lawyer is also tech-savvy; Burd is the founder of www.WesternWallPrayers.org, a website that enables [people] the world over to order a 40-day cycle of prayers at the Western Wall in Jerusalem – according to many Jews the holiest religious site in the world. Burd lives just up the hill from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, in a cramped walkup with her husband, 2- year-old son Joshua Jacob, and a second baby due in May. From a tiny office on the apartment’s glassed-in balcony, she screens dozens of requests a month on her laptop from people seeking prayers to support them as they look for marriage partners or business help or a respite from cancer – and in one case, even American citizenship. ”I wanted to make a living doing something that advanced my spiritual life,” Burd said. She only denies a few requests, among them e-mails asking agents to pray for a lottery win. Burd corresponds with those whose reasons for prayers pass muster, and then dispatches a prayer agent for 40 days in a row to the Wailing Wall. She left behind a life of career-climbing when she came to Israel five years ago … Two years later she met Gershon Burd, a student at yeshiva who had left his family’s insurance business in Chicago after becoming observant. They decided to marry within two weeks. With their marriage came the idea of www.WesternWallPrayers.org. Gershon Burd had prayed for 40 days at the Western Wall, a holy spot for all Jews.

Why, Gershon wondered, should the benefits of praying at the foundation of the Temple Mount be available only to those able to travel to Jerusalem? Batya Burd opened her website a year and a half ago, when the young couple had a newborn son and was running desperately low on money. ”We were literally waiting for miracles,” Burd said … Revenue from the web-based prayer site, Batya reasoned, could support her and Gershon, a full-time student at the Bircas HaTorah yeshiva in Jerusalem’s Old City. Many members of the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel dedicate their lives to studying Torah, living on little or no income. If the site succeeded, it would also create income for other yeshiva students. Now, Burd said, she accepts several dozen requests a month for a prayer cycle … [Donors] can choose among several packages. An ”individual-cycle prayer” costs [$90 donation], and involves a Torah-observant Jew praying for a group of customers at the same time. At the top of the line, the ”personalized exclusive prayer,” for [$720 donation], involves a prayer agent dedicated to a single request, a group prayer by an entire yeshiva, and special study of religious law on the customer’s behalf.

Burd is quick to note that she won’t reject a person in need of a prayer cycle who can’t afford it. ”We’ll ask them to give whatever they can.” But she says success stories abound among those who [donated for] prayers, including [donors] who found marriage partners or were exonerated in criminal trials or overcame serious health problems. Burd said a recent [donor] sent $2,000 in gratitude after his prayer was answered. Burd said she distributed the money to needy families for Passover. She expanded her offerings recently, sending prayer agents to the town of Safed, at the tomb of a major Kabbalist rabbi. The [donation requested] $540 for 40 days. Daryl Michel, 35, one of the prayer agents, said he sees no difference between praying for [someone donating money] and praying on behalf of a loved one or relative. He’s a fervent believer in the 40-day prayer cycle, a tradition among [religious Jews] that involves saying a prayer every day for 40 days at the Western Wall. It was after visiting the Western Wall for 40 days in a row that Michel’s wife conceived their daughter. ”It’s wonderful to pray at this holy site for those not so fortunate to be here,” Michel said.

One-time Bay St. lawyer Batya Burd delivers prayers by proxy … to the ancient Western WallShe believes heavenly intervention made her the answer to her husband’s prayersNov. 12, 2005. 02:21 AMMITCH POTTERMIDDLE EAST BUREAU

JERUSALEM-You need a wife, a husband, or perhaps just a job. You want a baby, maybe. Your favourite uncle has cancer, and you are hoping you can do something, anything, to ease his pain.

Batya Burd is betting even the believers among you haven’t a prayer. Or rather, you haven’t the time – and the access – to deliver the sort of prayer she has in mind.

Burd, who gave up a future as a Toronto corporate lawyer for a pious existence just steps from the Western Wall, has a novel suggestion… she and her team of 40 Torah-observant Jewish worshippers are ready to pray at God’s last known address, for that which ails you.

Not just any spiritual whim passes muster at https://staging.westernwallprayers.org, the Internet-based prayer-by-proxy service [the 39 year old mother of five] established [years back]. Forget about requesting heavenly help in winning the lottery. She will politely say no. When prayer orders smack of such vanity, she seeks the counsel of a rabbi on whether to proceed.

But for those whose intentions are deemed genuine, be they Christian, Muslim or Jew, Burd will dispatch a “prayer agent” through the warren-like streets of Jerusalem’s Old City on a mission to God. For 40 consecutive days, she will do this.

“The idea is not for people to use it like a lucky rabbit’s foot. We’re serious about this,” says Burd, whose spiritual outings request a donation from $90 to [$1,800], depending on how many hours and days your shaliach, or proxy, prays on your behalf.

“There are no guarantees, obviously. But when we agree to do a full cycle of prayers for somebody, they need to be involved as well. We encourage them to do some kind of good deed, wherever they are. We’re only helping the process. But it is not a replacement for their religiosity.”

Burd says the idea came from her husband Gershon, a Chicago native, primarily because it was immediately after he undertook a similar segulah – a 40-day cycle of prayers at the Western Wall, asking God for a wife – that they first met.

Burd says she “knew something was happening” during the 40 days her future husband trekked to the wall to pray for a partner.

“I felt like I had extra help. My poor husband had been dating for five years and it was not happening for him,” she says.

“One of my friends in Jerusalem knew him. She came up to me one day and said, `When you are ready, I know your soul mate.’ And finally it happened. We were introduced. And five dates later we were engaged.”

What pushed Burd from notion to action in developing www.westernwallprayers.org was the poverty she saw around her in the Old City, where the Jewish quarter is devotion-rich but cash-poor …

“It is difficult to see so many people in Jerusalem really living hand to mouth, watching every dime. What they need most is material help,” she says.

“At the same time, there are all sorts of people in North America who have so much in material wealth, but are in spiritual need. We’re trying to match those needs to each other.”

Segulah is a word from the ancient Hebrew with multiple and sometimes mystical meanings, not all of them necessarily flattering. Burd allows that some rabbis dismiss such prayer as less than serious. But she points to a raft of success stories of prayers answered, the most moving of which are posted online. She also acknowledges that occasional visitors to her site leave scathing notes berating the enterprise as offensive.

“We are playing with such tender concepts and people can get so offended. I suppose we’re asking people to judge us favourably for a second. Please understand the context,” she says.

Rabbi Berel Wein, a prominent Jerusalem-based author and one of several Jewish scholars whose name appears as references on Burd’s site, said the motives are beyond reproach.

“I know the family and I know the money goes to legitimate causes,” Wein confirmed.

“What we’re really talking about is an old established custom. Throughout history, it was common that when people travelled to the Holy Land other people would ask them to pray at holy sites,” he said.

“It can’t do any harm. The money is incidental. When we pray, in general, we give money to a charity or a cause. This is pretty much the same thing.”

Burd describes her own circuitous journey to Jerusalem as a wayward road in search of herself. Raised in Toronto as Lisa Fefer – she later Hebraized her name – Burd studied at University of Western Ontario and Osgoode Law School before climbing to the 44th floor of First Canadian Place to what is today Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Canada’s leading corporate tax firm.

It was a second journey from Toronto to India that brought Burd to Jerusalem twelve years ago. Her savings depleted, she chose to take advantage of the Birthright Israel program, an initiative … that entitles young Jews to an all-expenses-paid journey to experience the Holy land. “Birthright was a free ride for me. I just wanted a cheap way to get to India and this got me more than halfway. But in included 10 days in Israel. And 10 days was enough to reel me in.” she explains. Burd’s gradual transition to an Orthodox lifestyle is now complete. The shoulder-length hair is not hers, but a wig, as is customary. “I had serious lifestyle changes to make – [what I ate, how I dressed, what I did]… but Burd eventually “came to a point where I was able to just let go and [accept my chosen purpose in life. I was born a Jew, and it is not a coincidence]. Even today she is reluctant to accept the labels applied to the varied streams of Judaism, other than to say “I [understand] the Torah as God gave it on Mount Sinai, to be the truth, in its full sense and without adaptations.”