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Mother and son to read all 150 Tehillim in one go to raise funds for cancer care
The money will go towards Myeloma UK and Chai Cancer Care
December 17, 2025 16:13
The money will go towards Myeloma UK and Chai Cancer Care
December 17, 2025 16:13When Jane Tobin Green told her 12-year-old son, David, that she had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma – a type of blood cancer – she gave him a book of Tehillim – 150 psalms, traditionally recited to call for God’s help at times of distress.
Now the mother and son are aiming to read the whole book together in an entire sitting – expected to take around five hours – to raise thousands of pounds for cancer support charities.
“I can’t travel at the moment, as I am at really high risk of catching something, and I can’t miss chemo sessions, so while some people might climb Kilimanjaro to raise money, we are instead climbing to the lofty heights of prayer,” Jane tells the JC.
They will launch the challenge – “a Tehillimathon” – this Friday night, with David, a pupil at JFS, giving a Dvar Torah at the family’s synagogue, South Hampstead. On Shabbat afternoon, the pair will sit in the shul’s smaller prayer room and read through the Tehillim.
“If we think one of the Tehillim is particularly interesting, we might discuss it, but we won’t do that very much, as the process might then take too long,” says David, who is taking on the challenge “in honour of my mum’s complete healing” and to celebrate his upcoming barmitzvah.
“We are both really into poetry, so I think we will just be really immersed. It’s about us having that experience together of being able to delve into the whole book of Tehillim,” says his mum, adding: “I am a bit nervous, as David is a much faster Hebrew reader than me.”
Jane, 54, who has two older children – Joe, 18, and Sylvie, 22 – with husband Amit, has been reading Tehillim regularly for the past 20 years. “Every night, before I go to sleep, I finish reading a novel and just reach for the Tehillim. I have a little chat with the man upstairs.”
Some of the Tehillim have well-known tunes, and since her diagnosis in September, Jane and David have been singing Psalm 23 together every night. “The words are: ‘Even though I walk in the valley overshadowed by death, I will not fear evil for You are with me.’ David has a lovely voice, and when we sing together, our voices meld. It’s very profound,” says Jane.
David describes the Tehillim as “less a book about miracles, but more a book of questions to God”, adding: “One of the Tehillim which really speaks to me is about someone questioning when God will help them in their time of need, which is applicable to me now.
“It was quite hard for me to accept that Mum had cancer but, knowing that 2,000 years ago, people were thinking about the things I am thinking about today makes me feel less alone.”
Money raised from the Tehillim reading will go towards Chai Cancer Care and Myeloma UK, the latter of which supports patients and funds research into the disease. “I was put in touch with Judy Dewinter, who is the president of Myeloma UK, and was blown away by her. She has helped raise a huge amount for cancer care,” says Jane.
“The disease is really hard to spot. I didn’t have symptoms, so I could have had it for years before I was diagnosed,” she adds, explaining that she also doesn’t fit the typical profile of a patient with multiple myeloma, a disease which usually affects men around the age of 70 and is twice as common in the black community.
Since Jane’s diagnosis, the family has been supported by Chai, with Jane receiving counselling and going for massages and manicures. “This stuff is free, so we want to pay it back and have the opportunity to bring some chesed (kindness),” says Jane.
“We expected to raise about £1,000, but we are already over £10,000 with Gift Aid. I have been so touched by people’s warmth and generosity, with donations coming in from Israel, Europe and America. I feel very humbled.”
Jane, who is an Alexandra Technique teacher and a gabayit (female warden) at South Hampstead Synagogue, paid tribute to her “amazing” friends.
“Everyone has been helping me in different ways. It’s been like a garden of helpfulness. People have been bringing food and flowers. I have four gorgeous girlfriends who light a candle every time I go for my weekly chemotherapy and send me a photo.
“‘I have a friend who organised my medication for me, and another who explained my blood results, as it was quite overwhelming at first.”
A keen runner, Jane says that anaemia caused by the cancer means she now has to walk instead. “The friends that I would usually run with now walk with me, which is so kind.”
She is also full of praise for David. “I think the beauty of David is that he is more than happy to play football and be on YouTube, but also to sit and read Tehillim with me. He is completely awesome, very easy. He is a really good buddy.”
The feelings are wholly reciprocated. “While we want to raise money, it’s also going to be really nice to spend time together, doing something productive, as sometimes, on a Tuesday, when my mum goes to hospital, I don’t get to see much of her,” says David.
Acknowledging the immense support they have received for the fundraiser, he adds: “It makes a big difference to my family and makes me realise that there is a purpose for everything. Maybe my mum got cancer so we could have a big impact on these charities.”
To donate, go to: givewheel.com/fundraising/11651/lets-help-cure-myleoma-celebrating-my-bar-mitzvah-/ or click here
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