Ribono Shel Olam of Birkas Kohanim

On Shabbos, for Parshas Naso, Rav Dovid Cohen spoke about the Ribono Shel Olam that we say in between the pesukim of Birkas Kohanim.

We say a prayer about dreams that says:

…If they are good, strengthen them, fortify them, make them endure in me and in them like the dreams of the righteous Joseph. But if they require healing, heal them like Hezekiah, king of Judah, from his sickness; like Miriam the prophetess from her tzaraas; like Naaman from his tzaraas; like the waters of Marah through the hand of Moses our teacher; and the like the waters of Jericho through the hand of Elisha.

The gemara in Berakhos 55b has a slightly different version of this prayer that deserves some analysis. The gemara says:

… heal them, as the waters of Marah were healed by Moses, our teacher, and as Miriam was healed of her leprosy and Hezekiah of his sickness, and the waters of Jericho by Elisha....

The order of the tefilah in our siddur is based on themes:
Sickness
tzaraas and then
water.

Whereas, the gemara in Berakhos seems to be based on chronological order:
Moshe and the waters at Marah
Miriam and her tzaraas
Hezekiah and his sickness
Elisha and the waters at Jericho.

Also, Na'aman is missing in Berakhos -- why?

The Ramban says (Vayikra 13:47 and 26:1) that when Yisrael are shleimim le’Hashem i.e. completely perfect in their relationship to God, the spirit of Hashem always rests on them and protects them and their clothing and their houses from tzaraaas. When they are less than perfect and sin separates them from God’s protection, they or their clothing or houses become afflicted with the spiritual disease of tzaraas. Yisrael in their perfect state are not subject to the teva, natural course of nature. God blesses their food and water and protects them from illness to the point where they do not need medical treatment. Shmos 15:26 says, I am Hashem your healer. When the tzadikim fell ill in the times of ne’vu’ah they would call upon a navi, not doctor. For example, when Hezekiah (Melakhim II, 20:1-3) took ill they called for a navi, Yeshayah, and Hezekiah prayed to Hashem.

The gemara in Berakhos which follows the chronological order, leaves out Na’aman because he was an Aramean, not a Yisrael, at the time he was healed. Our nusach in the siddur, on the other hand, is arranged according to themes of Divine healing and Na’aman was indeed healed that way through the navi, Elisha.

The Gra says there are three pesukim that start and end with the letter nun that relate to tzaraas, God’s protection in Eretz Yisrael and the role of the navi. These three pesukim are a remez to Na’a’man whose name also starts and ends with a nun.

Nega tzaraas ki si’h’yeh b’adam v’hu’va el ha’kohen
When the disease of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought to the priest.
--Vayikra 13:9

Nachnu na’avor cha’lu’tzim li’fnei Hashem eretz ke’na’an v’i’tanu a’chu’zas na’cha’la’seinu me’e’ver le’yarden
We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side of the Jordan may be ours.
--Bamidbar 32:32

Navi me’kirbekha mei’ache’kha ka’mo’ni ya’kim lekha Hashem Elokekha ei’lav tsh’ma’un
The Lord your God will raise to you a Prophet from your midst, from your brothers, like me; to him you shall listen.
--Devarim 18:15

The gemara excludes Na’a’man because in chronological order Na’a’man was not yet under the Divine protection for healing like Yisrael, shleimim le’Hashem. Our siddur based on the theme of healing from tzaraas, therefore, includes Na’a’man, because he was afforded the same miraculous healing as a Yisrael.