{"id":83667,"date":"2020-11-18T17:06:05","date_gmt":"2020-11-18T15:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=83667"},"modified":"2020-11-18T17:06:05","modified_gmt":"2020-11-18T15:06:05","slug":"axis-monday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/axis-monday\/","title":{"rendered":"Axis Monday"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"83667","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":62857,"related_cahpter":"615","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Why was this psalm chosen as the song of the second day of the week?\r\n\r\n","content":"

In 1965 Leonard Bernstein premiered his <\/span>Chichester Psalms<\/span><\/em> with the New York Philharmonic in New York City. It was a powerful interpretation of a number of Biblical psalms showing their timeless reach. The connection of the psalms and music goes back to Solomon\u2019s Temple in Jerusalem when the Levites would sing after the Daily <\/span>Tamid<\/span><\/em> sacrifice was offered. Psalm 48 was the psalm sung by the Levites on Mondays as part of the morning service<\/span> (see Mishnah Tamid 7:4).<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. Psalm 48 has been recited as part of the weekday morning liturgy. It is introduced in the <\/span>siddur<\/span><\/em> by saying, \u201cToday is the second day of the week.\u201d In the Talmud (Rosh HaShanah 31a) we learn further about why each psalm was chosen for its connection to a distinct day of the first week of Creation:<\/span><\/p>\n

On the second day of the week what psalm would the Levites recite? The psalm that begins: \u201cGreat is the Lord, and highly to be praised in the city of our God, His sacred mountain\u201d (Psalms 48:2). This is because on the second day of Creation He separated His works, dividing between the upper waters and the lower waters, and ruled over them as King; and this psalm speaks of Jerusalem as \u201cThe city of a great King\u201d (Psalms 48:3).<\/span><\/p>\n

On the second day of Creation God created the sky or firmament by dividing the waters. Yet Psalm 48, which is read on the second day of the week, says nothing about the sky or those waters for that matter. The focus of Psalm 48 is Zion\/Jerusalem, as Martin Buber translates the second verse of the psalm, on that, \u201cbeautiful summit.\u201d Psalm 48 is one of a group of psalms known as the,<\/span> \u201csongs of Zion,\u201d which praise Jerusalem.<\/span><\/p>\n

We need to ask ourselves, why did the rabbis choose Psalm 48 and not another Psalm? What is their theological, pedagogical thinking? If they wanted to stay truer to the focus of the second day of Creation – the Sky – they could have chosen Psalm 36 or Psalm 68 to name but two.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the discussion in the Talmud the rabbis glean from the second day of Creation the idea of God\u2019s ultimate power as expressed by God dividing the waters and creating the firmament. That still leaves unanswered why Jerusalem becomes the focus of that power in their choosing of Psalm 48 and not a different psalm closer to the description of the second day of creation. Perhaps one answer is found in the belief in Jerusalem as the <\/span>axis mundi<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>the sacred connection\/umbilical cord between the heavens and earth where God\u2019s power is felt and experienced in a different way.<\/span><\/p>\n

image: Jerusalem at the center of the world,\u00a0B\u00e8unting, Heinrich, 1581 \/ wikimedia<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":83668,"id":83668,"title":"ps48-jerusalem center of the world","filename":"ps48-jerusalem-center-of-the-world.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps48-jerusalem-center-of-the-world.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/axis-monday\/ps48-jerusalem-center-of-the-world\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps48-jerusalem-center-of-the-world","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":83667,"date":"2020-11-18 15:04:58","modified":"2020-11-18 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