{"id":83769,"date":"2020-11-21T17:58:25","date_gmt":"2020-11-21T15:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=83769"},"modified":"2020-11-21T17:58:25","modified_gmt":"2020-11-21T15:58:25","slug":"a-somber-psalm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-somber-psalm\/","title":{"rendered":"A Somber Psalm"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Psalm 49 is traditionally recited in the home of a mourner during the first week of mourning (<\/span>shiv`ah<\/span><\/em>). The link appears to be this couplet: \u201cFor one sees that the wise die, that the foolish and ignorant both perish, leaving their wealth to others. Their grave is their eternal home, the dwelling-place for all generations of those once famous on earth\u201d (11-12).<\/span><\/p>\n

If the wise and the ignorant are alike in death, is it futile to try and live a better life? Radak addressed this somewhat rhetorical question, saying:<\/span><\/p>\n

The wise and ignorant are slated for physical death. However, when the wise die physically, their souls do not die nor are their hopes lost. [This contrasts with] those who love this world who, in death, lose their souls, too, and have no hope after death.<\/span><\/p>\n

The two verses we cited above are followed by: \u201cMan does not abide in honor; he is like the beasts that perish\u201d (13). As if the reminder of mortality was not grim enough, the psalmist added the sobering observation that death, sometimes called \u201cthe great equalizer,\u201d treats not only all men alike but treats them no differently than it does animals, a theme that is struck poignantly in Ecclesiastes:<\/span><\/p>\n

For in respect of the fate of man and the fate of beast, they have one and the same fate: as the one dies so dies the other, and both have the same lifebreath; man has no superiority over beast, since both amount to nothing. Both go to the same place; both came from dust and both return to dust. Who knows if a man\u2019s lifebreath does rise upward and if a beast\u2019s breath does sink down into the earth? I saw that there is nothing better for man than to enjoy his possessions, since that is his portion. For who can enable him to see what will happen afterward? (3:19-22)<\/span><\/p>\n

As the closing refrain, a verse that repeats itself at the end of the chapter (a feature we encountered earlier in Psalm 46) puts it: \u201cMan does not abide in honor; he is like the beasts that perish\u201d (21).<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":83770,"id":83770,"title":"ps49-cemetery","filename":"ps49-cemetery.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps49-cemetery.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-somber-psalm\/ps49-cemetery\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps49-cemetery","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":83769,"date":"2020-11-21 15:57:43","modified":"2022-04-10 19:54:13","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps49-cemetery-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps49-cemetery-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps49-cemetery-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps49-cemetery-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps49-cemetery.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps49-cemetery.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps49-cemetery-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps49-cemetery-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"A Somber Psalm","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Man does not abide in honor; 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