{"id":88398,"date":"2021-02-06T17:45:55","date_gmt":"2021-02-06T15:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=88398"},"modified":"2021-02-06T17:45:55","modified_gmt":"2021-02-06T15:45:55","slug":"bless-the-lord-o-my-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/bless-the-lord-o-my-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"Bless The Lord O My Soul!\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/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":"88398","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33877,"related_cahpter":"671","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"There are intriguing parallels between God in the world, and the soul in the body\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Psalms.104?lang=bi&amp;with=all&amp;lang2=bi\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our psalm<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> praises God as the Creator of the World (compare<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Psalms.8?lang=bi&amp;with=all&amp;lang2=bi\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Psalms 8<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Psalms.19?lang=bi&amp;with=all&amp;lang2=bi\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">19<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Psalms.33?lang=bi&amp;with=all&amp;lang2=bi\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">33<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). It parallels and elaborates on the creation narrative in<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Genesis?lang=bi\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Genesis Chapter 1<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Our psalm is<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/web.nli.org.il\/sites\/nlis\/he\/Song\/Pages\/song.aspx?songid=4259#3,138,7930,74\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sung<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the Synagogue on<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Psalms.104.1?lang=bi&amp;with=Liturgy&amp;lang2=en\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">numerous occasions<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, particularly on<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Psalms.104.1?lang=bi&amp;p2=Siddur_Edot_HaMizrach%2C_Rosh_Hodesh%2C_Barchi_Nafshi&amp;lang2=bi\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rosh Chodesh<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Chief Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz, in his commentary on Psalm 104 in <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Authorized Daily Prayerbook<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0(1948), mentions that the 18<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> century German philosopher, Johann Gottfried Herder is said to have remarked: &#8220;It is worth studying the Hebrew language for ten years in order to read Psalm 104 in the original.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The expression \u201cBless the Lord, O my soul\u201d (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">barkhi nafshi<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) occurs five time in Psalms 103 and 104. This is noted in<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Psalms.102?lang=bi&amp;p2=Berakhot.10a.12-27&amp;lang2=bi&amp;w2=all&amp;lang3=en\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Talmud Bavli Berakhot 10a<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which comments that five times David said: \u201cBless the Lord, O my soul,\u201d each corresponding to a different stage of life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Psalms.103.1?lang=bi\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">first<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was when he was still in his mother\u2019s womb.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Psalms.103.22?lang=bi\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">second<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was when he emerged from the womb to the light of day.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Psalms.103.2?lang=bi\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">third<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was when he nursed at his mother\u2019s breast.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Psalms.104.35?lang=bi\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fourth<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was when he beheld the downfall of the wicked.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fifth and final time is indicated by the beginning of our Psalm. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is said to be when David looked upon the day of death and sang a song of praise, as it says: \u201cBless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord, my God, You are very great! You are clothed in glory and majesty!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The connection between this verse and the demise of death may be inferred from the continuation in<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Psalms.104.29?lang=bi&amp;with=all&amp;lang2=bi\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Psalms 104:29<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cHide Your face, they are terrified. Take away their breath, they perish and turn again into dust\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the continuation of this Talmudic discussion,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Psalms.103.1?lang=bi&amp;with=all&amp;lang2=bi\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Psalms 103:1<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cBless the Lord, O my soul, all my being, His holy name\u201d is interpreted. This verse praises the formation of an embryo in its mother\u2019s womb. The Holy One, Blessed be He, forms one form within another form (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tzar tzurah be-tokh tzurah<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) and instills it with spirit and soul, bowels and intestines. The five instances of \u201cBless the Lord, O my soul\u201d are then said to correspond to the five parallels between the soul in the human body and God\u2019s power in His world:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just as God fills the entire world, so too the soul fills the entire body.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just as God sees but is not seen, so too does the soul.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just as God sustains the entire world, so too the soul sustains the entire body.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just as God is pure, so too is the soul pure.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And finally, just as God resides in His inner sanctum, so too the soul resides in the innermost recesses of the body.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Therefore, let the soul, which has these five characteristics, praise God, who has these same five characteristics.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":73911,"id":73911,"title":"ez18-soul","filename":"ez18-soul.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez18-soul.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/nefesh\/ez18-soul\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ez18-soul","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":73909,"date":"2020-04-29 10:21:42","modified":"2022-10-15 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