In a desert, a mirage isn\u2019t a hallucination. Even though you think you see water, it is an optical phenomenon based on how light rays bend. But does it matter? If you begin to start making decisions based on the body of water you see in the distance, does it matter how you precisely categorize it?<\/p>\r\n
Similarly, in popular culture, we always read about someone\u2019s life flashing before their eyes in the moments before they die. We also read about people who experience close encounters with death and make drastic life changes.<\/p>\r\n
Again, even though the vision may be your neurons firing in a certain way, a purely physiological phenomenon, what happens next makes all the difference.<\/p>\r\n
Psalm 63 can be read as the story of someone dying in the desert from terminal dehydration, suffering from a bout of delirium. He is cognizant of the hallucination, using a phrase in 63:3 that is usually associated with prophecy.<\/p>\r\n
But most interestingly, we see a dichotomy between \u201csoul\u201d (nefesh) and \u201clife\u201d (hayyim). While these are admittedly a more medieval or modern translation of the two words, we still see that the psalmist intends different meanings when he chooses to employ one word or the other.<\/p>\r\n
In Jonah 4:9, as Jonah awakes in the desert under the plant that God had killed overnight, his soul (nefesh) begged to die, and he says \u201cbetter is my death than life\u201d (hayyim). In our psalm, though, \u201cGod\u2019s kindness is better than life\u201d (63:4).<\/p>\r\n
Our psalmist remembers the good things in his life, but he doesn\u2019t ask God to save him.<\/p>\r\n
He doesn\u2019t cry like Hagar and Ishmael in Genesis 21. He doesn\u2019t beg, like Jonah, for death. In his delirium, he is reminded of the good times in his life: the delectable foods (63:6), the creature comforts of his home, specifically his bed (63:7), and perhaps even the festivals where he prayed in the Temple (63:3).<\/p>\r\n
Even the phrase \u201cI lift my hands\u201d (63:5) is also used in Psalm 119:48, in which the psalmist there is writing about the delight and love he feels for the commandments and laws. And that feeling, he continues there, gives him hope and is a source of comfort during the difficult times (119:49-50).<\/p>\r\n
Maybe the difference between the \u201csoul\u201d and the \u201clife\u201d, as he describes it, is the distinction between our experiences and the physiological act of living. While dying of dehydration in the desert, Jonah looked back on his experiences with regret, and our psalmist re-experienced his with delight.<\/p>\r\n
In this reading, our \u201clife\u201d is born and ultimately ends with death, but our \u201csoul\u201d is the thing we create with every one of our experiences. It\u2019s our sense memory that is the realm of the \u201csoul.\u201d Food and music, mentioned in 63:6, helps remind our \u201csoul\u201d of those times, and allows us to re-experience them.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":84716,"alt":"","title":"Ps63-EButler","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Ps63-EButler.png","width":2048,"height":2048,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Ps63-EButler-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Ps63-EButler-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Ps63-EButler-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Ps63-EButler-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Ps63-EButler.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Ps63-EButler.png","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Ps63-EButler-1200x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Ps63-EButler-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Soul Of Life, The Life Of The Soul","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"On memory, hope, and lived experience","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":84716,"alt":"","title":"Ps63-EButler","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Ps63-EButler.png","width":2048,"height":2048,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Ps63-EButler-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Ps63-EButler-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Ps63-EButler-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Ps63-EButler-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Ps63-EButler.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Ps63-EButler.png","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Ps63-EButler-1200x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Ps63-EButler-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"63","chapter_main_number":"630","date":"20280127","wall_id":"630"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":4,"id":"84685","color":"#f6f5de","size":"1","name":"Drought ","post_title":"Drought","slug":"drought","old_id":"84685","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36669,"post_title":"Yakov Azriel","slug":"yakov-azriel","old_id":"36669","first_name":"Yakov ","last_name":"Azriel","description":"Yakov Azriel, who lives in Israel, has published five books of poetry in the USA and hundreds of poems in journals and magazines. His poems have won twenty-two prizes in international poetry competitions, and he has twice been awarded fellowships from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.","short_description":"Yakov Azriel is an English language poet who lives in Israel","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36670,"alt":"","title":"Yakov.Azriel.Photo","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","width":1099,"height":1519,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-217x300.jpg","medium-width":217,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":741,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","large-width":741,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","1536x1536-width":1099,"1536x1536-height":1519,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","2048x2048-width":1099,"2048x2048-height":1519,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-868x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":868,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-304x420.jpg","home_baner-width":304,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"630","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Let thunder burst, for we are cursed\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"
\"O God, You are my God, I will seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You, in a dry and weary land without water.\" (63:2)<\/p>\r\n
\r\nForever, so it seems, we've waited for
\r\nThe promised rains to fall; but still the rains
\r\nRefuse to come and wash away the stains
\r\nOf brilliant, blinding blue that smudge and flaw
\r\nOur cloudless sky. The sun, a dragon's claw
\r\nThat scratches desiccated fields, retains
\r\nIts scorching heat as greedily it drains
\r\nOur streams while verdant meadows turn to straw.<\/p>\r\n
Without Your word, will we remain alive,
\r\nO Lord? Let thunder burst, for we are cursed
\r\nBy deafness and by drought, and though we strain,
\r\nWe do not hear Your voice. Can we survive
\r\nFor long without a drop to slake our thirst \u2014
\r\nOur thirst for You? O drench us now with rain.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":72734,"alt":"","title":"jer50-drought","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer50-drought.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer50-drought-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer50-drought-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer50-drought-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer50-drought-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer50-drought.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer50-drought.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer50-drought-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer50-drought-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 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He is the author of TANAKH: An Owner\u2019s Manual (Jerusalem: Urim\/Ktav, 2015).\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34244,"alt":"","title":"sokolow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","width":302,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","medium_large-width":302,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","large-width":302,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","1536x1536-width":302,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","2048x2048-width":302,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","post_full_size-width":302,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"630","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Experiencing the divine\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"
\u201cGod, You are my God; I search for You, my soul (<\/span>nafshi<\/span><\/em>) thirsts for You, my body (<\/span>b\u2019sari<\/span><\/em>) yearns for You, as a parched and thirsty land that has no water. I shall behold You in the sanctuary and see Your might and glory\u201d (2-3).<\/span><\/p>\r\n Our psalm is attributed to David during his sojourn in the wilderness of Judah while fleeing from King Saul. If, as we have noted previously, this attribution is literary rather than historical, then it is possible that the Judean Desert was chosen as its location due to the reference to \u201ca parched and thirsty land that has no water.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n Whether Davidic or otherwise, the opening verses of this psalm have become emblematic of a type of religious practice that, in Judaism, is identified with the Kabbalah, in general, and Hassidim, in particular. Generally called \u201cmysticism,\u201d it has been described by scholars and practitioners alike as \u201c<\/span>cognitio dei experimentalis<\/span><\/em>,\u201d knowing God through experience.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Regarding the \u201csanctuary\u201d (3), David, of course, could not have seen the Temple so Rashi identified it with the Tabernacle at Shiloh (see <\/span>our comments to Psalm 61<\/span><\/a>). Ibn Ezra\u2019s resolution is that \u201cI imagined seeing you as though I were in a sanctuary,\u201d Radak\u2019s is to neutralize the sanctuary into \u201ca holy place,\u201d and both agreed that the \u201cmight and glory\u201d refer to the Holy Ark. Malbim seems to have agreed with Ibn Ezra, explaining the \u201csanctuary\u201d as divine inspiration (<\/span>ru\u2019ach<\/span> ha-kodesh<\/span><\/em>).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":84724,"alt":"","title":"ps63-eye seeing God","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A Mystical Moment\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Experiencing the divine","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":84724,"alt":"","title":"ps63-eye seeing God","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-eye-seeing-God-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"63","chapter_main_number":"630","date":"20280127","wall_id":"630"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":7,"id":"84718","color":"#e6f5f3","size":"1","name":"Fire In The Divine Soul ","post_title":"Fire In The Divine Soul","slug":"fire-in-the-divine-soul","old_id":"84718","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33877,"post_title":"Marc Bregman","slug":"marc-bregman","old_id":"33877","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Bregman","description":"Marc Bregman received his Ph.D. from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1991. He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"630","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The Alter Rebbe elaborates on spiritual longing\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" Our psalm, which is headed: \u201cA psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah\u201d (<\/span>Psalms 63:1<\/span><\/a>) seems to have been composed when David was hiding out in the wilderness (<\/span>midbar<\/span><\/em>) from Saul, who was seeking to kill him (see<\/span> I Samuel 23:14-15<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> 24.1-2<\/span><\/a>). The desert provenance of Psalm 63 is further suggested by<\/span> verse 2<\/span><\/a>: \u201cGod, You are my God. I search for You. My soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You, as a parched and thirsty land that has no water\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Verses 2-3 of our Psalm are<\/span> sung by the Chabad Chasidim<\/span><\/a> to a melody attributed to the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1815), known as the<\/span> Alter Rebbe<\/span><\/a>. This <\/span>niggun<\/span><\/i> begins: <\/span>Tzamah Lekha Nafshi <\/span><\/em>\u2013<\/span><\/i> \u201cMy Soul Thirsts for You\u201d. In his most influential work, the<\/span> Tanya<\/span><\/a>, the Alter Rebbe elaborates on the longing of the soul for God: \u201c\u2026For when the intellect in the rational soul deeply contemplates and immerses itself exceedingly in the greatness of God, how He fills all worlds and encompasses all worlds, and in the presence of Whom everything is considered as nothing\u2014 there will be born and aroused in his mind and thought the emotion of awe for the Divine Majesty\u2026Then, his heart will glow with an intense love, like burning coals, with a passion, desire and longing, and a yearning soul, towards the greatness of the blessed <\/span>En Sof <\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>[\u201cThe Infinite One\u201d]. This constitutes the culminating passion of the soul, of which Scripture speaks: \u201cMy soul thirsts for God, the living God; O when will I come to appear before God!\u201d (<\/span>Psalms 42:3<\/span><\/a>) and \u201cMy soul thirsts for You\u201d(<\/span>63:2<\/span><\/a>). This thirst is caused by the Fire in the divine soul.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n [embed]https:\/\/youtu.be\/YB30syENOdo[\/embed]<\/p>\r\n Midrash Bereshit Rabbah<\/span><\/a> cites: \u201cmy soul thirsts for You, my body yearns for You, as a parched and thirsty land that has no water\u201d as a supplication fulfilled in Jacob\u2019s dream in which he envisions a ladder stretching to Heaven on which \u201cangels of God were going up and down\u201d (see <\/span>Genesis 28:10-22<\/span><\/a>). The midrash focuses on the powerful expression \u201cmy body yearns for You \u2013 <\/span>kamah lekha vesari<\/span><\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/i>. The verb <\/span>kamah<\/em> <\/span>(here translated \u201cyearns\u201d), which is found only here in the Hebrew Bible, is interpreted as suggesting <\/span>kemeyhin<\/em> <\/span>(truffles, mushrooms), which \u201cyearn\u201d for water. This leads to a Rabbinic paraphrase of the verse, \u201cJust as my soul thirsts for You, so do the 248 members of my body thirst for You. Where? In \u201cparched and thirsty land that has no water\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The following verse: \u201cI shall\u2026see Your might\u2026\u201d (<\/span>63:3<\/span><\/a>) is interpreted as referring to the Heavenly Host seen by Jacob in his dream in<\/span> Genesis 28:12<\/span><\/a>. And the final word of this Psalm verse, <\/span>u-kevodkha<\/span><\/em> \u2013 \u201cand Your glory\u201d, is interpreted as referring to God Himself, who is described as having stood by Jacob while he was sleeping (<\/span>Genesis 28:13)<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Fire In The Divine Soul","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The Alter Rebbe elaborates on spiritual longing","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/YB30syENOdo","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"63","chapter_main_number":"630","date":"20280127","wall_id":"630"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":8,"id":"84678","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Psalmsongs 63 ","post_title":"Psalmsongs 63","slug":"psalmsongs-63","old_id":"84678","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":80010,"post_title":"Gaya Aranoff Bernstein","slug":"gaya-aranoff-bernstein","old_id":"80010","first_name":"Gaya Aranoff ","last_name":"Bernstein ","description":"Gaya (Aranoff, M.D.) Bernstein has been a student of Rav Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz for many years. With his encouragement, she published Psalmsongs, A Gathering of Psalms (An Arthur Kurzweil Book, New York\/Jerusalem, 2013), and translated The Steinsaltz Tehillim, Commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz (Koren Publishers Jerusalem Ltd, 2018). She is a professor of pediatric endocrinology on the faculty of Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City.\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Gaya Aranoff Bernstein is the author of Psalmsongs: A Gathering of Psalms.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":80011,"alt":"","title":"gaya 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My tired body rises Excerpted from: Gaya Aranoff Bernstein,\u00a0Psalmsongs: A Gathering of Psalms<\/em>, (An Arthur Kurzweil Book, New York\/Jerusalem, 2013)<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":80037,"alt":"","title":"psalmsongs4","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4.jpg","width":2894,"height":1928,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-1024x682.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":682,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1023,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1364,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-1200x799.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":799,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Psalmsongs 63","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"My tired body rises as the sun begins to parch another day and O my God I thirst for You","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":80037,"alt":"","title":"psalmsongs4","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4.jpg","width":2894,"height":1928,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-1024x682.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":682,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1023,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1364,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-1200x799.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":799,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"63","chapter_main_number":"630","date":"20280127","wall_id":"630"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":9,"id":"84720","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"Thirsting In The Wilderness ","post_title":"Thirsting In The Wilderness","slug":"thirsting-in-the-wilderness","old_id":"84720","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"630","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Spiritual thirst is often more potent than the physical one\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" Writing again from his desert hideout, David calls out to God \"God, you are my Almighty and I will seek you. My soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you in a dry and weary land without water.\" The metaphor is apt, as we saw in Chapter 62. It makes sense that David would use natural images in his prayer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n This metaphor also reminds us of the thirst and waterless travels and trials of the Israelites as they wandered the wilderness for forty years. Three times in the books of Exodus and Numbers we see the Israelites thirsting for water. The more famous incidents are the twin rock stories. In the first, Moses hits the rock at the behest of God to bring forth water. In the second tragic incident, instead of speaking to the rock, Moses yet again hits the rock. God punishes Moses and declares that he will not be able to enter the Land of Israel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n But our Psalm I think references an earlier incident soon after the exodus in Exodus 15:22. Three days after the splitting of the sea, the people complained of thirst due to a brackish well. God instructs Moses to throw a piece of wood into the brackish waters making them potable yet again. The commentators latch on to the emphasis on three days to teach a lesson that one should not go three days without studying Torah.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n With this in mind, we can return to Psalm 63 verse 2. Notice that David says that it is his soul that thirsts for God. He does not say he is thirsty. Like those commentators, David realized that the spiritual thirst is often more potent than the physical one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":84721,"alt":"","title":"ps63-oasis","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-oasis.png","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-oasis-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-oasis-300x169.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-oasis-768x432.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-oasis-1024x576.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-oasis.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-oasis.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-oasis-1200x675.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-oasis-747x420.png","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Thirsting In The Wilderness","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Spiritual thirst is often more potent than the physical one","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":84721,"alt":"","title":"ps63-oasis","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-oasis.png","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-oasis-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-oasis-300x169.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-oasis-768x432.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-oasis-1024x576.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-oasis.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-oasis.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-oasis-1200x675.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps63-oasis-747x420.png","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"63","chapter_main_number":"630","date":"20280127","wall_id":"630"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":10,"id":"84676","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"From Your Lips: Psalm 63 ","post_title":"From Your Lips: Psalm 63","slug":"from-your-lips-psalm-63","old_id":"84676","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":79754,"post_title":"Reuben Ebrahimoff","slug":"reuben-ebrahimoff","old_id":"79754","first_name":"Reuben ","last_name":"Ebrahimoff ","description":"Reuben Ebrahimoff is the author of a \"user's guide\" to the Book of Psalms, entitled \"From Your Lips to God\u2019s Ears, The 10 Things You Need To Know About the Book of Tehillim \u2013 Psalms.\" Affectionately known as \u201cThe Haftorahman,\u201d was the first Mashadi Jew from Persia to attend Yeshiva in the U.S.A. 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The first verse serves as a heading. Introductory Words:<\/em> Shimush Tehillim-When to Say:<\/em> Biblical Places:<\/em> Talmud on Tehillim:<\/em> Excerpted from <\/span>From Your Lips To God\u2019s Ears<\/span><\/em>, by Reuben Ebrahimoff available on Amazon.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":79908,"alt":"","title":"psalms - rebrahimoff","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalms-rebrahimoff.png","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalms-rebrahimoff-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalms-rebrahimoff-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalms-rebrahimoff-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalms-rebrahimoff.png","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalms-rebrahimoff.png","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalms-rebrahimoff.png","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalms-rebrahimoff.png","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalms-rebrahimoff-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Psalms: A Users Guide","tile_main_caption":"From Your Lips: Psalm 63","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A concise survey of the psalm's structure and content","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":79908,"alt":"","title":"psalms - rebrahimoff","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalms-rebrahimoff.png","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalms-rebrahimoff-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalms-rebrahimoff-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalms-rebrahimoff-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalms-rebrahimoff.png","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalms-rebrahimoff.png","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalms-rebrahimoff.png","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalms-rebrahimoff.png","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalms-rebrahimoff-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"63","chapter_main_number":"630","date":"20280127","wall_id":"630"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":11,"id":"84681","color":"#f7f7f5","size":"1","name":"Yearning Flesh ","post_title":"Yearning Flesh","slug":"yearning-flesh","old_id":"84681","type":"media","iframe":"","writer":{"id":54356,"post_title":"Robert Alter","slug":"robert-alter","old_id":"54356","first_name":"Robert ","last_name":"Alter","description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He has written over twenty books, focusing on such topics as the European novel from the 18th century to the present, contemporary American fiction, and modern Hebrew literature. He has also written extensively on the literary aspects of the Bible. His most recent work is his monumental three volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019 - from which the selections in 929 are taken. ","short_description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of the three-volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":54357,"alt":"","title":"robert alter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","width":184,"height":275,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium-width":184,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium_large-width":184,"medium_large-height":275,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","large-width":184,"large-height":275,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","1536x1536-width":184,"1536x1536-height":275,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","2048x2048-width":184,"2048x2048-height":275,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","post_full_size-width":184,"post_full_size-height":275,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","home_baner-width":184,"home_baner-height":275}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"630","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"My throat thirsts for You\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" 63:2 \u201cGod, my God, for You I search. My throat thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You in a land waste and parched, with no water.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n The multivalent <\/span>nefesh<\/span><\/em> could conceivably mean \u201cbeing\u201d (King James Version, \u201csoul\u201d), but the parallelism with \u201cflesh\u201d suggests the anatomical sense of the term. The speaker\u2019s longing for God is so overwhelmingly intense that he feels it as a somatic experience, like the thirsty throat of a man in the desert, like yearning flesh.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n From: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, vol. 3: Writings, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, ad loc. By permission of the author.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"From Robert Alter's Bible Translation and Commentary","tile_main_caption":"Yearning Flesh","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"My throat thirsts for You","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"63","chapter_main_number":"630","date":"20280127","wall_id":"630"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":12,"id":"84683","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - Psalm 63 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - Psalm 63","slug":"points-to-ponder-psalm-63","old_id":"84683","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"630","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"
\r\nas the sun begins to parch another day
\r\nand O my God
\r\nI thirst for You
\r\nI search for You
\r\nthrough searing light
\r\nand dream of knowing You
\r\nin holiness
\r\nthe vision of it
\r\nprecious
\r\nas my life
\r\nYou\u2019re not mirage
\r\nYou are oasis
\r\nalways there
\r\nI long to cling to You
\r\nand drink of You
\r\nand sing to You
\r\nreplenished
\r\nnever leave
\r\nand my reward in reaching You
\r\nwill far surpass
\r\nthe sweetest waters
\r\nI could find
\r\nI know that when I\u2019m on my watch
\r\nbeneath the stars
\r\ndeep in the cooling desert nights
\r\nI\u2019m not alone
\r\nI am at one with You
\r\nand those who seek my harm
\r\nare doomed to fall
\r\nand fail
\r\nagain<\/p>\r\n
\r\nKing David--the second king of Israel and father of the Davidic royal and messianic dynasty. David composed over seventy of the 150 psalms of Sefer Tehillim.<\/p>\r\n
\r\nKing David wrote this psalm while hiding in the wilderness of Judah in order to escape Saul who was plotting to kill him.<\/p>\r\n
\r\nPsalm of Individual Lament--This psalm was written from the perspective of the individual worshipper, who cries out to God in his time of need. It is characterized as an address to God involving a complaint, followed by a request and ending with an expression of trust.<\/p>\r\n
\r\nThis and the following psalm are based on the episode of the spear and the jar which David had taken from King Saul when hiding from him. King David composed this psalm while hiding in the wilderness of Judah in order to escape. Having been forced to flee from Saul\u2019s persecution, he longs to again devote himself to Torah study and observance of the mitzvot.<\/p>\r\n
\r\nIn verses 2-6, King David yearns to be even closer to God.
\r\nIn verses 7-9, he nonetheless expresses his happiness and sense of security in his current state of closeness to God.
\r\nIn verses 10-12, he beseeches God to bring about a curse upon the wicked and those who utter falsehood. He further prays for a blessing for the king and those who swear truthfully.<\/p>\r\n
\r\nMizmor<\/em>--Musical Accompaniment<\/p>\r\n
\r\nTo separate amicably and with profit from a business partner.
\r\nFor success in business--Verse 12 states: \u201cBut the king will rejoice in God, glorified will be everyone that swears by Him, for closed will be the mouth of those who speak falsehood.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
\r\nThe Wilderness of Judah--David compares his thirst for spiritual closeness to God and his yearning to see His splendor, to his thirst for water in the parched desert of Judea where he had hidden from his pursuers.<\/p>\r\n
\r\nVerse 5: \u201cSo I will bless You throughout my life, in Your name will I lift my hands.\u201d
\r\nThe Talmud, Berachot 16b, deduces that \u201cI will bless you\u201d refers to the recitation of the Shema. \u201cI will lift my hands, invoking Your name\u201d refers to the recitation of the Amidah (Silent Meditation). The Talmud infers from this verse that one who recites both the Shema and the Amidah will merit to have life not only in Olam Hazeh<\/em>--this world, but also in Olam Habba<\/em>--the World to Come. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\t