{"id":91182,"date":"2018-07-09T17:53:48","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1143\/"},"modified":"2022-02-02T19:44:08","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T17:44:08","slug":"wall-1143","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1143\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20241027-to-20241102"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1143","date_from":"20241027","date_to":"20241102","book":"Psalms","books_group":"Writings","hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":"","updates_last_update":"28\/06\/2020","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"91708","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"2","name":"Shemini: The Kashrut of Shmita ","post_title":"Shemini: The Kashrut of Shmita","slug":"shemini-the-kashrut-of-shmita","old_id":"91708","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":91709,"post_title":"Miriam Midlarsky Lichtenfeld","slug":"miriam-midlarsky-lichtenfeld","old_id":"91709","first_name":"Miriam ","last_name":"Midlarsky Lichtenfeld ","description":"Rabbi Miriam Midlarsky Lichtenfeld is a seasoned Jewish educator, currently education director at the Orangetown Jewish Center in the suburbs of New York City. ","short_description":"Rabbi Miriam Midlarsky Lichtenfeld is a seasoned Jewish educator, currently education director at the Orangetown Jewish Center in the suburbs of New York City. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":91711,"alt":"","title":"miriam midlarsky lichtenfeld","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/miriam-midlarsky-lichtenfeld-1.jpg","width":220,"height":218,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/miriam-midlarsky-lichtenfeld-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/miriam-midlarsky-lichtenfeld-1.jpg","medium-width":220,"medium-height":218,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/miriam-midlarsky-lichtenfeld-1.jpg","medium_large-width":220,"medium_large-height":218,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/miriam-midlarsky-lichtenfeld-1.jpg","large-width":220,"large-height":218,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/miriam-midlarsky-lichtenfeld-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":220,"1536x1536-height":218,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/miriam-midlarsky-lichtenfeld-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":220,"2048x2048-height":218,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/miriam-midlarsky-lichtenfeld-1.jpg","post_full_size-width":220,"post_full_size-height":218,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/miriam-midlarsky-lichtenfeld-1.jpg","home_baner-width":220,"home_baner-height":218}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1143","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Shmita offers us a reminder to re-evaluate and rededicate ourselves to the sanctity of all lives and help to create a more ideal world.","post_main_content_content":"
<\/header>\r\n
\r\n

Back in my teen years, at our pre-Prom gathering at my friend\u2019s house, I didn\u2019t eat any of the shrimp cocktail that she had put out for us to eat. She praised my self-discipline. To me, though, this seemed natural as it was an essential part of our religious tradition.<\/p>\r\n

One thing that defines us as Jews is the requirement to give thought to what we put in our mouths. This act of restricting our eating can help us work towards creating a world where we show respect for the sanctity of life helping create an ideal expressed in the Torah.<\/p>\r\n

Originally, the Torah\u2019s ideal was for us to be vegetarians. In the creation story, humans are only allowed to eat fruits and vegetables:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cGod said, \u201cSee, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food.\u201d (Genesis 1:29)<\/p>\r\n

The Torah later compromises by allowing us to eat meat. As imperfect beings who also need protein, God permits us to have meat. Yet, since eating requires the act of taking another\u2019s life, restrictions are put upon what animals we are allowed to eat.<\/p>\r\n

Our parsha, Shemini, lists the restrictions for what animals we are permitted to eat, and the more complex the life form, the more restrictions are put in place. So, the simplest life forms \u2014 fruits and vegetables \u2014 have no stipulations. Fish have only one restriction \u2014 that they have fins and scales. By contrast, the most complex level of life \u2014 cattle, sheep, etc. \u2014 have the most constraints. They must chew their cud, have cloven hooves, and be slaughtered using shechita<\/em> or ritual slaughter (ensuring a quick and painless death).<\/p>\r\n

These laws teach us that respecting the sanctity of life should be our highest ideal. One way to do so is by restricting when we take a life to sustain ourselves. When we do take a life, we should do it in the kindest and least impactful way. Shmita is an even further level of kashrut, applying (in Israel) another restriction: to not farm the land that year. Thus, in Israel, one also needs to think about how they get their fruits and vegetables. Although we don\u2019t have that requirement here, the Shmita year is a time when we can rededicate ourselves to the mission of assessing our diet for how well we honor the sanctity of life as well the impact we make on the planet.<\/p>\r\n

I challenge us all to think of ways to work to live up to this ideal. In order to sustain ourselves, we have to take the lives of others (even if we are vegetarian). Let us all think carefully before we eat about whether we are choosing foods that honor that sanctity. We can do so by considering how animals are treated throughout the supply chain and how the fruits and vegetables we eat are farmed, along with the impact these decisions have on our planet. We can also try to grow more of our own food, and dedicate ourselves to eating less meat. When eating meat, we should try to commit to only eating humanely raised and processed foods. We may know that all lives on this earth are sacred and that we need to be kinder to the earth, but in the business of life, it is easy to allow convenience to reign supreme. Shmita offers us a reminder to re-evaluate and rededicate ourselves to these higher ideals. In doing so, we will remind ourselves of the sanctity of all lives and help to create a more ideal world.<\/p>\r\n

The next shmita year begins next Rosh Hashanah 2021, almost a year from now. We have time to prepare. As we move through 5781 we invite you to join us in preparation for the upcoming shmita year \u2013 a sabbatical year for the Earth but also for ourselves, our communities, and our world. Each week we will share thoughts on how the weekly parsha can help guide our thinking around shmita themes of work and rest, wealth and debt, responsible land use, fair labor practices, private and public property ownership, and physical and spiritual revitalization.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Join us for the journey.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

See here for more information on the Hazon Shmita project, and its blogs.<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/section>","post_main_content_image":{"id":81608,"alt":"","title":"shmita","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","width":711,"height":708,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","medium_large-width":711,"medium_large-height":708,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","large-width":711,"large-height":708,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","1536x1536-width":711,"1536x1536-height":708,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","2048x2048-width":711,"2048x2048-height":708,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","post_full_size-width":711,"post_full_size-height":708,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-422x420.jpg","home_baner-width":422,"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":"A New Weekly Series: The \"Shmitah Parasha\" Blog","tile_main_caption":"Shemini: The Kashrut of Shmita","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"in conjunction with Hazon.org","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":81608,"alt":"","title":"shmita","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","width":711,"height":708,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","medium_large-width":711,"medium_large-height":708,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","large-width":711,"large-height":708,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","1536x1536-width":711,"1536x1536-height":708,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","2048x2048-width":711,"2048x2048-height":708,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","post_full_size-width":711,"post_full_size-height":708,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-422x420.jpg","home_baner-width":422,"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":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1143"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"91416","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Yizkor ","post_title":"Yizkor","slug":"yizkor","old_id":"91416","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":70715,"post_title":"Judry Subar","slug":"judry-subar","old_id":"70715","first_name":"Judry ","last_name":"Subar","description":"Judry Subar, who lives in Potomac, Maryland, spent most of his professional career as a lawyer with the federal government in Washington, DC. Since his retirement, Jud has been involved in various writing and educational projects.","short_description":"Judry Subar spent most of his professional career as a lawyer with the federal government in Washington. Since his retirement, he has been involved in various writing and educational projects.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":70716,"alt":"","title":"judry subar","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","width":400,"height":400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","medium_large-width":400,"medium_large-height":400,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","large-width":400,"large-height":400,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","1536x1536-width":400,"1536x1536-height":400,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","2048x2048-width":400,"2048x2048-height":400,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","post_full_size-width":400,"post_full_size-height":400,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","home_baner-width":400,"home_baner-height":400}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"711","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Sending a bold assertion in the direction of the heavenly throne\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Picture yourself working hard one afternoon in the hot, hot sun. You\u2019re toiling away, digging an irrigation ditch perhaps, or in some other way trying to change the world for the better.\u00a0 The sweat is plentiful, any respite elusive. You\u2019ve all but forgotten that this very morning you embraced the challenge of recognizing creativity even in what feels like a simple, rote activity; you were looking forward to admiring the results of a day\u2019s labor, but that anticipation has dissolved just as the dust on your work boots dissolves in the river of perspiration that drips from your body. Suddenly, the tiniest tickle of moving air dances across your forehead, your arms, as if something like the respiration that accompanies a baby\u2019s laugh is giving you a moment\u2019s comfort. And in parallel with the imagined child, a puffball of cloud high in the sky obscures the intensity of the sunshine just long enough for you to get back on track as you continue your creative task.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Consider how verses 3 and 4 of Psalm 144 relate to this little tale. In wondering about a godly perspective on the nature of humanity in verse 3, and then, in verse 4, characterizing a person as breath and a human day as a passing shadow, is the text alluding to human insignificance? And does the choice of these verses as a traditional introduction to the <\/span>Yizkor <\/span><\/i>prayer point to an assumption that when we struggle to remember our deceased family members, we should remind ourselves of the mistake we make when we hold onto the conceit that human life is of real consequence?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Maybe it\u2019s the other way around. Perhaps when we say \u201cYizkor \u2013 remember,\u201d we\u2019re sending a bold assertion in the direction of the heavenly throne. We might be saying, \u201cYou, Source of Energy, You have so much energy wrapped up in the big-picture aspects of Your creation that sometimes You appear unable to remember individual constituent parts of that creation that have done so much to make the created universe productive. Dear Lord, let me point out that those individuals for whom I say this prayer showered me with an unforgettable love that has led me to want to create a meaningful life for myself. But beyond that, their creative endeavors, undertaken in the image of ultimate creativity, reflected what You seemed to want when You undertook this process to begin with: a humanity that can provide even the unbreathing Infinite with sustaining breath, that can ease even a divinely difficult day, as it were, with the coolness of a passing shadow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So, my Creator, as I focus my recollections I have a request. Yizkor. Yes, You too should make the effort to remember those whose memories are with me always.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":50797,"alt":"","title":"dt16-remember","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember.jpg","width":1920,"height":577,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember-300x90.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":90,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember-768x231.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":231,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember-1024x308.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":308,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":462,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":577,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember-1200x361.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":361,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember-1398x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1398,"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":"Yizkor","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Sending a bold assertion in the direction of the heavenly throne","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":50797,"alt":"","title":"dt16-remember","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember.jpg","width":1920,"height":577,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember-300x90.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":90,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember-768x231.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":231,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember-1024x308.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":308,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":462,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":577,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember-1200x361.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":361,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember-1398x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1398,"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":"144","chapter_main_number":"711","date":"20280521","wall_id":"711"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":3,"id":"91492","color":"#f6f5de","size":"1","name":"Could It Be A Question? ","post_title":"Could It Be A Question?","slug":"could-it-be-a-question","old_id":"91492","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38047,"post_title":"Shoshana Michael Zucker","slug":"shoshana-michael-zucker","old_id":"38047","first_name":"Shoshana Michael ","last_name":"Zucker ","description":"Shoshana Michael Zucker is a translator and editor by profession, but would much rather be learning and teaching Torah. A graduate of Barnard College, she made aliyah in 1983 and now lives in Kfar Saba where she is an active member of the Masorti Congregation Hod veHadar. ","short_description":"Shoshana Michael Zucker is a translator and editor and lives in Kfar Saba \r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38048,"alt":"","title":"Shoshana Michael Zucker","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","width":231,"height":310,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker-224x300.jpg","medium-width":224,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","medium_large-width":231,"medium_large-height":310,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","large-width":231,"large-height":310,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","1536x1536-width":231,"1536x1536-height":310,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","2048x2048-width":231,"2048x2048-height":310,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","post_full_size-width":231,"post_full_size-height":310,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","home_baner-width":231,"home_baner-height":310}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"712","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"It could be a question...\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The traditional trope (cantillation marks) and punctuation used for Biblical texts in Hebrew do not include question marks. Therefore, all sentences that do not begin with a clear expression of inquiry (e.g. \u201cwho?\u201d \u201cwhy?\u201d)\u00a0 are usually read as statements. And rightly so. But sometimes an astute reader hears a question or challenge between the lines, or even within them, in ways that can be very telling. When researching Psalm 145, I found two modern American-Israeli commentators who hear questions many readers miss.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In <\/span>The Poetry of Prayer<\/span><\/em>, Rabbi Avi Baumol writes that Psalm 145 expresses \u201cthe imperative to praise.\u201d In the first two verses, the psalmist declares his intention to praise God. The praise itself begins in the third verse, \u201cGreat is the Eternal and much acclaimed; God\u2019s greatness cannot be fathomed.\u201d The sense seems smooth enough but Baumol notes that the Hebrew verse lacks the conjunctive <\/span>vav<\/em> <\/span>(\u201cand\u201d) found in most verses in the chapter, and understands this as indicative of a break in its meaning, a reconsideration of the entire project of praise. Baumol would read the verse as saying, \u201cGod is great and most worthy of praise <\/span>but<\/em> <\/span>[who am I to describe God, how can <\/span>I<\/span><\/i> call Him good, or great or any description? After all,] His greatness cannot be investigated\u201d (page 58, italics original). In this reading, the psalmist\u2019s stance is one of great humility in the face of overwhelming awe.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rabbi Benjamin J. Segal, in <\/span>A New Psalm<\/span><\/em>, reads the chapter very differently, and sees a turning point in a different structural anomaly, the \u201cmissing\u201d verse, between verses 13 and 14, that would have begun with the letter \u201cnun\u201d if the acrostic were complete. He \u201cproposes that the poet used the omission to alert his readers to the turn\u201d the psalm is about to take (p. 674). In verses 14-16, the praise continues, but God\u2019s beneficence \u201calmost seems too good to be true\u201d (p. 675). The grandiose claims provoke doubt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I read this comment and wonder, perhaps these verses are questions, \u201cDoes the Eternal support all who stumble, and make all who are bent stand straight? You give them their food when it is due, feeding every creature to its heart\u2019s content?\u201d Is verse 17 a strident retort to the question, as Segal suggests, citing Amos Hacham? Perhaps, but the idyll is broken, and praise \u201cbegins to retreat before reality,\u201d as people cry out to God, who now responds only to the faithful.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The contrast is striking. Where Baumol reads the psalm as expressing great praise and amazement, Segal sees complexity and doubt. We could debate who is more correct but it might be more interesting to ask, where would you put a question mark?<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":78726,"alt":"","title":"hab3-question-marks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks.jpg","width":1920,"height":960,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":960,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-1200x600.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"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":"Could It Be A Question?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"It could be a question...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":78726,"alt":"","title":"hab3-question-marks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks.jpg","width":1920,"height":960,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":960,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-1200x600.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"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":"145","chapter_main_number":"712","date":"20280522","wall_id":"712"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":4,"id":"91494","color":"#efefef","size":"1","name":"The Limits Of Imitatio Dei ","post_title":"The Limits Of Imitatio Dei","slug":"the-limits-of-imitatio-dei","old_id":"91494","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":62571,"post_title":"Yaakov Bieler","slug":"yaakov-bieler","old_id":"62571","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Bieler ","description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University in 1974. He has lectured and written extensively on Modern Orthodoxy, and blogs daily at https:\/\/yaakovbieler.wordpress.com ","short_description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":62572,"alt":"","title":"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","width":141,"height":180,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler-141x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":141,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium-width":141,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium_large-width":141,"medium_large-height":180,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","large-width":141,"large-height":180,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","1536x1536-width":141,"1536x1536-height":180,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","2048x2048-width":141,"2048x2048-height":180,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","post_full_size-width":141,"post_full_size-height":180,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","home_baner-width":141,"home_baner-height":180}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"712","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"An argument against zealotry\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Psalm 145, colloquially known as \u201cAshrei<\/em>,\u201d the first word of Psalm 84:5 by which 145 is introduced in Jewish liturgy three times each day, contains many of the key principles of Jewish faith:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

a.Because God is the unquestioned ruler of all: v. 11-3; <\/span>
\r\n<\/span> b. He is to be praised: v. 1, 3-7, 10-2, 21; <\/span>
\r\n<\/span> c. and blessed: v. 2, 10, 21. (<\/span>See Maimonides<\/span>, <\/span><\/i>Sefer HaMitzvot<\/span><\/em>, #3<\/span><\/i>.)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

According to Sotah 14a, descriptions of God\u2019s attributes, as found in v. 8-9, 14-19, are not only abundantly praiseworthy, but they are also to be personally emulated as much as possible by the religious individual, in the spirit of the theme \u201c<\/span>imitateo dei<\/span><\/em>,\u201d expressed multiple times in Deuteronomy: 8:6; 10:12; 11:22 and more. Shabbat 133b cites Aba Shaul\u2019s interpretation of Exodus 15:2 \u201c\u2026<\/span>this is my God, and I will enshrine Him<\/span>\u2026\u201d as a source for the same concept.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, the assumption that all of God\u2019s praises are models for human behavior, can be challenged by a literal reading of the second portion of Psalm 145:20:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> The LORD watches over all who love Him, but all the wicked (<\/span>haresha\u2019im<\/span><\/em>) He will destroy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At first glance, the verse would appear to justify the stance of a zealot, i.e., just as God is determined to eliminate the \u201cwicked\u201d individual, we should try to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Humans are not God, with the ability to objectively determine who qualifies as a \u201c<\/span>rasha<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i>\u201dand so: since we are so prone to error, with innumerable biases, should we ever be given the capacity to do away with evil-doers? However, if we were to decide that all forms of punishment can only be doled out by God, but never human beings, won\u2019t criminals who don\u2019t believe in God be encouraged to strike terror into the hearts of law-abiding citizens?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I recall many years ago reading an essay by R. Yaakov Yosef, who, basing himself on the \u201c<\/span>alef-bet<\/span><\/em>\u201d configuration of Psalm 145, posits that the psalm\u2019s structure reflected how a person had to first personalize a particular attribute before undertaking the next one mentioned. E.g., prior to enacting v. 12, \u201cTo make His mighty acts known among men and the majestic glory of His kingship,\u201d i.e., publicizing God\u2019s Greatness to others, it would be necessary to make oneself a living example of v. 11, \u201cAll Your works shall praise You, O LORD, and Your faithful ones shall bless You.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It therefore follows that only after internalizing all of the previous divine virtues (verses 1-19) does the attribute associated with the letter \u201c<\/span>shin<\/span><\/em>\u201d (v. 20) become a possibility. Furthermore, if indeed the individual will have become that much more \u201cGodly\u201d in their dealings with their fellow, abuse of the legitimization to \u201cdestroy\u201d evildoers will, more likely than not, be replaced with a desire to bring about their repentance (<\/span>see <\/span>Berachot 10a<\/span><\/em>)<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Zimri and Cozbi are slain by Phinehas (Mortier's Bible), c. 1700 \/ wikipedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":91495,"alt":"","title":"ps145-Zimri_and_Cozbi_are_slain_by_Phinehas_(Mortier's_Bible)","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-Zimri_and_Cozbi_are_slain_by_Phinehas_Mortiers_Bible.jpg","width":566,"height":392,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-Zimri_and_Cozbi_are_slain_by_Phinehas_Mortiers_Bible-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-Zimri_and_Cozbi_are_slain_by_Phinehas_Mortiers_Bible-300x208.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":208,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-Zimri_and_Cozbi_are_slain_by_Phinehas_Mortiers_Bible.jpg","medium_large-width":566,"medium_large-height":392,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-Zimri_and_Cozbi_are_slain_by_Phinehas_Mortiers_Bible.jpg","large-width":566,"large-height":392,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-Zimri_and_Cozbi_are_slain_by_Phinehas_Mortiers_Bible.jpg","1536x1536-width":566,"1536x1536-height":392,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-Zimri_and_Cozbi_are_slain_by_Phinehas_Mortiers_Bible.jpg","2048x2048-width":566,"2048x2048-height":392,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-Zimri_and_Cozbi_are_slain_by_Phinehas_Mortiers_Bible.jpg","post_full_size-width":566,"post_full_size-height":392,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-Zimri_and_Cozbi_are_slain_by_Phinehas_Mortiers_Bible.jpg","home_baner-width":566,"home_baner-height":392}},"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 Limits Of Imitatio Dei","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"An argument against 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Piety and Liturgy ","post_title":"Between Piety and Liturgy","slug":"between-piety-and-liturgy","old_id":"91485","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":77758,"post_title":"AJ Berkovitz","slug":"aj-berkovitz","old_id":"77758","first_name":"AJ ","last_name":"Berkovitz ","description":"Dr. AJ Berkovitz serves as an Assistant Professor at HUC-JIR in New York. He received his Ph.D. in Religion from Princeton University and a B.A.\/M.A. in Jewish Studies\/Hebrew Bible from Yeshiva University. He is the co-editor of Rethinking \u2018Authority\u2019 in Late Antiquity: Authorship, Law, and Transmission in Jewish and Christian Tradition (Routledge, 2018). His current book project, The Life of Psalms in Jewish Late Antiquity, deal with Psalm reception and materiality, translation, liturgy, piety and magic. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr. AJ Berkovitz serves as an Assistant Professor at HUC-JIR in New York.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":77759,"alt":"","title":"AJ Berkovitz","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/AJ-Berkovitz.jpg","width":2100,"height":3150,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/AJ-Berkovitz-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/AJ-Berkovitz-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/AJ-Berkovitz-683x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":683,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/AJ-Berkovitz-683x1024.jpg","large-width":683,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/AJ-Berkovitz.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/AJ-Berkovitz.jpg","2048x2048-width":1365,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/AJ-Berkovitz-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/AJ-Berkovitz-280x420.jpg","home_baner-width":280,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"712","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The birth of (a) prayer","post_main_content_content":"

How does Jewish prayer develop? How did we get from the requirement to say <\/span>Shema<\/em> <\/span>and the <\/span>Amidah<\/em> <\/span>to an entire siddur? Psalm 145, the core of <\/span>ashrei<\/span><\/em>, holds one of the answers. In our <\/span>siddur<\/span><\/em>, one says <\/span>ashrei<\/span><\/em> three times daily. By tracing the rise of this practice, we get a glimpse into one of the key dynamics that stimulates the development of Jewish prayer: the fluidity between reading a text as part of mandated Jewish prayer and reciting a text as a religiously and spiritually advantageous practice. In other words, in the movement between liturgy and piety.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At one point in its early history, reciting Psalm 145 was an act of piety. Talmud, Berakhot 4b: \u201cR. Elazar in the name of R. Avina, \u2018Anyone who recites \u2018A Praise of David\u2019 (Ps. 145) three times daily, will merit the world to come\u2019.\u201d The promise of reward in this statement mirrors those for activities that go above and beyond mandated law. But does not \u201cthree times daily\u201d indicate we are talking about <\/span>ashrei<\/span><\/em> and Jewish prayer? First, note that these sages do not call the recited text <\/span>ashrei<\/span><\/em>, but rather by the title of Psalm 145.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Second, here we witness the pitfalls of using a printed edition of the Talmud instead of its earlier manuscripts. Talmud manuscripts housed in the libraries of Oxford and Paris read \u201conce every day.\u201d The Florence manuscript presents a different situation. A scribe initially wrote \u201cthree times a day.\u201d The manuscript\u2019s corrector, however, erased it. He then wrote a comment in the margins of the manuscript noting that the erased text is not the gemara and should not be perpetuated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The manuscripts agree with the Geonim, the sages that followed the compilers of the Talmud. The prayer book of R. Amram Gaon cites a responsum of R. Natronai Gaon that recognizes that the talmudic statement reads that one should say \u201cA Psalm of David\u201d once a day. It moves this statement, however, from the realm of piety to that of liturgy. R. Natronai suggests that the \u201clater sages\u201d demanded its repetition three times lest a Jew miss it once or twice and \u201cnot because there is a requirement to say it three times a day.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The story of <\/span>ashrei<\/span><\/em> highlights the porous borders between liturgy and piety. Reciting Psalm 145 began as a pious act. As time passed and reading the poem grew more popular, saying it as part of prayer once a day became mandatory. Repeating it three times was not required. As time continued to pass, the habit of repeating the poem three times stuck, and it became a fixed part of Jewish liturgy.\u00a0 Eventually, this practice became so ensconced that some scribes and every printer could not imagine R. Elazar\u2019s statement as anything but the repetition of <\/span>ashrei<\/span><\/em> thrice daily. Instead of preserving the Talmudic text, they changed it to fit their current experiences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Like the siddur, Jewish tradition is ever-evolving.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Ps. 145, <\/span>\u201cSha\u2019ar Hashem He-\u1e24adash:\" Daniel Bomberg\u2019s \"Miqra\u2019ot Gedolot\", from The Museum Of The Bible's Hebraica and Judaica.<\/span><\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":91486,"alt":"","title":"ps145-ms 145","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-ms-145.png","width":656,"height":766,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-ms-145-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-ms-145-257x300.png","medium-width":257,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-ms-145.png","medium_large-width":656,"medium_large-height":766,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-ms-145.png","large-width":656,"large-height":766,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-ms-145.png","1536x1536-width":656,"1536x1536-height":766,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-ms-145.png","2048x2048-width":656,"2048x2048-height":766,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-ms-145.png","post_full_size-width":656,"post_full_size-height":766,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-ms-145-360x420.png","home_baner-width":360,"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":"Between Piety and Liturgy","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The birth of (a) prayer","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":91486,"alt":"","title":"ps145-ms 145","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-ms-145.png","width":656,"height":766,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-ms-145-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-ms-145-257x300.png","medium-width":257,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-ms-145.png","medium_large-width":656,"medium_large-height":766,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-ms-145.png","large-width":656,"large-height":766,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-ms-145.png","1536x1536-width":656,"1536x1536-height":766,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-ms-145.png","2048x2048-width":656,"2048x2048-height":766,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-ms-145.png","post_full_size-width":656,"post_full_size-height":766,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-ms-145-360x420.png","home_baner-width":360,"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":"145","chapter_main_number":"712","date":"20280522","wall_id":"712"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":6,"id":"91488","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Case of the Missing Nun ","post_title":"The Case of the Missing Nun","slug":"the-case-of-the-missing-nun","old_id":"91488","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. 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":"712","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Dead Sea Scrolls? Septuagint? Nun in the above...\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Our psalm, known colloquially as \u201c<\/span>Ashrei<\/span><\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/i> even though that opening verse is actually drawn from Psalms 84:5, is one of the mainstays of the Jewish liturgical tradition. For instance, the Talmud remarks:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Eleazar b. Abina says: Whoever recites [the psalm] \u201cPraise of David\u201d (<\/span>t\u2019hillah l\u2019David<\/span><\/em>) three times daily, is sure to inherit the world to come. What is the reason? Shall I say it is because it has an alphabetical arrangement? Then let him recite, \u201cHappy are they that are upright in the way\u201d (psalm 119), which has an eightfold alphabetical arrangement. Again, is it because it contains [the verse], \u201cYou give it openhandedly, feeding every creature to its heart\u2019s content\u201d (145:16)? Then let him recite the great Hallel, where it is written: \u201cWho gives food to all flesh.\u201d Rather, [the reason is] because it contains both (Berakhot 4b).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(for a different reading of this text - see AJ Berkowitz\u2019s piece on today\u2019s page).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The reference to the \u201calphabetical arrangement\u201d of our psalm is particularly interesting because it is incomplete. As the talmudic passage notes in its continuation:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why is there no <\/span>nun<\/span><\/em> in <\/span>Ashrei<\/span><\/em>? Because the fall of Israel's enemies begins with it. For it is written: \u201cFallen (<\/span>naf\u2019lah<\/span><\/em>) is the virgin of Israel, she shall no more rise\u201d (Amos 5:2)\u2026 R. Nahman b. Isaac says: Even so, David refers to it by inspiration and promises them an uplifting. For it is written: \u201cThe Lord supports (<\/span>someikh<\/span><\/em>) all that stumble (<\/span>noflim<\/span><\/em>)\u201d (145:14).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In other words, when David reached the letter <\/span>nun<\/span><\/em>, he foresaw the catastrophe of falling (<\/span>naf\u2019lah<\/span><\/em>) so he did two things: he skipped the letter <\/span>nun<\/span><\/em> entirely, and sought to forestall its consequence by immediately adding the element of support (<\/span>someikh<\/span><\/em>) that begins with the very next letter of the Hebrew alphabet.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is noteworthy that the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of Tanakh, inserts a verse where the <\/span>nun<\/span><\/em> verse ought to be and, when translated back into Hebrew, actually begins with that letter. Its equivalent in English would be: \u201cTrustworthy (<\/span>ne\u2019eman<\/span><\/em>) is the Lord in all His words and holy in all His works,\u201d which also appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls text of our psalm (see image).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":91490,"alt":"","title":"ps145-dead sea scroll","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-dead-sea-scroll.png","width":334,"height":118,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-dead-sea-scroll-150x118.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":118,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-dead-sea-scroll-300x106.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":106,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-dead-sea-scroll.png","medium_large-width":334,"medium_large-height":118,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-dead-sea-scroll.png","large-width":334,"large-height":118,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-dead-sea-scroll.png","1536x1536-width":334,"1536x1536-height":118,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-dead-sea-scroll.png","2048x2048-width":334,"2048x2048-height":118,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-dead-sea-scroll.png","post_full_size-width":334,"post_full_size-height":118,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-dead-sea-scroll.png","home_baner-width":334,"home_baner-height":118}},"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 Case of the Missing Nun","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Dead Sea Scrolls? Septuagint? Nun in the above...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":91490,"alt":"","title":"ps145-dead sea scroll","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-dead-sea-scroll.png","width":334,"height":118,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-dead-sea-scroll-150x118.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":118,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-dead-sea-scroll-300x106.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":106,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-dead-sea-scroll.png","medium_large-width":334,"medium_large-height":118,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-dead-sea-scroll.png","large-width":334,"large-height":118,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-dead-sea-scroll.png","1536x1536-width":334,"1536x1536-height":118,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-dead-sea-scroll.png","2048x2048-width":334,"2048x2048-height":118,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-dead-sea-scroll.png","post_full_size-width":334,"post_full_size-height":118,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-dead-sea-scroll.png","home_baner-width":334,"home_baner-height":118}},"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":"145","chapter_main_number":"712","date":"20280522","wall_id":"712"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":7,"id":"91501","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"When A Letter Goes Missing ","post_title":"When A Letter Goes Missing","slug":"when-a-letter-goes-missing","old_id":"91501","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64450,"post_title":"David Curwin","slug":"david-curwin","old_id":"64450","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Curwin ","description":"David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat, and the author of the Balashon blog www.balashon.com","short_description":"David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat, and the author of the Balashon blog www.balashon.com","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64452,"alt":"","title":"david curwin","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","width":427,"height":464,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin-276x300.png","medium-width":276,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","medium_large-width":427,"medium_large-height":464,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","large-width":427,"large-height":464,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","1536x1536-width":427,"1536x1536-height":464,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","2048x2048-width":427,"2048x2048-height":464,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","post_full_size-width":427,"post_full_size-height":464,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin-387x420.png","home_baner-width":387,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"712","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

Psalm 145, known as \u201cAshrei<\/em>\u201d due to its first word, is very well known. It is recited three times daily in our prayers. It was composed as an alphabetic acrostic, with each line beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. However, one letter is missing \u2013 the 14<\/span>th<\/span> letter of the alphabet, <\/span>nun<\/span><\/em>. While there are other acrostic psalms with letters missing, due to the familiarity of Ashrei<\/em>, the rabbis gave an explanation for this omission:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cRabbi Yo\u1e25anan said: Why is there no verse beginning with the letter <\/span>nun<\/em> <\/span>in ashrei<\/em>? Because it contains an allusion to the downfall of the enemies of Israel [a euphemism for Israel itself]. As it is written: \u2018The virgin of Israel has fallen \u201c<\/span>naflah<\/span><\/em>\u201dand she will rise no more; abandoned in her land, none will raise her up\u2019 (Amos 5:2). [Due to this verse, which begins with <\/span>nun<\/span><\/em>, <\/span>ashrei<\/em> <\/span>does not include a verse beginning with the letter <\/span>nun<\/span><\/em>.]\u201d (Berachot 4b)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It's hard to know whether this was the original reason for leaving out that verse, or if this was a homiletical message by Rabbi Yochanan. But one thing is certain \u2013 the letter <\/span>nun <\/span><\/i>is omitted, or more properly drops out, from many Hebrew words.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For example, in the Talmudic passage above, the root for fall is <\/span>n-f-l<\/span><\/em>. But the noun, \u201cdownfall,\u201d is <\/span>mapala<\/span><\/em>, and not <\/span>*<\/span><\/i>manpala<\/span><\/em>, as we might have expected. The reason the <\/span>nun<\/em> <\/span>dropped out is that the \u201cn\u201d sound would be difficult to pronounce. In English, we see the same phenomenon. Instead of saying \u201cinlegal\u201d (\u201cnot legal\u201d), we drop the \u201cn\u201d and say illegal.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The dropping of <\/span>nun<\/em> <\/span>can help us understand the history of some Hebrew words, and even some English ones.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For example, the Hebrew word for India is <\/span>Hodu<\/span><\/em>, as it appears in the first verse of the scroll of Esther. That word derives from the Persian <\/span>Hindu<\/span><\/em>, but the <\/span>nun<\/em> <\/span>dropped out when it entered Hebrew.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Hebrew word for son is <\/span>ben<\/span><\/em>. So we could have assumed that a feminine suffix would be added to the word when referring to a daughter. And that\u2019s how Arabic has it \u2013 <\/span>bint<\/span><\/em>. But in Hebrew, the nun dropped out, and we were left with <\/span>bat<\/span><\/em>. Traces of the original form are preserved in the plural, <\/span>banot<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Lastly, let\u2019s look at the Hebrew word <\/span>mapa<\/span><\/em>. Originally meaning \u201cbanner,\u201d it derived from the root <\/span>nof\u00a0<\/span><\/em>(\u201cto wave\u201d), but instead of <\/span>*manpa<\/span><\/em>, the <\/span>nun <\/span><\/i>dropped and we were left with <\/span>mapa<\/span><\/em>. Those banners were made of cloth, and so <\/span>mapa<\/span><\/em>\u00a0came to mean \u201ctablecloth\u201d as well.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Mapa<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>was borrowed into Latin, via Punic (a sister language to Hebrew). It also meant \u201ccloth.\u201d In French, that word became <\/span>nappa<\/span><\/em>, which eventually became the English word \u201cnapkin.\u201d A small tablecloth in French was a <\/span>napron.<\/span><\/em>\u00a0When that word entered English, the \u201cn\u201d sound got shifted again \u2013 and instead of \u201ca napron,\u201d the word became \u201can apron.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So know one thing about the letter <\/span>nun<\/em> <\/span>\u2013 even if we don\u2019t see it, its shadow may remain.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":91502,"alt":"","title":"ps145-searching missing nun","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-searching-missing-nun.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-searching-missing-nun-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-searching-missing-nun-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-searching-missing-nun-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-searching-missing-nun.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-searching-missing-nun.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-searching-missing-nun.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-searching-missing-nun.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-searching-missing-nun-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"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":"When A Letter Goes Missing","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A little after-nun delete","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":91502,"alt":"","title":"ps145-searching missing nun","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-searching-missing-nun.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-searching-missing-nun-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-searching-missing-nun-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-searching-missing-nun-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-searching-missing-nun.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-searching-missing-nun.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-searching-missing-nun.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-searching-missing-nun.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps145-searching-missing-nun-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"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":"145","chapter_main_number":"712","date":"20280522","wall_id":"712"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":8,"id":"91478","color":"#faeed8","size":"2","name":"Speaking Of Happiness ","post_title":"Speaking Of Happiness","slug":"speaking-of-happiness","old_id":"91478","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Her particular area of interest is biblical leadership. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"712","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

Psalm145 is the only instance of a psalm beginning with the word \u201c<\/span>Tehillah<\/span><\/em> \u2013 a song of praise.\u201d This psalm forms the basis of the <\/span>Ashrei<\/span><\/em> prayer, a standard in the daily prayer cycle. Before the words of this Psalm though, the <\/span>Ashrei<\/span><\/em> prayer opens with Psalms 84:5 that begins with the word <\/span>Ashrei<\/span><\/em> - hence the naming of the prayer. <\/span>Ashrei<\/span><\/em> also happens to be the very first word of the Book of Psalms.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The thrice-daily prayer begins by speaking of happiness. \u201c<\/span>Ashrei<\/span><\/em> \u2013 Happy - are those who dwell in Your house\u201d introduces the full text of Psalm 145 in which King David speaks of both praising and blessing God. Those key words \u201cpraise\u201d and \u201cbless\u201d are repeated throughout this psalm and used side-by-side in the final verse. Rabbi Avi Baumol draws a distinction between those two words. Praising, says Rabbi Baumol, implies setting someone in a class by themselves, on a different level from the \"praiser,\" while blessing someone necessitates as relationship with them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This psalm tells us that each generation will praise and recite God\u2019s deeds to the next. These are the generational remembrances of the epic acts of God, the supernatural events that have highlighted Jewish history. Each generation passes on the memories that have passed down, and adds the knowledge they personally have gained from their own lived experience. While we sometimes mourn our every-increasing temporal distance from the open miracles of biblical times, we are reassured in this psalm that our closeness to God comes, at least in part, from the iterative process of remembering the past and accumulating new memories from every generation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Kind David understands that praising God is not enough. With every generation covering the big events, David commits to adding the memories of the normative, ever-present, non-generationally specific greatness of God. While \u201cthey will recite your mighty deeds\u201d, says David, \u201cI will speak of the glory of Your splendor (v.4-5).\u201d \u201cThey will tell of the strength of Your awesome deeds\u201d and \u201cI will sing of your greatness (v.6).\u201d \u201cThey will speak of your goodness\u201d and \u201cI will sing of Your righteousness (v.7).\u201d David reminds us that God\u2019s greatness comes not just from epic experiences, but from the everyday, constant experience of the presence of God in our lives.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

King David sought to bridge the gap between praising God\u2019s acts and blessing the nature of God, in order to help us reach <\/span>Ashrei<\/span><\/em> \u2013 happiness. And those who codified our daily prayers ensured a constant reminder of that totality of experience.<\/span><\/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":"Speaking Of Happiness","tile_main_caption":"Each generation passes on the memories that have passed down, and adds the knowledge they personally have gained from their own lived experience","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","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":"145","chapter_main_number":"712","date":"20280522","wall_id":"712"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":9,"id":"91582","color":"#e6f5f3","size":"1","name":"At The Wall ","post_title":"At The Wall","slug":"at-the-wall","old_id":"91582","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":89733,"post_title":"Felice Miryam Kahn Zisken","slug":"felice-miryam-kahn-zisken","old_id":"89733","first_name":"Felice Miryam ","last_name":"Kahn Zisken","description":"Felice Miryam Kahn Zisken is a poet and translator, independent writing and editing professional","short_description":"Felice Miryam Kahn Zisken is a poet and translator, independent writing and editing professional","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":90272,"alt":"","title":"felice kahn zisken","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/felice-kahn-zisken.jpg","width":1620,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/felice-kahn-zisken-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/felice-kahn-zisken-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/felice-kahn-zisken-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/felice-kahn-zisken-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/felice-kahn-zisken.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/felice-kahn-zisken.jpg","2048x2048-width":1620,"2048x2048-height":1080,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/felice-kahn-zisken-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/felice-kahn-zisken-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"713","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"In the heart of the world \/ white and gray doves wing past\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

I will praise the Lord all my life<\/em>
\r\nsing to my God while I exist.<\/em>
\r\nPsalm 146: 2
\r\n
\r\nA beggar sings
\r\nmorning prayers by heart
\r\nhands out blessings and rosemary
\r\nfor the four corners of the house.
\r\n
\r\nIn the heart of the world
\r\npupil of the iris
\r\nwhite and gray doves wing past
\r\ninto the present.
\r\n
\r\nThe Lord shall reign forever<\/em>
\r\nyour God, O Zion,<\/em>
\r\nfor all generations<\/em>
\r\nHallelujah.<\/em><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":91583,"alt":"","title":"ps146-peace-dove","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-peace-dove.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-peace-dove-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-peace-dove-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-peace-dove-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-peace-dove-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-peace-dove.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-peace-dove.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-peace-dove-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-peace-dove-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":"At The Wall","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"In the heart of the world \/ white and gray doves wing past","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":91583,"alt":"","title":"ps146-peace-dove","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-peace-dove.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-peace-dove-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-peace-dove-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-peace-dove-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-peace-dove-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-peace-dove.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-peace-dove.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-peace-dove-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-peace-dove-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":"146","chapter_main_number":"713","date":"20280523","wall_id":"713"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":10,"id":"91532","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Nautical Dreams ","post_title":"Nautical Dreams","slug":"nautical-dreams","old_id":"91532","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":"713","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"What matters \/ Is that You let me anchor dreams in You\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

\"Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, Who made heaven and earth, the sea and everything within \u2026\" (Psalm 146:5-6)<\/p>\r\n

No, it doesn't matter that I woke; no,
\r\nIt really doesn't matter, for I wrote
\r\nAbout my dreams in which I board a boat
\r\nThat travels to the archipelago
\r\nOf faith where doubt-filled tempests seldom blow.
\r\nNo, it doesn't matter, as I devote
\r\nThese dreams to You, my God \u2014 though others gloat
\r\nAnd mock me, joking that my boat is slow.<\/p>\r\n

No, it doesn't matter if strangers laugh
\r\nAt journeys of belief, and claim I sew
\r\nA sail with many holes that very few
\r\n(If any) people ever use, or half
\r\nMy dreams were lost at sea. What matters, though,
\r\nIs that You let me anchor dreams in You.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":91573,"alt":"","title":"ps146-anchor","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-anchor.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-anchor-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-anchor-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-anchor-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-anchor-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-anchor.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-anchor.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-anchor-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-anchor-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":"Nautical Dreams","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"What matters \/ Is that You let me anchor dreams in You","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":91573,"alt":"","title":"ps146-anchor","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-anchor.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-anchor-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-anchor-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-anchor-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-anchor-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-anchor.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-anchor.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-anchor-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-anchor-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":"146","chapter_main_number":"713","date":"20280523","wall_id":"713"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":11,"id":"91577","color":"#f7f7f5","size":"1","name":"Only God Is Immortal ","post_title":"Only God Is Immortal","slug":"only-god-is-immortal","old_id":"91577","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":"713","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The rest, no matter how successful or charismatic, pass on\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Psalm 146 focuses again on a comparison of humans and God. This time the focus is on the immortality of the Omnipresent compared to us. \"Put not your trust in the great, in mortal man who cannot save\/ His breath departs; he returns to the dust; on that day his plans come to nothing.\" God is then described as being able to heal the sick and feed the hungry. This seems like an odd comparison. One might expect that the theme of the psalm would be battle or a warning not to trust in outside allies to protect Israel. This would track with similar warnings of the prophet Isaiah against alliances with Egypt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Instead, the attributes of God are those of mercy and helping the sick. How does this square with the \"warning\" not to trust in man? Perhaps the warning is not to fall for a charismatic ruler no matter how successful they are. It may even be a warning not to trust in David himself. The message is not that man cannot do the things attributed to God in the psalm, but that man\u2019s ability to do it is fleeting. At some point the human leader or patron will die. That can happen suddenly or after a full life, but in any case it will end. Only trust in God can provide the eternal support that lasts beyond generations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In fact, this lesson comes true once David dies. Solomon brings in a golden age, but even he slips at the end, and his progeny cannot keep the country together.\u00a0 No matter how charismatic a person is, or seems like a savior, they will eventually pass on. Only God endures forever.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: Jim Valentine, Immortality Is Folly, 2010\u00a0 \/ flickr<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":91580,"alt":"","title":"ps146-mortality","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-mortality.jpg","width":2048,"height":1795,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-mortality-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-mortality-300x263.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":263,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-mortality-768x673.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":673,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-mortality-1024x898.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":898,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-mortality.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1346,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-mortality.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1795,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-mortality-1200x1052.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1052,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-mortality-479x420.jpg","home_baner-width":479,"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":"Only God Is Immortal","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The rest, no matter how successful or charismatic, pass on","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":91580,"alt":"","title":"ps146-mortality","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-mortality.jpg","width":2048,"height":1795,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-mortality-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-mortality-300x263.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":263,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-mortality-768x673.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":673,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-mortality-1024x898.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":898,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-mortality.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1346,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-mortality.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1795,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-mortality-1200x1052.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1052,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps146-mortality-479x420.jpg","home_baner-width":479,"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":"146","chapter_main_number":"713","date":"20280523","wall_id":"713"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":12,"id":"91588","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"My Stars Of Pain ","post_title":"My Stars Of Pain","slug":"my-stars-of-pain","old_id":"91588","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":80741,"post_title":"Joy Ladin","slug":"joy-ladin","old_id":"80741","first_name":"Joy ","last_name":"Ladin ","description":"Joy Ladin holds the Gottesman Chair in English at Yeshiva University, and, in 2007, became the first (and still only) openly transgender employee of an Orthodox Jewish institution. Her memoir, Through the Door of Life: A Jewish Journey Between Genders, was a finalist for a National Jewish Book Award, and her recent book, The Soul of the Stranger: Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective, is a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award and a Triangle Award. She has also published numerous books of poetry. ","short_description":"Joy Ladin holds the Gottesman Chair in English at Yeshiva University, and, in 2007, became the first (and still only) openly transgender employee of an Orthodox Jewish institution. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":80742,"alt":"","title":"joy ladin - pic","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-pic.jpg","width":200,"height":202,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-pic-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-pic.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":202,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-pic.jpg","medium_large-width":200,"medium_large-height":202,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-pic.jpg","large-width":200,"large-height":202,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-pic.jpg","1536x1536-width":200,"1536x1536-height":202,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-pic.jpg","2048x2048-width":200,"2048x2048-height":202,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-pic.jpg","post_full_size-width":200,"post_full_size-height":202,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-pic.jpg","home_baner-width":200,"home_baner-height":202}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"714","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"the distinction \/ Between your nearness beating \/ Like a heart \/ And the excruciating sky \/ Of your absence","post_main_content_content":"

Yes, I hear the question
\r\nIn your voice, your voice
\r\nIn the question that wrenches<\/p>\r\n

My stars of pain
\r\nInto constellations, twists and serpents
\r\nAnd a woman who has no face<\/p>\r\n

Staring in a mirror
\r\nAt the emptiness
\r\nBetween them. Yes, emptiness<\/p>\r\n

Is my answer to your question,
\r\nA small, swept space
\r\nThat neither storms nor aches, a little
\r\norphaned mouth<\/p>\r\n

Whose lips are made of silence. Yes, I
\r\nunderstand
\r\nYour silence in the face of a woman
\r\nYou cannot face<\/p>\r\n

Because you have erased her
\r\nAttempts to find some shape,
\r\nSome constellation,<\/p>\r\n

In your glimmering syllables of pain
\r\nThat seem to ask her
\r\nNothing. Yes, I know that nothing<\/p>\r\n

Is the only voice
\r\nIn which you can speak without shattering,
\r\nThough as you can see<\/p>\r\n

Something in me has already shattered,
\r\nSome piece of body in my soul, some
\r\nMetaphysical window<\/p>\r\n

That kept you out
\r\nOr kept me in
\r\nOr kept up the distinction<\/p>\r\n

Between your nearness beating
\r\nLike a heart
\r\nAnd the excruciating sky<\/p>\r\n

Of your absence. Yes, I know your absence
\r\nMeans you have come too close
\r\nFor me to understand your question<\/p>\r\n

Or distinguish you
\r\nFrom the stars of pain
\r\nYou refuse to constellate<\/p>\r\n

Into a sign of redemption.<\/p>\r\n

In this poem there is a sense of chaos and unknown which is associated with the stars and the sky. The writer even calls them \u201cstars of pain.\u201d This comes in contrast to Psalm 147 where it says that God \u201c...reckoned the number of the stars; to each He gave its name.\u201d Here, the stars are ordered and controlled. The imagery of the stars in this poem is very strong and evocative, especially when brought in contrast to the stars in Psalm 147.<\/em> <\/p>\r\n

from: Joy Ladin,\u00a0Psalms<\/em>, Wipf and Stock, 2010<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":80744,"alt":"","title":"joy ladin - psalms","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","width":395,"height":343,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms-300x261.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","medium_large-width":395,"medium_large-height":343,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","large-width":395,"large-height":343,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","1536x1536-width":395,"1536x1536-height":343,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","2048x2048-width":395,"2048x2048-height":343,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","post_full_size-width":395,"post_full_size-height":343,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","home_baner-width":395,"home_baner-height":343}},"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":"My Stars Of Pain","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"the distinction \/ Between your nearness beating \/ Like a heart \/ And the excruciating sky \/ Of your absence","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":80744,"alt":"","title":"joy ladin - psalms","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","width":395,"height":343,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms-300x261.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","medium_large-width":395,"medium_large-height":343,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","large-width":395,"large-height":343,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","1536x1536-width":395,"1536x1536-height":343,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","2048x2048-width":395,"2048x2048-height":343,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","post_full_size-width":395,"post_full_size-height":343,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","home_baner-width":395,"home_baner-height":343}},"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":"147","chapter_main_number":"714","date":"20280524","wall_id":"714"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":13,"id":"91629","color":"#e8ecf6","size":"1","name":"Building Jerusalem Back Better? ","post_title":"Building Jerusalem Back Better?","slug":"building-jerusalem-back-better","old_id":"91629","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":"714","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And then: ingathering exiles, healing their broken hearts and binding up their wounds\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Our<\/span> psalm<\/span><\/a> is<\/span> sung<\/span><\/a> by various Jewish communities<\/span> on several liturgical occasions<\/span><\/a>. The Latin version of Psalm 147, beginning <\/span>Lauda Jerusalem Dominum \u2013 <\/span><\/i>\u201cPraise the Lord, O Jerusalem\u201d<\/span>, <\/span><\/i>was set to<\/span> music<\/span><\/a> by Claudio Monteverdi in 1610 CE. In the 1720\u2019s, Antonio Vivaldi composed an Easter setting of the \u201c<\/span>Lauda Jerusalem<\/span><\/a>\u201d. Psalm 147 is recited or sung in various Christian liturgies.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Verse 2 states that \u201cThe Lord rebuilds Jerusalem. He gathers in the exiles of Israel\u201d. The 2<\/span>nd<\/span> century BCE<\/span> Book of Tobit 13:16-18<\/span><\/a> \u00a0incorporates this verse in its fantastic description of the future Jerusalem: \u201cFor Jerusalem will be built with sapphires, emeralds, and precious stones. Your walls and towers and battlements with pure gold. The streets of Jerusalem will be paved with beryl, carbuncle, and stones of Ophir. All her streets will say: Hallelujah!...The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem\u2026\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Similarly, the apparently medieval Judeo-Persian <\/span>Qissa-ye Daniyal (Ma\u2018aseh Daniel \u2013<\/span><\/i> The Story of Daniel<\/span><\/a>) concludes with a prayer that cites the second verse of our psalm. \u201cMay it be the will of God, in His multiple mercies and great kindnesses and faithful goodness, to gather the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth and unite them in a short time. And let us say \u201cAmen\u201d. And may there be established upon us the Scripture in which it is written \u2018The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem. He gathers in the exiles of Israel.\u2019 Blessed be the Lord forever. Amen ve-Amen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

According to<\/span> Midrash Tanhuma Buber Noah 17<\/span><\/a>, Jerusalem will be built up when all the exiles are about to be gathered. Indeed, if someone were to say to you that all the exiles have been gathered but Jerusalem is not built up, do not believe him, since it is stated: \u201cThe Lord rebuilds Jerusalem [and only then] He gathers in the exiles of Israel\u201d (verse 2).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

According to<\/span> Zohar<\/span><\/a> the building of the Temple precedes the gathering of the exiles, which precedes the resurrection of the dead. The resurrection of the dead is the last act of all. We know this from verses 2-3: \u201c\u2018The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem. He gathers in the exiles of Israel. He heals their broken hearts and binds up their wounds.\u2019 This refers to the resurrection of the dead, which is the healing of the brokenhearted and their dead. First, He builds Jerusalem; then He gathers the outcasts of Yisrael; last of all, He heals the brokenhearted.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Gerrer Rebbe Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter (1847-1905) is said to have noted that the Hebrew text of verse 2 is written in the present tense: \"The Lord builds Jerusalem.\" This teaches that since the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, each generation actively contributes toward its rebuilding in a cumulative way through its merits.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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She is the author of four books. Her poems, articles, short stories and photography have appeared in anthologies and various publications in Israel, USA and India, including Arc, Back to Joy: Little Reminders to Help Us Through Tough Times, The Deronda Review, Prosopisia, Poetica, and the International Literary Review. Ruth holds a Masters Degree from the Creative Writing Program of Bar Ilan University and leads the Pri Hadash Women\u2019s Writing Workshop in Jerusalem. \r\nShe is a member of the Israel Association of Writers in English\r\nVisit her website at http:\/\/jerusalemlives.weebly.com\r\n","short_description":"Ruth Fogelman is a poet, and lives in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":35832,"alt":"","title":"Ruth Fogelman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","width":969,"height":973,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--768x771.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":771,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","large-width":969,"large-height":973,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","1536x1536-width":969,"1536x1536-height":973,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","2048x2048-width":969,"2048x2048-height":973,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","post_full_size-width":969,"post_full_size-height":973,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--418x420.jpg","home_baner-width":418,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"714","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Over the walls of David\u2019s Citadel \/ within Jaffa Gate...\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

God builds Jerusalem, He gathers the remote ones of Israel.<\/em>
\r\nPsalms 147:2<\/p>\r\n


\r\nWhile strains of music waft
\r\nover the walls of David\u2019s Citadel,
\r\nwithin Jaffa Gate, under a full moon,
\r\na giant yellow bulldozer, its lights ablaze,
\r\nblocks the road, and a worker shovels gravel
\r\ninto a churning mixer. Another runs
\r\nwith a wheelbarrow of black cement,
\r\nempties it onto the ground.
\r\nA third heaves white cobbled stones,
\r\ntwo at a time, gently sets them on the cement
\r\nand secures them with his hammer\u2019s blunt handle,<\/p>\r\n

fulfilling David\u2019s words.<\/p>\r\n

(17 March 2011)<\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Yaffa Phillips, Second Temple Model at Israel Museum Jerusalem before opening 2006-May-08 \/ flickr<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":91624,"alt":"","title":"ps147-rebuilding 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of Creation And Destruction ","post_title":"Power of Creation And Destruction","slug":"power-of-creation-and-destruction","old_id":"91693","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36535,"post_title":"Ezra Butler","slug":"ezra-butler","old_id":"36535","first_name":"Ezra ","last_name":"Butler","description":"Ezra Butler used to study third century texts, but is currently an artist and independent researcher living in Chicago.","short_description":"Ezra Butler used to study third century texts, but is currently an artist and independent researcher living in Chicago.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36536,"alt":"","title":"EzraButler","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819.jpg","width":597,"height":761,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819-235x300.jpg","medium-width":235,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-681x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":681,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-681x1024.jpg","large-width":681,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819.jpg","1536x1536-width":597,"1536x1536-height":761,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819.jpg","2048x2048-width":597,"2048x2048-height":761,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819.jpg","post_full_size-width":597,"post_full_size-height":761,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819-329x420.jpg","home_baner-width":329,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"715","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Sea monsters and the horn of a certain ram\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

We approach the close of Psalms with Psalm 148, a psalm about beginnings.<\/p>\r\n

At the outset, it seems to be a psalm about God\u2019s power of creation, and heavily references Genesis 1-2.<\/p>\r\n

We read about the heavens (Psalm 148:1 | Genesis 1:1), the sun, moon, and stars, (Psalm 148: 3 | Genesis 1:16), the water above the heavens (Psalm 148:4 | Genesis 1:7-8), the earth (Psalm 148:7 | Genesis 1:9), the sea monsters (Psalm 148:7 | Genesis 1:21), the ocean depths (Psalm 148:7 | Genesis 1:2), wind (Psalm 148:8 | Genesis 1:21), the fruit trees (Psalm 148:9 | Genesis 1:11), the wild and tamed beasts and creeping things (Psalm 148:10 | Genesis 1:24), and winged birds (Psalm 148:10 | Genesis 1:21).<\/p>\r\n

Then the Human is created and instructed to be fruitful and multiply and to master the earth. \u201cAll kings and peoples of the earth\u201d may refer to that (Psalm 148:11-12 | Genesis 1:29).<\/p>\r\n

The psalmist then says that the name of God alone is sublime, (Psalm 148:13) which makes sense, because Man named everything else in the world (Genesis 2:19-20). And \u201cHis splendor covers heavens and earth\u201d (Psalm 148:13 | Genesis 1:1).<\/p>\r\n

It\u2019s a beautiful circle, with a few notable exceptions.<\/p>\r\n

There is no explicit mention of the angels (Psalm 148:2) in Genesis, not any mentions of mountains and hills (Psalm 148:9) in Genesis 1-2, nor any references there to fire, hail, snow or smoke (Psalm 148:8). And the language of \u201call princes of the earth and its judges, boys and girls alike, old and young together\u201d (Psalm 148:11-12) seems also quite random.<\/p>\r\n

For those references, we have to look a bit further into Genesis, specifically Genesis 19, and God\u2019s power of destruction.<\/p>\r\n

At the beginning of that story, we read about the angels who came to warn Lot and his family (Genesis 19:1). The townspeople, from \u201cyoung to old\u201d surrounded Lot\u2019s home, he offers up his daughters in the angels\u2019 stead, and the locals accuse him of being an outsider who is acting like a judge. (Genesis 19:9)<\/p>\r\n

God\u2019s fire is first mentioned during the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24),
\r\nThe specific word for smoke \u2014 \u201ckitor\u201d is also used for the first time in Genesis 19:28, as Abraham stands on a mountain and stares down at the utter destruction God had wrought in the plains, and Lot fled to live in the hill country (Genesis 19:30) and father Moab and Ammon.)<\/p>\r\n

As a coda to this praise of creation and destruction, the psalmist reminds us of the horn (Psalm 148:14) of the ram that Abraham sacrificed in the stead of his son Isaac (Genesis 22:13). Then an angel of God blessed him that his descendants would be like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore.<\/p>\r\n

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