Psalm 149 comes next in P’sukei d’Zimra, and begins with a challenging line: שירו לה’ שיר חדש, or “sing a new song to God.” Daily daveners know that it often feels like there is nothing “new” at all about our prayers. Praying from our siddurim is an exercise in relentless repetition: the identical words, day… Read more »

Psalm 148 presents a harmonious chorus of heaven and earth. “Praise God from the heavens!” begins the first section, summoning praises from angels and celestial bodies. Then at mid-point the poem pivots: “Praise God from the earth!” inviting terrestrial creation to join the song. When I daven this soaring lyric, I meditate on the intersection… Read more »

The Lord heals the broken-hearted, and binds up their wounds [Psalms 147.3]. The God of Israel, as displayed in the Bible, can be thunderously grand, demanding justice, punishing pharaohs, speaking in earthquakes and storms, laying waste to cities, moving empires around. And sometimes the Biblical God is a tender healer, whose arm goes around the… Read more »

אהללה י’הוה בחיי אזמרה לא’להי בעודי, I will praise the Lord with my life, I will sing to God as long as I live. [Psalms 146.2] P’sukei d’Zimra continues with Psalm 146, which begins with the declaration above. The simple semantic meaning of the first phrase – praising God “with my life” – is that… Read more »

Continuing with the acrostic Ashrei, Psalm 145, today let us focus on v. 18: “קרוב י’הוה לכל קוראיו לכל אשר יקראהו באמת.“ “The Lord is close to all who call upon Him, to all who call in truth.” For a worshipper reciting Ashrei, this verse plays a sly or ironic trick. Its first clause promises… Read more »