The Book of Psalms, the 150 psalms of the Hebrew Bible, is recognized as the most famous collection of religious poetry. The psalms are traditionally associated with King David. While his authorship of all of them is unlikely – some psalms reflect events which occurred subsequent to David’s life in the tenth century B.C.E. – his connection to psalms remains very strong. David was thought to have encouraged psalm singers during the First Temple period; he is described in the Bible as a player of the lyre; he is identified as the "sweet singer of Israel."
Psalms have become a permanent part of our worship and are written in a wide variety of literary styles. Their length varies. Psalm 117, part of the Hallel prayers recited during the Pilgrimage Festivals, is a scant two verses. Psalm 119 is an acrostic which includes 176 verses. The twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet each begin eight verses. During traditional Jewish morning worship a specific psalm is associated with and read for each day of the week. Psalm 23, "The Lord Is My Shepherd; I Shall Not Want," is a standard part of funerals and memorial services.
The Hebrew name for Psalms is Tehillim. The root of the word means praise.
The psalms are a remarkable collection of poems in praise of God. They are poems which reflect the continuum of the human experience, from one person’s relationship with God to the relationship of an entire community with God. They contain thoughts of anguish, praise, doubt, thanksgiving, compassion and longing. The words are powerful and sincere and able to be spoken by all of us. Psalms are a vehicle which has allowed people to express a personal and profound relationship with their God.
As Psalmist-in-Residence at Beth Emet The Free Synagogue from 1996 to 2002, Debbie Perlman brought psalms into the consciousness of the community. The psalms she wrote are read and recited just as King David’s have been - to express joy and sorrow, gratitude and reflection. Her psalms set the mood for worship and provide moments for personal meditation. Ms. Perlman has brought King David’s psalms to life by bringing us new psalms. She reminds us that through psalms, God speaks to us today as easily as God spoke to our ancestors.
Hyma J. Levin
Director of Education Emerita
Beth Emet The Free Synagogue
181 - Shabbat Shuvah
Of course, the sanctuary is always crowded on the High Holy Days. Even with the space of the social hall added by opening the moveable door, even with two services, there is barely enough room. My wheelchair and I get priority seating, so I also get a chance to watch as the sanctuary fills. Why do people come now when they rarely if ever come during the rest of the year? What is it that draws them into the synagogue? It is as if we need this connection to our community, to Klal Yisrael - all of the Jewish people - to make the year’s beginning complete and possible. We all seek a way to return. I watch as people rise and sing Avinu Malkeinu, swaying as one to the melody, its tempo matching our hearts’ beating.
180 - Rosh Hashanah
In 1993, I wrote my first psalm for Rosh Hashanah, and since 1995, my High Holy Day psalms have been included in the liturgy at my own synagogue, Beth Emet The Free Synagogue, and elsewhere. This is an honor and a daunting task. Some years, the words have come easily: the themes of the Days of Awe are rich with poetic possibilities. The psalm I wrote the year my daughter started college reflects the beginning of not only the New Year but of a new stage in our lives. The next year, I wrote the psalm that opened worship on Kol Nidre from my bed in the Intensive Care unit, and the words held the taste of my health struggle.
115 - Before Rosh Hashanah
Pauline Dubkin Yearwood from the Chicago Jewish News called me the other day to ask if I had any New Year’s resolutions. She’s writing a piece for the paper and contacting members of Chicago’s Jewish community, albeit a bit tongue-in-cheek. As I thought about an answer, the melody of Kol Nidre began playing in my head: so, I could make a resolution and ten days later deny it? I guess New Year’s resolutions aren’t a particularly Jewish thing. But New Year’s aspirations maybe that’s something to consider. We are asked at the New Year to turn back to God, to be better people in the coming year than we have been. My aspirations: to once again study with others, something I have not pursued arranging; to unpile and organize all the paper that clutters my house; and to make a better effort to pay attention to those things I can do to improve and stabilize my health: exercise and nutrition. I guess it all really does mean a turning back to God: setting priorities, making the effort to improve.
183 - Simchat Torah
I used to love to dance. To escape the four semesters of physical education required by my university - yes, I am that old, and we had dorm curfews, too - I took folk dance and ballroom dance. As a teenager, I adored the Israeli dancing I was taught at Union Institute camp and in my temple youth group.
95 - Full Moon Elul
The skies were clear last week when we were in Washington, DC, and unusual for me, I was out every night. So the waxing of the moon, especially as it rose above the familiar monuments and buildings was unavoidable. Traveling through Elul, the month of soul preparation, I watched the growing moon and pondered the sanctity of these days and the monuments we humans have built to honor and remember. There are waist-high concrete cylinders, spaced at intervals all along the streets surrounding the White House and Congress, reminders of tragedy and near-tragedy, reminders of the loss of control and respect, of guns and violence.
147 - Contemplating Death
My father’s yahrtzeit was Tuesday. I always know how long it has been since hedied because I know my daughter’s age; he missed meeting her by 2-1⁄2 months. So instead,she is his namesake. She is Eve-Gerri: Eve for my grandmother Ernestine, Gerri for my dadGerald. And in Hebrew, Chava-Gevurah, "Life and Strength;" my it alwaysbe so. E.G. and my husband, Reid and I have been in Washington, DC this week. Althoughshe’s nearly 22 and a politics major, she’d never been to the "seat of power."Or the Smithsonian or the US Holocaust Memorial or the Vietnam Wall. How moving it is tosee it with her, to share her reactions and observations. I think Daddy would have _kvelled_over this first grandchild. The sorrow of what he missed mingles with the sweetness of mygrown-up daughter.
94 - Elul
Preparing to join a local women’s study group to _daven Rosh Chodesh Elul _and to speak to them about my writing, I have been searching the World Wide Web to learn more about the month of Elul. There are many practices and traditions that can be part of one’s observance of this final month before the New Year. Elul is the time of spiritual preparation for the Days of Awe. Tradition calls for the_ shofar_ to be blown following weekday morning prayer during Elul, a kind of warm-up for the more complete sounding on Rosh Hashanah. And a wake-up call to rouse us from end-of-summer blahs. Psalm 27 is added to the liturgy during Elul. It begins "God is my light and my helper, whom shall I fear?" In Elul we begin the self-examination that marks our return to God; we read Psalm 27’s final lines: "Wait for the Eternal; be strong and let your heart take courage. Yea, wait for the Eternal."
24 - Choosing Courage
My husband brought home our first computer in 1986 - an Apple IIE - a "Mothers’ Day gift." I didn’t touch the thing for 2 years. Then, slowly, I began using it for word processing, then to write and produce a newsletter for the local Girl Scout council. We went PC and upgraded and upgraded again, and suddenly there was the World Wide Web and Jews in cyberspace. My question posted on the bulletin board in the Judaism forum of Compuserve led to emails and bulletin board discussions with people from all over the United States, Canada, England, Israel. Now I am experiencing the fascination and frustration of "real time" interaction during my weekly chat on Healing and Prayer in the Jewish Community Jewish Life room of AOL. Lately we have been discussing courage. Where do we get the courage to survive the hand we are dealt? And how can it bring us closer to God? The conversation flows and falters and twists as several people at a time type out their comments and sorrows. Even shrouded in the anonymity of our screen names, we take a chance in sharing, in revealing and uncovering old wounds. We also take a chance that the words scrolling past us will be more than an hour’s diversion, but will offer an opportunity to explore with others our search for wholeness.
93 - After Tisha B'Av
In December, 1980, I stood with my daughter, in cold rain, at the Western Wall. Weeping at the sight of it, I searched for prayers as I fingered a length of red yarn, traded for the coins in my pocket. I touched the ancient stones, this remnant, this reminder, and wondered at the emotion it had pulled from me. I was exquisitely aware that my husband stood on the other side of the barrier, that this moment could not be shared with him. I was aware of the women who stood beside me, of their murmurs, of the way their hands caressed the Wall, just as mine had done. I was aware of my daughter, a recent bat mitzvah, of her adolescent embarrassment at her mother’s tears.