{"id":2052,"date":"2017-03-09T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/2017\/03\/09\/psalm-23"},"modified":"2018-06-12T14:21:48","modified_gmt":"2018-06-12T11:21:48","slug":"psalm-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/2017\/03\/09\/psalm-23\/","title":{"rendered":"Psalm 23"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following article outlines the place\u00a0of Psalm 23 in Shabbat liturgy in various communities, as well as a literary analysis of several theological and psychological interpretations of the\u00a0words, according to various thinkers. The author, Rabbi Peretz A. Rodman<\/a>, is an American-born, Jerusalem-based rabbi, educator, writer, and translator affiliated\u00a0with the Masorti (Conservative) community.\u00a0<\/i>This resource also includes the text of the Psalm in English and Hebrew, a video tutorial demonstrating how to recite the Psalm in Hebrew, as well as videos of a popular Askhenazi tune and a traditional Yemenite chanting of the Psalm.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Psalm 23 and Kiddush on Shabbat by Rabbi Peretz A. Rodman<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The opening cadences of Psalm 23 in the King James Version, \u201cThe Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want\u2026,\u201d are as well-known to speakers of English as the most famous lines of Shakespeare. Literary critic Mark Van Doren called it \u201cthe<\/i><\/span> most famous of all the psalms.\u201d Commonly associated with funeral orations, in Jewish practice the psalm is also part of the Shabbat liturgy. In the practice of many communities of Middle Eastern or North African provenance, it is sung prior to both the evening and daytime Kiddush, and among many Hasidim, it is recited after the daytime Kiddush.\u00a0In many Ashkenazi communities, it accompanies the third Shabbat meal. How can the same text be appropriate for both mourning the dead and celebrating \u201cthe most pleasant of days\u201d?<\/p>\n

The answer lies in the poem\u2019s message of reassurance, present in such lines as \u201cSurely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…\u201d (v.6). This is so despite the psalm\u2019s prescription to let go of the notion that we are navigating our own paths in the world. \u201cThe psalm,\u201d Rabbi (and literature professor) Miriyam Glazer observes, \u201cbeckons us\u2014who are so accustomed to seeing ourselves as \u2018captains of our ship, masters of our fate,\u2019 in charge of our own lives\u2014to let go, to surrender the burden of, and our need for, control.\u201d\u00a0To whom do we entrust our fate? To God. And as Van Doren notes, \u201cthe Lord is represented [in this Psalm] not only as a friend and guide, but literally as counselor or teacher.\u201d What better guidance and protection could one hope for? And this protection is eternal: \u201c\u2026 and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever\u201d (v. 6).<\/p>\n

The theme of the second half of the Psalm, too, is appropriate for both sorts of occasions. We walk \u2018in the valley of the shadow of death\u2019 (again, that\u2019s King James) and enjoy the bounty from a table set up for us by God. The \u201ctable,\u201d Glazer suggests, \u201cthat God sets up for us, in the face of our \u2018enemies\u2019\u2014in the face of all our fears, anxieties, worries, soul-sapping concerns [\u2026]\u2014that \u2018table\u2019 is the space for holiness that we open within ourselves. Whether we are responding to loss or celebrating the holiness in time that Shabbat offers us, this poem can help us create, or tap into, as awareness of our being loved, protected, and offered much-needed solace and rest. This is not, Israeli poet Hamutal Bar-Yosef observes, the sentiment of a child but a tranquility \u201cachieved after difficult experiences, through which the poet has found God.”<\/p>\n

In his popular novel Adjusting Sights, <\/i><\/span>Israeli rabbi Haim Sabato shows how the connection to Shabbat can imbue the psalm with further emotional valence. A character there, a soldier living through the deadly Syrian advance in the first days of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, says, \u201cI felt the pocket of my shirt. There was a small book of Psalms there.\u201d He opens to Psalm 23. \u201cIt was the song my father sang before the Kiddush<\/i><\/span> over wine after coming home from synagogue on Sabbath mornings. His melody was soothing. I had always associated it with the tranquility that graced the world on Sabbath mornings.” The content of the Psalm blends with its liturgical setting to form an even stronger message of reassurance in a moment of crisis.<\/p>\n

Texts<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Here is the full text of Psalm 23 in Hebrew and English (King James Bible translation):<\/em><\/p>\n

\u05d0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u05de\u05b4\u05d6\u05b0\u05de\u05d5\u05b9\u05e8 \u05dc\u05b0\u05d3\u05b8\u05d5\u05b4\u05d3: \u00a0\u00a0 \u05d9\u05b0\u05d4\u05d5\u05b8\u05d4 \u05e8\u05b9\u05e2\u05b4\u05d9, \u05dc\u05b9\u05d0 \u05d0\u05b6\u05d7\u05b0\u05e1\u05b8\u05e8.
\n<\/a>\u05d1<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u05d1\u05bc\u05b4\u05e0\u05b0\u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea \u05d3\u05bc\u05b6\u05e9\u05c1\u05b6\u05d0, \u05d9\u05b7\u05e8\u05b0\u05d1\u05bc\u05b4\u05d9\u05e6\u05b5\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9; \u00a0\u00a0 \u05e2\u05b7\u05dc-\u05de\u05b5\u05d9 \u05de\u05b0\u05e0\u05bb\u05d7\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea \u05d9\u05b0\u05e0\u05b7\u05d4\u05b2\u05dc\u05b5\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9.
\n<\/a>\u05d2<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u05e0\u05b7\u05e4\u05b0\u05e9\u05c1\u05b4\u05d9 \u05d9\u05b0\u05e9\u05c1\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1\u05b5\u05d1; \u00a0\u00a0 \u05d9\u05b7\u05e0\u05b0\u05d7\u05b5\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9 \u05d1\u05b0\u05de\u05b7\u05e2\u05b0\u05d2\u05bc\u05b0\u05dc\u05b5\u05d9-\u05e6\u05b6\u05d3\u05b6\u05e7, \u05dc\u05b0\u05de\u05b7\u05e2\u05b7\u05df \u05e9\u05c1\u05b0\u05de\u05d5\u05b9.
\n<\/a>\u05d3<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u05d2\u05bc\u05b7\u05dd \u05db\u05bc\u05b4\u05d9-\u05d0\u05b5\u05dc\u05b5\u05da\u05b0 \u05d1\u05bc\u05b0\u05d2\u05b5\u05d9\u05d0 \u05e6\u05b7\u05dc\u05b0\u05de\u05b8\u05d5\u05b6\u05ea, \u05dc\u05b9\u05d0-\u05d0\u05b4\u05d9\u05e8\u05b8\u05d0 \u05e8\u05b8\u05e2– \u00a0\u00a0 \u05db\u05bc\u05b4\u05d9-\u05d0\u05b7\u05ea\u05bc\u05b8\u05d4 \u05e2\u05b4\u05de\u05bc\u05b8\u05d3\u05b4\u05d9;
\n\u05e9\u05c1\u05b4\u05d1\u05b0\u05d8\u05b0\u05da\u05b8 \u05d5\u05bc\u05de\u05b4\u05e9\u05c1\u05b0\u05e2\u05b7\u05e0\u05b0\u05ea\u05bc\u05b6\u05da\u05b8, \u00a0\u00a0 \u05d4\u05b5\u05de\u05bc\u05b8\u05d4 \u05d9\u05b0\u05e0\u05b7\u05d7\u05b2\u05de\u05bb\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9.
\n<\/a>\u05d4<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u05ea\u05bc\u05b7\u05e2\u05b2\u05e8\u05b9\u05da\u05b0 \u05dc\u05b0\u05e4\u05b8\u05e0\u05b7\u05d9, \u05e9\u05c1\u05bb\u05dc\u05b0\u05d7\u05b8\u05df– \u00a0\u00a0 \u05e0\u05b6\u05d2\u05b6\u05d3 \u05e6\u05b9\u05e8\u05b0\u05e8\u05b8\u05d9;
\n\u05d3\u05bc\u05b4\u05e9\u05bc\u05c1\u05b7\u05e0\u05b0\u05ea\u05bc\u05b8 \u05d1\u05b7\u05e9\u05bc\u05c1\u05b6\u05de\u05b6\u05df \u05e8\u05b9\u05d0\u05e9\u05c1\u05b4\u05d9, \u00a0\u00a0 \u05db\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05e1\u05b4\u05d9 \u05e8\u05b0\u05d5\u05b8\u05d9\u05b8\u05d4.
\n<\/a>\u05d5<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u05d0\u05b7\u05da\u05b0, \u05d8\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1 \u05d5\u05b8\u05d7\u05b6\u05e1\u05b6\u05d3 \u05d9\u05b4\u05e8\u05b0\u05d3\u05bc\u05b0\u05e4\u05d5\u05bc\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9– \u00a0\u00a0 \u05db\u05bc\u05b8\u05dc-\u05d9\u05b0\u05de\u05b5\u05d9 \u05d7\u05b7\u05d9\u05bc\u05b8\u05d9;
\n\u05d5\u05b0\u05e9\u05c1\u05b7\u05d1\u05b0\u05ea\u05bc\u05b4\u05d9 \u05d1\u05bc\u05b0\u05d1\u05b5\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d9\u05b0\u05d4\u05d5\u05b8\u05d4, \u00a0\u00a0 \u05dc\u05b0\u05d0\u05b9\u05e8\u05b6\u05da\u05b0 \u05d9\u05b8\u05de\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd.<\/p>\n

23\u00a0<\/span>The Lord<\/span> is my shepherd; I shall not want.
\n<\/span>2\u00a0<\/sup>He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
\n<\/span>3\u00a0<\/sup>He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
\n<\/span>4\u00a0<\/sup>Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
\n<\/span>5\u00a0<\/sup>Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
\n<\/span>6\u00a0<\/sup>Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord<\/span> for ever.<\/span><\/p>\n

Additional Resources<\/strong><\/h2>\n

To learn to recite Psalm 23 in Hebrew with word-by-word pronunciation and on-screen Hebrew, English, and transliteration, see this video tutorial from The Word in Hebrew<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n