Imagine yourself sitting beneath a lush tree, overlooking a flowing spring, for a few quiet, clear, calm moments.
Lean against the sturdy trunk, breath deeply, feel the ground singing through limbs and leaves, through what connects you and the tree, the spring, the air, the song, these words that whisper in your ear.
Welcome to the words once sung as songs of praise for the world, now inviting us to get to know them, one by one, poem by poem. Maybe we will find deeper meanings, more clues on our paths, being more attuned to who and what we are.
Chanted, composed, choreographed, mumbled, manipulated, engraved on buildings, inked on bodies, quoted endlessly and living in the heart of western religious liturgy - the 150 psalms are a book unto themselves and for the next seven (!) months we will do our best to get closer to their essence, chapter by chapter.
The word ‘Psalms’ is derived from the Greek word ψαλμοί (psalmoi), meaning "instrumental music", indicating that these were almost always musical compositions, performed in the temple and other public occasions.
The Hebrew name of the book, Tehillim (תהילים), means "praises", and it does a lot of that, leaving room for other sentiments and moods as well.
I chose to rename these PSLAMS because it lets me queer things up a little, honoring the gravity of these compositions yet seeking to go below the bible belt, explore subtexts and secrets, see where it takes us.
These daily PSLAMS will offer an ongoing exploration, poetry slam style, of what resonates for us, poetically and historically, politically, philosophically, and a little playfully too.
One more note about authorship: Despite popular traditions, and although many of the psalms include attribution to King David, as well as some other biblical figures, the sweeping scholarly view is that King David is not the actual author of these poems.
Most scholars attribute these to various authors who wrote between the 9th and 5th centuries BCE, spanning a long period of highs and lows for the Judean nation. The psalms include allusions and direct quotes from other neighboring poetic traditions. The book was likely edited in its current form during the 5th century BCE - as Judea once again began to assert its presence in Jerusalem following the Babylonian exile. But even though he may not have been the author - the figure of King David with all his human frailties, will be with us on this journey, along with other allusions to lore and legends that make this book of poems into a neverending jigsaw puzzle.
We begin with a tree.
Chapter one depicts the ideal human behavior and introduces the metaphor of a healthy tree, deeply grounded, nourished and nourishing.
The first word is connected to the tree in more subtle ways than seem obvious at first, and has also been the subject of many curious explorations.
Here are the first three lines of the first psalm;
אשרי האיש אשר לא הלך בעצת רשעים ובדרך חטאים לא עמד ובמושב לצים לא ישב
כי אם בתורת יהוה חפצו ובתורתו יהגה יומם ולילה
והיה כעץ שתול על־פלגי־מים אשר פריו יתן בעתו ועלהו לא־יבול וכל אשר־יעשה יצליח
Happy is the one who has not followed the counsel of the wicked,
or taken the path of sinners,
or joined the company of the insolent;
rather, this one delights in GOD’s teaching,
and studies that teaching day and night.
Such a one is like a tree planted beside streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season,
whose foliage never fades,
and whatever it produces thrives.
Psalm 1:1-3 (Revised JPS translation 2023)
The first Hebrew word ‘Ashrei’ is often translated as ‘Happy’, ‘Fortunate’, or ‘Praiseworthy’. Some choose ‘blissful’ or ‘blessed’.
The 20th century biblical scholar Nahum Sarna suggested that this first word may pun on the word ‘ashurim, as in “steps” and suggests that it has to do with the path one takes in life, step by safe step. Samson Raphael Hirsch, the 19th century Bible commentator and leader of German Jewry, also linked the first word to the Hebrew root that means ‘to walk the path’, and so translates the word Ashrei as “forward striding to salvation.”
By the time we get to the third verse, the image of the lush tree evokes another image possibly connected to the word ‘Ashrei’. The Ashera was the beloved deity of the Near East, the goddess worshiped by the people and warned against by the prophets, again and again. She was often depicted as a tree and her altars were placed at the base of vast oaks and terebinths. Perhaps we are reminded here to rediscover our relative place in the ecosystem, guided by what that ancient goddess, nature incarnate, was/is all about, before man-made religion started messing so much up?
Stephen Mitchell's, A Book of Psalms begins with this interpretive version of these verses, maybe echoing some of this Ashera-like energy:
“Blessed are the man and the woman
who have grown beyond their greed
and have put an end to their hatred
and no longer nourish illusions.
But they delight in the way things are
and keep their hearts open, day and night.
They are like trees planted near flowing rivers,
which bear fruit when they are ready.
Their leaves will not fall or wither.
Everything they do will succeed.
And finally, one of what I hope will be many musical adaptations of these Pslams. This first one by my dear friends and teacher Rabbi Shir Meira Feit. They began to compose these during COVID, nourishment for body and soul, a gift to get our journey started:
Listen: R. Shir Meira Feit - Psalm 1
“ll be planted like a tree residing beside divided waters. I will create as I await our time to rise.“
Image: Like a Tree Planted by Streams of Water is a painting by Alyse Radenovic
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