Today we begin our ascent.
As this Jewish year is almost over - and a horrible year of war is tragically not over yet — we begin our ascent, up the 15 steps, while singing the 15 songs of ascent that can hopefully help us rise towards much better days, towards the sacred, towards some sort of peace.
Once again, this ongoing journey of reading through the Hebrew Bible chapter by daily chapter meets the Jewish calendar in auspicious ways.
These 15 psalms that begin today are directly connected to this season of the days of Awe - and will also lead us through the threshold of the new Jewish year - which on this tough year really needs all the spiritual support we can get.
What are the 15 Songs of Ascents?
Psalms 120-135 all begin with the Hebrew inscription: Shir Ha’Ma`alot, most often translated as “A song of ascents,” but sometimes also ‘the song of the steps’ or the ‘rise from the abyss’.
Scholars debate the actual origin but from all sources we know that there was a large staircase in the Jerusalem Temple, leading from the inner to the outer courtyard, with room enough on each of the marble steps for the Levitical choir and band to stand. It must have been quite a performance — reserved for special days. At this sacred season - connected to the full moon of fall - always shining on the 15th night - this was the site of special ritual and all 15 psalms would be sung with specific choreography and tunes, with full communal participation.
There are other mythic links to the number 15, to the specific location and time of the ritual and it’s unclear what came first - the songs or the steps? We will discuss those in the next two weeks, step by step. (I’ll confess - this is one of my favorite mythic narratives + relic of our ancient and likely pre-judaic rituals.)
Robert Alter has a good summary of what most historical scholars make of these 15 songs:
“Most scholars assume that “ascents” refers to pilgrimages to Jerusalem… But among other meanings that have been proposed, it could be a musical term, perhaps referring to an ascent in pitch or a crescendo in the song, or it could refer to the pattern of incremental repetition that is common to many of these poems. There are some linguistic indications that these psalms were composed in the Second Temple period.”
So whether these psalms were sung on the temple steps or imagined after there was no more temple — they have a place of honor in our liturgies, and are often cited and quoted, composed and sung.
Today’s psalm feels particularly painful and relevant. It’s a psalm that moans the realities of war and insists that despite all discord — we insist on peace. It is often used in memorial services, and has been quoted a lot this past year. I’ve seen it on war protest posters, and in the pained posts of Jewish thinkers from all sides of the spectrum. Somehow, even the most pacifist and vigilant among us find solace and direction in these ancient words:
רַ֭בַּת שָֽׁכְנָה־לָּ֣הּ נַפְשִׁ֑י עִ֝֗ם שׂוֹנֵ֥א שָׁלֽוֹם׃ אֲֽנִי־שָׁ֭לוֹם וְכִ֣י אֲדַבֵּ֑ר הֵ֝֗מָּה לַמִּלְחָמָֽה׃
Too long has my soul dwelt with those who hate peace.
I am peace;
but when I speak,
they are for war.
Ps. 120:6-7
This text can be read as tragically realistic, as painful now as it must have been when written so many centuries ago. We want peace - but all around us are those who hate and attack us. It can also be read as aspirational — what would it be like if we were truly able to protect ourselves - and prioritize peace over fighting, and teach war no more?
Some Hasidic teachers read this as describing our inner state of things — my soul dwells within, eternally seeking peace - but so many of our inner drives and voices overcome our best sense of self and lead us off the path of peace.
When reflecting on the mythic meaning of the 15 Songs of Ascent in 12th Century Italy, Rabbi David Kimchi wrote about this image not as a historical staircase but as a futurist one, that leads us towards better days of the end of exiles, and a peaceful existence back in the holy land:
“Some say these songs refer to the ascents from exile that Israel will eventually ascend to the Land of Israel. These songs were recited from the perspective of the exiles and reference the tribulations of exile, the distress it causes, and the anticipation of salvation that is promised to come.”
What does it mean for each of us to embody “I am Peace”?
Even as so many wage war, including our own people, can we still insist that peace is better, that despite the losses and the fears, the traumas and the tribulations — we will keep speaking for peaceful solutions as hard and as loud as we can?
Today we start to rise, step by step, from the lowest abyss to the highest rung of the possible. Today we recite and remember, insist and persist - no matter what - I am Peace.
And step by step, we hope that our hope, along with our courage and responsibility, commitment to repair and heal - will also rise. in peace.
Below the Bible Belt: 929 chapters, 42 months, daily reflections.
Become a free or paid subscriber and join Rabbi Amichai’s 3+ years interactive online quest to question, queer + re-read between the lines of the entire Hebrew Bible. Enjoy daily posts, weekly videos and monthly learning sessions. 2022-2025.
#Psalms #PSLAMS #Psalm120 #ספרתהילים #תהילים #BookofPsalms #כתובים #tehilim #Ketuvim #Hebrewbible #Tanach #929 #labshul #belowthebiblebelt929
#psalmsofascent #iampeace #pacifism #fifteensteps #Jewishnewyear5785 #riseinpeace #peace #prayforpeace #nomorewar #hope #peaceisposible #lifeissacred
Thank you, Rabbi Amichai, for your inspirational words that we so desperately need during these so very, very dark days. In taking the words "I am peace" to heart, I promise to hold onto striving to reach reconciliation between the Palestinian and the Jewish peoples in the new year based on justice, freedom, equality, and dignity for all.