Night Watch of the Sacred
Ps. 134:1-2
The 15th Psalm of Ascent celebrates the tireless guardians of the sacred, those who watch out for the sanctity of life, the sanctuaries that always need to be maintained, guardians of our holy traditions. We all take turns staying up some nights for holy causes.
Some do it more often, some often don’t get thanked.
Sometimes these guardians are visible, but often they are not -- the ones who guard the doorways, clean up when the visitors have left, who work behind the scenes to make sure everything functions properly.
This psalm honors those who stay up late to care for the sacred.
It is a farewell psalm, on the 15th and final step that leads out from the temple, maybe once upon a time sung as the pilgrims left the temple of Jerusalem at the end of the fall festival, honoring the holy, back to ordinary life.
The final gesture is a farewell blessing, with its own hand gestures:
שִׁ֗יר הַֽמַּ֫עֲל֥וֹת הִנֵּ֤ה ׀ בָּרְכ֣וּ אֶת־יְ֭הֹוָה כׇּל־עַבְדֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה הָעֹמְדִ֥ים בְּבֵית־יְ֝הֹוָ֗ה בַּלֵּילֽוֹת׃ שְׂאֽוּ־יְדֵכֶ֥ם קֹ֑דֶשׁ וּ֝בָרְכ֗וּ אֶת־יְהֹוָֽה׃
A song of ascents.
Now bless God,
all you labor in the service of God
who stand each night
in the house of God.
Lift your hands toward the sacred
and bless God.
Ps. 134:1-2
Who are those who stay up at night to guard the sacred?
Some imagined these to be the priests on the night watch - busy repairing what damages were incurred during the daily visits, preparing the space for the following day. Some imagine these to be the ones on guard at the periphery, making sure strangers do not trespass.
The Babylonian Talmud, centuries after the temple was no longer a reality, but holy life continued in new ways, imagined the night watchers of the sacred as the one who engage in learning:
“Rabbi Yohanan taught: These are the scholars who stay up late each night to study Torah, and it’s as if they were busy with the sacred labor of the temple.”
On this day, just past Yom Kippur, many Jewish faith leaders and their tired teams are resting for a bit. It’s been an extremely intense High Holy Days season - and the holiday of Sukkot is still coming up this week.
The holders and watchers of the sacred, night and day shifts-- deserve a few rounds of applause - hand gestures of appreciation.
And in the midst of this ongoing war that keeps spreading sorrow and keeps so many of us up each night, with worry, or in shelters, or on the run, or on guard duty, or as medical teams, or as loving parents or caretakers, or in all the ways so many are trying to save loved one from harm, and so many who are up way late to maintain sacred worship and hope all over the world -- hands stretched out with love, support, appreciation, gratitude and hope for lighter loads and kinder days.
Emma Shamba Ayalon, my friend and teacher, whose beautiful set of cards based on the Psalms, was presented here last week, translates these verses in her own way that helps us lift up our hands and honor the ones who make life more sacred:
“With your own hands lift up
The Holiness to a higher dimension
Connect your passion to the holy fire
To the universal energy
And bless Being!”
Who do you know who can count among the ones who keep the night watch of the sacred?
Can you reach out to one of them today with hands raised high to offer gratitude and praise?
We say farewell to the fifteen songs of Ascent, and slowly begin our journey towards the last chapters of the Psalms, and a better new year.
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