“I continue to hope that a reign of peace will soon come to pass.”
Harry S. Truman, the 33rd American president, wrote this line in 1970, reflecting on the historical moment in 1948, when he famously sent a declaration of support in the newly founded State of Israel - on May 14th 1948, at 6pm, eleven minutes after receiving the official news.
The hastily typed original, with quick handwritten edits, is preserved in Truman’s Presidential Library.
After his death in 1972, the official Israeli Postal Service dedicated a stamp in his honor, decorated with a quote from today’s psalm: ‘Praise befits the Upright’.
Can the president who authorized the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, among so many other important achievements, be worthy of the title? Historians debate.
And who really gets to decide? Who gets to be the good guys - during their lifetimes and through the historical lens?
The original context of the psalm chosen to honor Truman makes it even a bit more complicated.
רַנְּנ֣וּ צַ֭דִּיקִים בַּֽיהֹוָ֑ה לַ֝יְשָׁרִ֗ים נָאוָ֥ה תְהִלָּֽה׃
Sing forth, O you righteous, to GOD;
It is fitting that the upright offer praise.
Ps. 33:1
What’s curious about the choice of quote for the stamp is that while honoring the president - it distorted the actual original context of the psalm.
The verse does not call to praise those who are deemed upright - but rather for those people who see themselves or seen as doing what’s right -- to also practice humility, and to offer praise.
It is a musical psalm, with multiple mentions of instruments and voices for a choral piece. The voices of the righteous, along those of the pious, singing praise together for the source of strength which is not their army - but their faith in the divine eye that watches over us.
Perhaps it’s a pslam of aspiration for the ideal leaders.
Why did Truman merit ‘the upright offer praise’ on his honorary stamp? The prevalent opinion is that it was the nation’s way of thanking him for his support back in 1948 and in the subsequent years.
According to Truman’s grandson and other historical records, this historical decision did not come easy and almost didn’t happen, with considerable opposition from other high ranking officials. It was one of the president’s closest friends, a Jewish man who in the last minute convinced Truman to meet with Haim Weizman - and to change his mind.
76 years later, the rest is history, even as the relationship between the United States and Israel is at an all time tense and dangerous low. While there are many who applaud and consider the current president to be a hero, defender and righteous leader when it comes to Israel and to democracy, there are many who now see him as a villain.
Is the title ‘upright’ one that we choose to live by - and when is it imposed from the outside? One hopes that past and present presidents, along with all leaders and people of conscious, find the way to live according to what feels and is deemed right, however the complications and consequences.
Truman, who died before the stamp came out, was a Baptist Christian who knew the Bible and saw his political role in Israel’s birth as echoing that of the Persian emperor Cyrus who enabled the original return to Zion.
He would probably have appreciated the gesture.
And still, what is the meaning of this verse that attributes the ability to praise to those who follow their hearts? Norman Fischer’s translation offers a helpful reading -
“Upright hearts rejoice in you, for them praise comes naturally.”
Praise comes to those who pause to praise first. And those who recognize that it’s not brute force that matters but rather the humility and respect in the face of humanity and humanitarian priority.
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