This is How we Bless Each Other
Ps.129:8
How will we greet and bless each other, not just when the war is over, but also now, when we are drowning in despair?
Psalm 129, the 9th of the Psalms of Ascent, is written from the depth of trauma, with rage at the enemies that caused so much pain to the nation, and with righteous rage that demands the enemies’ demise: “Let all who hate Zion fall back in disgrace.”
These ancient words of hurt and hate echo so painfully today, these days.
Yet hidden in this painful psalm is the reminder of what it's like to be civil and live in solidarity, using our daily greetings as reminders that we are all created equally in the image of the divine.
the poet uses agricultural imagery to curse those who “hate Zion”: “Let them be like grass on roofs that fades before it can be pulled up, that affords no handful for the reaper, no armful for the gatherer of sheaves” (129:6-7).
It’s a poetic depiction of the failure of the enemies of Israel - the metaphor of being unable to grasp the harvested grain.
And then it adds another image - the meager harvest would be such that none would greet each other anymore, as once they had:
וְלֹ֤א אָמְר֨וּ ׀ הָעֹבְרִ֗ים בִּרְכַּֽת־יְהֹוָ֥ה אֲלֵיכֶ֑ם בֵּרַ֥כְנוּ אֶ֝תְכֶ֗ם בְּשֵׁ֣ם יְהֹוָֽה׃
Passersby will not say to each other:
“The blessing of God be upon you.”
“We bless you by the name of God.”
Ps.129:8
This is a tragic description of a society in trauma, and of neighbors who no longer are able to see each other and to greet or bless each other.
This may have been the ancient way of our ancestors - not just ‘hi’ but a fuller greeting that acknowledges the divinity within us and the power of blessing each other. By echoing these words, preserving folk traditions, this psalm gives us the gift of how we can see and greet each other once again.
Whether we invoke divinity or just choose to pause long enough to face, to see, to greet, to hear, to honor, and to bless each other may we do so in all ways that matter and that heal the hate and help our healing.
On the Jewish calendar, today is the minor fast day of Gedalia, in commemoration of the loss of Jewish sovereignty and the collapse of unity within us. On the eve of October 7th it is a painful reminder of history’s hurts and a powerful call to do better and be better at holding each other accountable and holding each other up, with less fear and more trust. I’m fasting, on this day, with grief, ahead of Yom Kippur, as repentance, and in solidarity with pains past and commitment for better ways.
I bless us on this day, in the presence of the infinite, with patient peace, eye to eye.
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