We Who Watch Out for the Dawn
Ps. 130:6
I watched through my window, the dawn creep up on New York, in slow motion, on this awful day, a year ago. Wide awake with horror, with dread for what is yet to come, for what is happening back home in Israel.
We descend to the deepest depths, and from this lowest place within us we can honestly admit our fears and faults, truly ask for help, and really pray.
Psalm 130 begins with a call from the depths and it’s why it was chosen to be the additional psalm during the first ten days of the new Jewish year, known also as The Days of Return.
Today we call out from the depths.
Once again, our Below the Bible Belt journey meets not only the Jewish calendar but also this day and now-forever date on the world’s calendar.
October 7th, a holy day turned horror day will never be the same again. Like 9/11 or so many other dates now etched in our collective memory, a day that began with just another sunrise soon became much more than just a day.
The authors of this psalm, so many centuries ago, were writing in response to war and trauma, and they knew what it’s like to wake up very early and anticipate the dawn. They wrote about this skill - not just to watch out for the actual dawn but to also do so from the deepest depths and the darkest days in our collective being. How do we sit through the long nights of hatred and divisions and look out for, pray for, work for -- the light to come on?
This psalm, the 10th of 15 Songs of Ascent, brings us to the drama of ascending - from the lowest to the highest step. It begins below deck, in our lowest place possible:
שִׁ֥יר הַֽמַּעֲל֑וֹת מִמַּעֲמַקִּ֖ים קְרָאתִ֣יךָ יְהֹוָֽה׃
A song of ascents. Out of the depths I call You, God.
Ps. 130:5
In many old synagogues it is traditional for the cantor or the prayer leader not to stand on stage but before the stage, with a stand that is a little lower than the rest of the congregation - indicating what this verse directs us to do: Descend to ascend. Come from utter humility.
The rest of the psalm is a plea for help, for forgiveness. And the most potent image, repeated twice is of those who are the guards, and watch out for the dawn:
נַפְשִׁ֥י לַאדֹנָ֑י מִשֹּׁמְרִ֥ים לַ֝בֹּ֗קֶר שֹׁמְרִ֥ים לַבֹּֽקֶר׃
My soul waits for God more than they who watch for the morning: more than they who watch for the morning.
Ps. 130:6
Who are those who watch out for the dawn?
Many have pondered, and the phrase is alive in multiple contexts, from Christian theology to Sci-Fi novels, quoted in both Zionist and Anti-Zionist Jewish writings of the past century.
Robert Alter translates this verse in this way, and adds commentary:
“My being for the Master--more than the dawn-watchers watch for dawn.”
Previous translators have all supplied a predicate here (“is eager,” “is turned to,” or the King James Version’s “waiteth,” duly italicized to show that it is merely implied in the Hebrew). But the power of line in the original is precisely that anticipated verb (“wait” having appeared with its synonym “hoped” in the preceding line) is choked off: my inner being, my utmost self--for God more than watchmen watch for the dawn. Previous translators render the four Hebrew words as a simple repetition (for example, the New Jewish Publication Society, “than watchmen for the morning, watchmen for the morning.”) But shomrim can be either a verbal noun (“watchmen”) or a plural verb (“watch”). The line becomes more vivid and energetic if the second occurrence is understood as a verb: more than the watchmen watch for dawn, I watch--elliptically implied--for God. The force of the image is evident: the watchmen sitting through the last of the three watches of the night, peering into darkness for the first sign of dawn, cannot equal my intense expectancy for God’s redeeming word to come to visit me in my dark night of the soul.”
We are living in such dark and daunting times.
On this painful day that began at dawn with an attack on people’s homes and a nation’s soul, that began this year of doom and destruction, we are each of us in the dawn-watch, eagerly awaiting the sun’s rays to rise, again.
Norman Fischer translates this verse like this:
“My heart waits quiet in hope for you
More than they who watch for sunrise
Hope for a new morning”
Today, from the depths, in sorrow, we wish, from the bottom of our hearts for any signs of a new morning. Let the sun shine. May the light heal.
It’s on us, on all of us, to watch for, and to help wake up the dawn.
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 #Psalm130 #ספרתהילים #תהילים #BookofPsalms #כתובים #tehilim #Ketuvim #Hebrewbible #Tanach #929 #labshul #belowthebiblebelt929
#fromthedepths #prayfromthebottomofyourheart #watchfordawn #10/7 #anticipation #guardsofdawn #peace #prayforpeace #nomorewar #hope #peaceisposible #dawn #shanatova #letthesunshine #healing