The Tanakh Podcast

Our Mizmor invites the world to appreciate the Jewish people and to acclaim the everlasting truth of God's worldview.

Are vows important? Why is making a vow like buying on credit, and why are vows so central in this Mizmor? Our answer will take us to the colourful world of the Temple, where people would celebrate in the company of friends after a life-threatening situation.

This Mizmor is a struggle with those who mock Israel for worshipping a God they cannot see. In return, the Mizmor mocks and belittles the idolaters who serve man-made ineffective gods. In response for Israel's trust in the Divine, the poet promises that God will bless Israel.

The Exodus is depicted not merely as an historical revolution; there is a revolution in nature - water turns to dry land; dry land turns to water! This joyous Mizmor from Hallel expresses the overlap between the emergence of Israel and God's powerful presence in nature. Music. Intro - Sinai Tor. End - Naftali Kempeh

Chapter 113 starts what we know as "Hallel" "Where one finds God's greatness; there you find his smallness and humility" Musical Intro - Mekimi - Yosef Karduner Musical ending - Mekimi - Yonina

This Mizmor is the mirror image of Psalm 111; but whereas the previous psalm depicted God, now we describe the character of the righteous human individual. We suggest that the combination of Psalm 111 and 112 is encouraging us to model our human actions on God's traits.

A beautiful alphabetical song of praise. The first half deals with God's creation - his universal covenant with mankind; the second half praises God for his particular covenant with Israel and the laws of the Torah.

This is a chapter spoken in God's name, seating an unnamed king on a chair at his right-hand side and promising victory over his enemies, priesthood to the nations, and the role of dispensing justice to the world. Who is the king? Abraham? King David? Mashiach? We speak about the Radak's interpretation, refuting the Christian reading of the chapter which identified the king as Jesus, and w...

Today we address two themes: 1. VeAni Tefilla - the whole person meeting God in the prayerful moment. 2. David's curses. David issues a litany of curses that no one would ever want poured on his head. What do we make of this diatribe? Is it befitting of David?

Psalm 108 is a fusion of segments from Psalm 57 and 60! What do we make of old texts being "recycled" to make new mizmorim?

Four situations necessitate thanksgiving to God. This is a chapter that speaks of God's responsiveness to human distress, and the human thanks of God's salvation. The heading - "Let the redeemed of God" - indicates that this distress, salvation and thanks are happening under the rubric of Redemption. This is a chapter that we recite on the night of Yom Haatzmaut.

This historical Psalm is written from a position of Exile. It speaks of Israel's constant waywardness and rebellion against God, from the days of the Wilderness, until the Land of Israel, frequently disloyal, and ungrateful to God's manifold gifts and wonders. Why then is this a chapter of praise? Why is this chpater animated by an upbeat mood?

At first glance this is a chapter celebrating the Exodus. At second glance this is all about God's loyalty to the covenant made with the Patriarchs and the way that God guided history to fulfill that promise.

This is a beautiful hymn to the magnificence of our world. We recite "Borchi Nafshi" on Rosh Hodesh, possibly because it mentions the moon, possibly because it speaks of renewal - ותְחַדֵּ֗שׁ פְּנֵ֣י אֲדָמָֽה - and Rosh Hodesh is about the renewal of the moon.

This chapter celebrates God's capacity and proclivity to forgive his people. Academics have studied the language of this chapter and identify it as a Second Temple Psalm. This gives extra meaning to this celebratory Mizmor as a song of thanks for God having renewed Israel, forgiving us, and giving us a new lease on life - a fresh start.

This Mizmor starts with a desperate call for help. What is the problem? What's wrong? Soon we can deduce that the poet is in exile, and yearns for the land, even the stones and dust of the Land of Israel. This Psalm is about religious yearnings even in the depths of Exile.

What happens when we cannot trust the integrity of public officials? In this chapter David expresses his desire to be surrounded by and to implement a public culture of "temimut" - honesty, rectitude, virtue, integrity, and trust.

Does Judaism have a mitzva to be happy? Is there a relationship between gratitude and happiness?

Mizmor 99 gives us a window into the paradoxical and dialectical encounter with the Divine Presence. Music. Naor Carmi - Longing

The nations all burst into song when they appreciate God's salvation of the Jewish People

God is coming to establish justice, order and decency in the world. God's arrival i surrounded by clear delight along with melting and quaking mountains, fire, cloud and darkness - features that mirror God's revelation at Mount Sinai. God's presence establishes a clear choice between good and evil.

Today we identify a deliberate structure of Psalms 95-100 which form them into a self-contained unit.

This chapter is familiar to most of us as the opening of Kabbalat Shabbat. But there is a strange shift from the first segment to the second. Why does the chapter transition from joy to rebuke and warning?

How does faith respond to suffering? - In a variety of ways. This Mizmor gives us several vantage points on the experience of suffering - protest, rebuke, faith, a call to divine retribution and justice. This is a sophisticated multifaceted treatment of injustice and evil.

God's Majesty! Crashing waves! We will read this Psalm as depicting a narrative of chaos and rupture in the face of an ordered and harmonious world.