The Tanakh Podcast

What is the connection between this Mizmor and Shabbat?

This Mizmor expresses absolute protection in God. In fact, it is a conversation between a teacher and a student about reliance on God's thorough protection. At the close of the Psalm, God Himself adds his reassurances.

"The span of our life is seventy years, or, given the strength, eighty years." This is a meditation about human mortality and making life joyous and worthwhile.

This Mizmor contains a direct, audacious accusation of God - that he has betrayed his covenant with the Jewish People and with the House of David. When was this Psalm composed? Under what circumstances? Did God renege on his commitment?

This Mizmor is the soliloquy of a person crying out in pain and suffering, feeling close to death. The Malbim says: "from start to finish, it offers no comfort, only the cry of brokenness and despair... This is also a metaphor for the Jewish People in exile."

A remarkable hymn to Jerusalem! - Yes - the city of God; but also, every Jew finds his or her roots in Jerusalem and can feel that it is the city in which they belong.

This is a cry for help, salvation and forgiveness. The Mizmor employs the language, the formula of the 13 Attributes of Mercy which originate in God's forgiveness after the Golden Calf. At the center of the Mizmor then is God's tendency to mercy and forgiveness.

Are we there yet? The Mizmor opens with a feeling that the redemption is at hand, but very soon we realize there is much further to go.

This is a Psalm yearning to visit the Temple, but essentially yearning to be close to God.

They say, “Let us wipe them out as a nation; Israel’s name will be mentioned no more.” (v.5) This is the oldest hatred. The attempt at a Final Solution. The genocidal ambitions of generations of enemies who we now call Anti-Semites. The more things change, the more they seem to stay the same.

When the forces of law and justice become corrupt, then society falls apart.

This is the Psalm that we recite every Thursday. It begins with 6 verses of joy. Then it turns to rebuke. What causes the stark turn in the chapter?

The Tribes of Ephraim Menashe and Binyamin are compared to a vine whose walls have been broken down and wild animals enter, eating the grapes, trampling the vine. This is the state of Israel after invasion and defeat by foreign forces. All that is left is to cry to God. In this class we contrast this chapter with another allegory of a vine in Isaiah ch.5 and we draw some conclusions about the role...

What do you say to God when the Temple lies ruined before you and carnage surrounds in every direction? This Psalm gives us an insider view of the immediate response to the Hurban. Music. The Portnoy Brothers

Our chapter is a historical review, expressing God's power kindness and forbearance, and Israel's waywardness and non-adherence to God's covenant. But why do we tell history? Is this merely about religious preaching? We will speak about a political agenda woven into the start and end of the chapter.

What do we remember? What do we forget? The first half of this chapter is about Exile and God's abandonment of Israel. The second half of the mizmor is about victory, redemption and Divine salvation. Which is the dominant memory? Music. Shotei Hanevua - Kol Galgal (see verse 19)

How do we effectively work towards world peace? How do we encourage society away from resorting to self-interest, violence and ugly opportunism, and more to altruism, justice and integrity? Our chapter describes God achieving the ideal regime, the perfect world order. But it arrives only as a result of a long process , only after exerting a significant degree of intimidation, fear and violence.

This chapter speaks in God's name, promising destruction to the evil, vain and violent elements in the world.

This Psalm reflacts the dismay and bewilderment of the Exile and Temple's destruction: - God! - What about the covenant? - God! - Can't You hear them blaspheming and mocking You? - God! - Have You abandoned Your people? - God! - Where is the power of Creation, of the Exodus? This is a bold, protest Psalm that expresses paradoxically deep faith in the Jewish narrative of history.

Why do the evil prosper? Why is the world so unfair? That is the question that throws Assaf into theological turmoil. And yet, a visit to the Mikdash seems to have offered him a radically different perspective!

What is the key to successful government? What is the most important agenda item for a Jewish national leader?

David looks back on his life and fears for the future. What can he offer at this stage of his life? What is occupying his mind?

Psalm 70 is a repeat of Psalm 40. It seems that this text was particularly popular. Why is repeated? And what is its particularly optimistic message?

Today we examine the notion of "Et Ratzon" - Is there a special moment of grace, a "time of goodwill", in which to pray? Music Intro Close

With a dazzling range of references, and 15 words that appear nowhere else in Tanakh, this chapter has mystified commentators.