Yeshiva University - Masmid Yearbook (New York, NY)

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A S M I I ) THK PSALMS losi.l ' ll Kaminetsky Many inspired men of the past fell thai tliry Understood lllis complex universe. I liey pill down their thoughts in writing and bequeathed lei the world the great epics that il now possesses. There were others, however, who felt that il was too difficult to interpret all of this complicated cosmos. It was easier to depict a momentary attitude to- wards life. And so they contented themselves with merely portraying a fragment of the universe, and handed down to posterity their beautiful lyrics. These lyricists fall into two categories: the ancicnts and the moderns . The ancients restricted their writings to the lyric per se, to the lyric in its original connotation. They did not bother to interpret the world. They did not delve into the mysteries of nature an d the universe. They sang only of the joy of life, of love, of war and of death. Such lyricists were Pindar, Anacreon, Horace, and the other early lyricists. The moderns , however, are lyricists only in- sofar as form and music are concerned. They have surpassed the real purpose of the lyric. Car- ried away by their enthusiasm, they have striven to interpret the entire universe in their songs, Shelley, Burns, and Wordsworth, the English lyricists, are not content with expressing a mo- mentary mood. They sweep on and write of hu- manity itself. Their lyrics, hence, do not restrict themselves merely to the island of Lesbos, or to Rome, but are concerned with the entire universe, with all of mankind. These lyrics are, in a word, universal. They are, truly, the great lyrics of the world. It may seem, from this discussion, that the ancient and modern lyrics differ in the eras of their composition as they do in their content : that the early lyrics are ancient and the later ones, modern. And on the whole this is true. One outstanding deviation from this rule, however, is the Book of Psalms. The Psalms are modern lyrics according to our standards, foi they, • . trive to portray uni- versal hum, in experiences, rhey do not present merely transient moods or momentary attitu ' l ward ' - life; but expre r.itliei the feelings and emo- tions of every human in every age — sur.li en as the moan of his penitence, the pathot f bit sorrow, the agony of his despair, and the rapture of his assured hope. They do not sing merely of the physical needs, joys, and fears of man, but go on to satisfy his spiritual cravings and yearn- ings — the yearnings of his thoughtful heart and mind that crave to understand, know, and be at one with an all-knowing, all-loving, unchanging God. Verily the Psalms are great lyrics, for, as stated in the light of a well-known definition, they strive to look God in the face. It is due to this moderness or universality that the Psalms appeal to us even today, that the heart of the world, Jewish and non-Jewish, still responds to their vibrant tones, and that they still hold us under their holy spell. Indeed, though written centuries ago they still satisfy our needs, human and divine, and still have a message for all hu- manity — rich or poor, sad or gay, young or old. It is no wonder that they still speak with a voice of power to the hearts of all men. But if the Psalms speak with a voice of power to the hearts of all men. they speak even more so to the Jew. In the days of Israel ' s glory, the Levites sang the Psalms during the offering of the sacrifices ; and all through the ages, to the present day, the Psalms have been the ever-ready friend of the Jew in joy and sorrow. He quotes them in his prayers — week-day. Sabbath, and Holiday. He recites them after partaking of his meals and before retiring for the night. He declaims them when his land is not blessed with rain. He chants them when in dire need of Heavenly mercy, at the bed-side of his sick and dead. He recites diem all through the night preceding the Day of Atone- ment. His unlearned brethren, who are unable to

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Tn-cntV-Eisht MASMID understand their fundamental attitudes and per- plexities. Hence the Jew can again, will again, be The Ambassador of Goodwill, The Interpreter, The Apostle of Harmonization. In some cases he will even lose contact with his own people in search of a wider humanity. He is then one of the seeds of Israel that goes to bear fruit in far off lands Israel sending its bread upon the wide waters. The dreamer par excellence, the in- terpreter par excellence, the Jew, like Joseph, does not bow to his fate, but forces it to yield to him grace, strength, breadth of view, infinite strength of heart. One more experience does the historical Jew share with Joseph. When that youthful prisoner had interpreted the chief butler ' s dream, he asked but one reward: Put a good word in for me with Pharaoh. I suffer without guilt. The Chief Butler was happy with the interpretation, which would bring him promotion from prison again to the Pharaoh ' s grace. But when the in- terpretation had come true, The Chief Butler did not remember Joseph, he forgot him. Joseph had served Pharaoh, building up for him un- dreamt of riches and power. But there arose soon a Pharaoh, who did not know Joseph. Throughout antiquity and the middle ages, into our very years the Jew has gone dreaming for others, interpreting their dark urges. Maturer than the non-Jew by reason of his cosmopolitan faith, his cosmopolitan urge, his cosmopolitan suf- fering, he has been able to explain their uncon- scious problems, as expressed in their group dreams, in the phenomenon of their poets, thinkers, musicians. Son of antiquity, dynamic in medieval times, alert today — the Jew has been ever eager to reconcile groups that hated each other, to preach harmony and work peace among cultures, races, schools of thought. Like Joseph so did he fare. When the chief butlers and kings of history had been liberated, they promptly did not remember the Jews and forgot Joseph. They went to their joys and left the Jew in the peril of the dungeon. Joseph was not discouraged. This disappointment did not dull the edge of his intellect. He went on dreaming and interpreting. The Pharaoh needed him and Joseph was here to save his land. Infinite his dream, but efficient his service. One of the great bearers of the seed of harmony has been the Jew. The great Understander, Harmonizer, In- terpreter. He has helped — and been forgotten. He has harmonized — and been left in disharmon- ious exclusion. But with Joseph, he realizes that the gift of interpretation comes from God and thus is unaffected by ingratitude. He will go on, sympathetic to all oppressed, deeply appreciative of the danger of smug, self-destructive power and the blandishments of majorities; he will go march- ing on — his historic dream in his heart, peace and justice as the song of his lyre, as the victorious vitality of his life, as his offering on the altar of humanity. Note creeds; world. — Heine as mediator between France and Germany; Jehudah Halevi between different Zamenhoff between different tongues; Fried and Levinson between the nations of the

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Thirtv MASMID devote themselves to the holy duty of the study of the Torah, fulfill their obligation by reading the Psalms. His chevrai Tehillim (Psalm-saying Societies) meet at appointed occasions in order to recite the endearing verses. The Psalms form an integral part of his life. Interwoven in the fabric of the Jew is the Book of Psalms — that portion of his Testament which best fulfills his yearning for the Divine Being. The Psalms form part of the Hagiographa, or third main division of the Hebrew Canon; and number one hundred and fifty. They were writ- ten, most of our Jewish commentators contend, by many authors. These sages believe that, although King David wrote at least half of the Psalms, and is generally credited with the authorship of the Book, other individuals took an active part in their composition. These others were, they say: Adam, Melchi-Zedek, Abraham (called Ethan in the Psalms), Moses, Heman, Jeduthun, Asaph, the three sons of Korah, Solomon and Ezra. Other authorities contend that David wrote all of them when prohetically inspired. Yet, whoever did write them, one fact is very evident aft er reading them. They speak with such intense religious fervor that one is convinced that only the greatest of Jewish singers and divinely-inspired souls could have composed them. The form in which the Psalms are written is quite elaborate. The acrostic or alphabetical ar- rangement of sentences is frequently employed. At times every sentence of a psalm begins with a different letter of the alphabet. At other times every half sentence or every other sentence is alpha- betically arranged. And at still other times, the scheme is employed with eight sentences taken as a unit. Metaphors and other figures of speech are fre- quently used. There is too, all through the Psalms, beautiful rhythm of thought and parallelism of phraseology. Refrains occur often. Indeed, the entire Book of Psalms seems to have but one refrain: For His mercy endureth forever. No rhyme is used, however, though the verses are gen- erally written as couplets. Some of the figures are indeed striking. Speak- ing of the words of God, the Psalmist exclaims: The words of the Lord are pure words; As silver tried in a crucible on the earth, re- fined seven times. Mortal men are pictured as sheep that are ap- pointed for the nether-world, with Death as their shepherd; and human existence is described thus: As for man, his days are as grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone. And the place thereof knoweth it no more. The glory of God is proclaimed in this fashion: O Lord my God, Thou art very great; Thou art clothed with glory and majesty. Who coverest Thyself with light as with a gar- ment, Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain ; Who layest the beams of Thine upper cham- bers in the waters, Who makest the clouds Thy chariot, Who walkest upon the wings of the wind; Who makest winds Thy mesengers, The flaming fire Thy ministers . . . There are many more powerful figures of speech, but these will suffice to point out the beauty of expression that was the Psalmist ' s. The content of the Psalms is usually presented as falling under three heads. First, there are the hymns of praise which glorify God, His power and loving-kindness, as manifested in nature and in His dealings with the people of Israel. These hymns celebrate, too, the Torah, Zion, and the Davidic kingdom. They express gratitude to God for help extended, and refuge found, in times of danger and distress. They are all beautifully pro- claimed, and speak with intense earnestness and feeling. Then there are the Elegies which give voice to feelings of grief at the spread of iniquity, at the triumph of the wicked, at the sufferings of the just and at the seeming abandonment of Israel by God. In this division are included, too, the psalms of supplication to God for amelioration of conditions and the restoration of Israel ' s glory, the psalms of repentances for sins committed un- knowingly, and the penitential hymns in which guilt is confessed. All these are recited with a cry