Psalm 121 AJR Fall 2024

And he recites twenty-four blessings before the congregation: The eighteen blessings of the everyday Amida prayer, to which he adds another six blessings, and they are as follows: The special series of blessings recited on Rosh HaShana, the Remembrances and Shofarot; and the sections of Psalms that begin with the verses: “In my distress I called to the Lord and He answered me” (Psalms 120:1), “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where will my help come” (Psalms 121:1), “Out of the depths I have called You, O Lord” (Psalms 130:1), and “A prayer of the afflicted, when he faints” (Psalms 102:1).

A song of ascents. I lift my eyes to the mountains; from where will my help come? The opening verse depicts an individual, possibly under siege or belonging to an armed force facing imminent attack, who looks to the mountains, hoping to see signs of help on the way.

And you shall love your neighbor like yourself, [I am the Lord]: The explantion of the verse, "and you shall love your neighbor," is [that] just like you act towards your neighbor with love and unity - "like yourself, I am the Lord"; that I the Lord will be like yourself. And this is according to the secret of, "the Lord is your shadow" (Psalms 121:5), that is explained in the words of our Godly teacher, the Baal Shem Tov: That like a person behaves below with his friend and neighbor, with love and with proper traits, so too will the supernal King behave towards him. And it is like a shadow - that every movement that a a person makes, the shadow corresponds to it. So too is He, may He be blessed, with man. And that is [the meaning of], "and you shall love your neighbor" - that like yourself, I am the Lord," to also act towards you with love and all goodness. (Otzar HaChaim, Kedoshim, p. 172, column 4).

Rav Yitzḥak said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me” (Psalms 23:4)? This is a person who sleeps in the shadow of a single palm tree, and in the shadow of the moon. Despite his dangerous position, he trusts God and is not afraid. The Gemara qualifies the previous statement: And with regard to one who sleeps in the shadow of a single palm tree, we said he is in danger only if the shadow of another palm tree does not fall upon him. However, if the shadow of another palm tree falls upon him, we have no problem with it.

§ The mishna further taught: He also nullified the actions of the awakeners. The Gemara poses a question: What are awakeners? Raḥava says: On each and every day when the Levites stood on the platform in the Temple they would say: “Awake, why do you sleep, O Lord?” (Psalms 44:24). Therefore, they were called awakeners. Yoḥanan the High Priest said to them: Does the Omnipresent sleep, that you call upon Him to awaken? But isn’t it already stated: “Behold, He that keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps” (Psalms 121:4)? Rather, when the Jewish people are in a state of suffering, and the nations of the world are in a state of calm and serenity, it is with regard to this that it is stated: “Awake, why do you sleep, O Lord?” If the verse were to be recited every morning it would be interpreted in the wrong way, so Yoḥanan the High Priest therefore canceled the daily recitation of this verse.

§ Rava says: It is a mitzva to place the mezuza in the handbreadth adjacent to the public domain. The Gemara asks: What is the reason for this? The Rabbis say that it is in order that one encounter the mezuza immediately upon one’s entrance to the house. Rav Ḥanina from Sura says: It is in order that the mezuza protect the entire house, by placing it as far outside as one can. The Gemara adds: Rabbi Ḥanina says: Come and see that the attribute of flesh and blood is not like the attribute of the Holy One, Blessed be He. The attribute of flesh and blood is that a king sits inside his palace, and the people protect him from the outside, whereas with regard to the attribute of the Holy One, Blessed be He, it is not so. Rather, His servants, the Jewish people, sit inside their homes, and He protects them from the outside. As it is stated: “The Lord is your keeper, the Lord is your shade upon your right hand” (Psalms 121:5).

Numbers 6,23. “the Lord spoke to Moses, saying ‎speak to Aaron and his sons saying: thus you shall bless the ‎Children of Israel saying to them.”
The Baal Shem ‎Tov used the above verse repeatedly to tell his listeners that ‎psalms 121,5 in which the psalmist describes the Lord as being ‎our protective angel and likening Him to a shadow, i.e. ‎ה' צלך על יד ‏ימינך‎, “Hashem your shadow on your right side.” A shadow ‎always follows precisely what the owner of the shadow is doing. ‎Similarly, what G’d does reflects exactly what man had done ‎before. Seeing that this is so, it is imperative that man donates to ‎charity, displays compassion with the ones less fortunate than he ‎by performing kind deeds for them, as G’d, seeing this will ‎reciprocate in kind with people who do this. The attribute of G’d ‎that we described as “shadow,” and which David called ‎צל‎, is ‎known as ‎כה‎, usually translated as “thus.”‎
It is well known that the Creator, blessed be His name, is most ‎concerned with doing “good” for His people Israel, as our sages ‎said: “the mother cow is more concerned with giving milk to feed ‎her calf than the calf is desirous of suckling at her teats.”‎
When man stands in prayer he must recite 18 benedictions, ‎not because otherwise G’d would not grant him his requests, but ‎we must do so in order for G’d to experience joy and satisfaction ‎from us, His creatures.
We must always remember what the sages taught in ‎‎Avot 2,8 that even if we think that we have studied a great ‎amount of Torah we should not compliment ourselves for this, ‎for all we did was what we have been created to do. Man’s deeds ‎have one purpose and one purpose only, to provide satisfaction ‎for the Creator who gave him life. When man prays (utters ‎requests), he thereby turns himself into a “recipient.” When ‎someone wishes to receive something he extends his hand ‎heavenwards and the back of his hand earthward. When he prays ‎intending to provide his Creator with satisfaction, instead of ‎being a petitioner he turns himself into a “donor.”‎
The major symbol of the priestly blessings consists of their ‎raising their hands with the backs of their hands facing their faces ‎like someone about to dispense gifts, heavenwards, and the palms ‎of their hands open, pointed earthwards, suggesting that they are ‎about to dispense largesse.
The real interpretation of the verse: ‎כה תברכו את בני ישראל‎, is: ‎‎“thus you shall bless the Children of Israel in order that the ‎Creator shall have pleasure from them and in order that thereby ‎you will become dispenser of pleasure instead of remaining ‎petitioners waiting for a Divine handout.” As a consequence of ‎this, the Creator will feel encouraged to dispense all manner of ‎blessings on Israel. This is the meaning of the attribute described ‎here as ‎כה‎, i.e. just as Israel does something for the pleasure of ‎G’d, so He, in turn, will reciprocate by doing things for Israel, His ‎people.‎