My shul says Tehillim after Musaf on Shabbos. Jews everywhere have a lot to pray for. In Eretz Yisrael, the holiest place on earth, there is fighting in the north and war in the south. Throughout the Diaspora, there is a heightened vigilance. We have installed bulletproof doors and windows in the shul and like many others, there is an armed guard as well as an armed mobile patrol. Definitely, Tehillim should be recited daily, and we do so with fervor. Back in California where I still reside, there is a bill now in Sacramento to not only stop shopkeepers from calling the police when their store is being looted, but to arrest the owner if he does call. It is not yet anarchy. but the tide has turned and for many of us, our assumptive reality has been fractured. No doubt about it, our daily prayers need some fortification and that additional step of adding Tehillim allows people to ideally stop and think and better yet, to feel.
This Shabbos in Jerusalem, I davened in a lively Sephardic minyan. There was a bar mitzvah, which added to the liveliness and animation of the prayers. And we said Tehillim, because everyone present was fully cognizant of the reality out there. There is joy but there is fear and worry as well. Many have family members deployed in danger zones, so the Tehillim are real and personal, perhaps with an added intensity beyond those Psalms which are recited at times by those far away, for whom the dangers seem more abstract. Regardless, we recited Tehillim.
Shabbos morning, the Rav asked for quiet and announced that we must remember that there is good news too. Several events had occurred over Shabbos, which brought tremendous relief. During wartime, it is important to throw our spiritual energies into countering the dismal news by beseeching Shamayim for mercy. But during moments of victory, it is important to channel those energies into thanking Hashem for salvation. The Rav announced that the congregation needed to express their gratitude as well as thanksgiving by instructing us to chant Mizmor L’Todah (Tehillim 100). K’shem sh’mispallelim al ha’rah, mispallelim al ha’tov.
Gratitude and expressing appreciation are essential elements of mental hygiene, social wellness, and spiritual maturity. People function better when they acknowledge the goodness that others have done for them and when they verbalize their appreciation. Saying thank you takes us out of our self-absorbed isolation. Thanking Hashem for protecting and sustaining us is basic to being a faithful Jew.
Tov le’hodos l’Hashem (Tehillim 92): It is good to give thanks to Hashem! n
Rabbi Dr. Dovid Fox is a forensic and clinical psychologist, and director of Chai Lifeline Crisis Services. To contact Chai Lifeline’s 24-hour crisis helpline, call 855-3-CRISIS or email crisis@chailifeline.org. Learn more at www.chailifeline.org/crisis.