What can a slave expect from his master? In this podcast we relate chapter 123 to our Rosh Hashanna liturgy.

This beautiful and colourful chapter describes the excitement of a pilgrims journey to Jerusalem and the sights that they encounter. It ends with a three-fold prayer for peace.

"i lift up my eyes to the mountains.From where will my help come?" This is one of the most famous and popular mizmorim. In what context might it have been composed and recited?

This psalm opens one of the most famous sub-sections of Tehillim - the Songs of Ascent or Shirei Hamaalot. In this podcast we: 1. offer 4 explanations for the term "Shir Ha-Maalot" 2. Study Psalm 120 which speaks about hate speech, peace and war.

This - the longest pslam - is a paean to Torah, its study, its laws and the meaning it offers those who walk on the pure path of Torah. Its poetry is wrapped in an delightful eightfold alphabetical acrostic.

Have you noticed the ups and downs of Hallel; how it lurches from elation to the depths of anxious despair in a single line - and then back again? And why do we double certain lines in Hallel?

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 covenant with mankind; the second half praises God for his 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…

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…

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.

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 Isaia…

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 signifi…

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 t…