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P’sukei D’Zimrah 4, Mizmor L’Todah, A Psalm of Praise
We are in the middle of the P’sukei D’Zimrah section of the weekday Shacharit Service. This section is mostly about praising God. Last week we saw that the liturgy strung together pieces of many Psalms which, when read together, focused on praise of God by Israel, and on Israel being helped by God. This week we are looking at a section with just one Psalm. It is Psalm 100, Mizmor L’Todah, A Psalm of “Praise” or “Thanksgiving”.
Psalm 100 was recited in the Temple when a person brought a Thanksgiving offering (Korban Todah) after being saved from danger. How important is a prayer of gratitude? In Midrash Rabbah Tzav, 9, it says “In the future, even though all things on earth will be in such an ideal state that there will be no more cause for prayers…, prayers of gratitude…will nevertheless [continue to be said].”
Today, when a person is saved from a fatal illness, or returns from a risky journey, he/she recites the Gomel blessing. The Rabbis, instituted Psalm 100 in our daily prayers as an expression of thanks for the many unrecognized miracles that God performs on our behalf every day. Thus, when we recite it, we are acknowledging that life, itself, is a wondrous event and that we should continually express gratitude to God. We call it the “attitude of gratitude”. Here it is in Hebrew and English:
מִזְמוֹר לְתוֹדָה הָרִֽיעוּ לַיהוָֹה כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ: עִבְדוּ אֶת יְהֹוָה בְּשִׂמְחָה בֹּֽאוּ לְפָנָיו בִּרְנָנָה: דְּעוּ כִּי־יְהֹוָה הוּא אֱלֹהִים הוּא עָשָֽׂנוּ וְלוֹ (וְלֹא) אֲנַֽחְנוּ עַמּוֹ וְצֹאן מַרְעִיתוֹ: בֹּֽאוּ שְׁעָרָיו בְּתוֹדָה חֲצֵרֹתָיו בִּתְהִלָּה הֽוֹדוּ לוֹ בָּרְ֒כוּ שְׁמוֹ: כִּי־טוֹב יְהֹוָה לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ וְעַד־דֹּר וָדֹר אֱמוּנָתוֹ:
A Psalm of thanksgiving:
Shout for joy to Adonai, all people on earth.
Worship Adonai in gladness,
come before God with joyous song.
Know that Adonai is God who fashioned us.
We are God’s people, the flock that God tends.
Enter God’s gates with gratitude,
Adonai’s courtyards with praise.
Give thanks to God, bless God’s Name
for Adonai is good,
God’s loving kindness is eternal,
God’s faithfulness endures for all generations.
One of the goals of daily prayer is to teach us to be grateful. Why do you think this is necessary?
Try an exercise for a week, starting on Sunday. Every day, write down something that you are grateful for. At the end of the week, on shabbat, review what you have recorded. I would love to find out if you learned anything!!
Shabbat Shalom – Rabbi Michael S. Jay
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