Special Custom for the Month of Elul and High Holidays
The Baal Shem Tov instituted a custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms).
See below for today's additional chapters.
Verses 1-96
David composed this prominent psalm in alphabetical sequence-eight verses for each letter. Every verse contains one of the following words (referring to different aspects of Torah): Way; Torah; Testimony; Precept; Commandment; Statement (translated here as Word or Promise); Word; Judgement (or Laws); Righteousness; Statute. Replete with morals and prayers, this psalm should be recited daily, as a powerful preparation for the service of God. (In verses beginning with one of the letters of the mnemonic PeReTZ BeN DaMaH, the word "עדותיך" is pronounced "eidvotecha.")
1Fortunate are those whose way is artless, who walk with the Torah of the Lord.
2Fortunate are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with all their hearts.
3Indeed, they have not done iniquity; they walk in His ways.
4You have commanded Your precepts to be observed diligently.
5My wish is that my ways be directed to keep Your statutes.
6Then I will not be ashamed, when I behold all Your commandments.
7I will give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments.
8I will keep Your statutes; do not utterly forsake me
9How can a young man keep his way pure? By observing Your word.
10With all my heart I have sought You; do not let me stray from Your commandments.
11I have harbored Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You.
12Blessed are You, O Lord; teach me Your statutes.
13With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth.
14I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as I would with all riches.
15I will speak of Your precepts, and gaze upon Your ways.
16I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.
17 Deal kindly with Your servant, that I may live to keep Your word.
18Unveil my eyes, that I may behold wonders from Your Torah.
19I am a sojourner on earth; do not hide Your commandments from me.
20My soul is crushed with a longing for Your judgments every moment.
21You have rebuked the accursed scoffers, those who stray from Your commandments.
22Remove insult and contempt from me, for I have kept Your testimonies.
23Though princes sat and spoke against me, Your servant speaks of Your statutes.
24Indeed, Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counsellors.
25My soul cleaves to the dust; revive me in accordance with Your word.
26I have spoken of my ways, and You answered me; teach me Your statutes.
27Make me understand the way of Your precepts, and I will speak of Your wonders.
28My soul drips away out of grief; sustain me according to Your word.
29Remove from me the way of falsehood, and graciously endow me with Your Torah.
30I have chosen the way of faith; Your judgments have I laid before me.
31I held fast to Your testimonies, O Lord; put me not to shame.
32I will run on the path of Your commandments, for You will broaden my heart.
33Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, and I will keep it to the last.
34Grant me understanding and I will keep Your Torah; I will observe it with all my heart.
35Direct me in the path of Your commandments, for that is my desire.
36Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to greed.
37Avert my eyes from seeing vanity; by Your ways give me life.
38Fulfill for Your servant Your promise, which brings to the fear of You.
39Remove my shame which I fear, for Your judgments are good.
40Behold, I have longed for Your precepts; give me life in Your righteousness.
41And let Your kindness come to fruition for me, O Lord, Your salvation as You promised.
42I will offer a retort to those who taunt me, for I trust in Your word.
43Do not at all remove the word of truth from my mouth, for I hope [to fulfill] Your judgments.
44I will keep Your Torah continually, for ever and ever.
45And I will walk in spacious paths, for I seek Your precepts.
46I will speak of Your testimonies before kings, and I will not be ashamed.
47And I will delight in Your commandments, which I love.
48I will lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I love, and I will speak of Your statutes.
49Remember the word [promised] to Your servant, by which You gave me hope.
50This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life.
51[Though] the wicked ridicule me severely, I have not strayed from Your Torah.
52When I remember Your judgments of old, O Lord, I take comfort.
53Trembling seized me because of the wicked, those who forsake Your Torah.
54Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my wanderings.
55At night I remembered Your Name, O Lord, and I kept Your Torah.
56All this came to me because I kept Your precepts.
57The Lord is my portion; I pledged to keep Your words.
58I pleaded before You with all my heart: have compassion upon me according to Your word.
59I contemplated my ways, and returned my feet to Your testimonies.
60I hurried and did not delay to keep Your commandments.
61Bands of wicked men plundered me, [but] I did not forget Your Torah.
62At midnight, I rise to thank You for Your righteous judgments.
63I am a friend to all who fear You, and to those who keep Your precepts.
64Your kindness, O Lord, fills the earth; teach me Your statutes.
65You have dealt goodness to Your servant, O Lord, in accord with Your promise.
66Teach me the goodness and wisdom of the [Torah's] reasons, for I believe in Your commandments.
67Before I afflicted myself, I would blunder; but now I observe Your word.
68You are good and benevolent; teach me Your statutes.
69The wicked have smeared me with lies, [when in truth] I keep Your precepts with all my heart.
70Their hearts grew thick as fat; but as for me, Your Torah is my delight.
71It is for my good that I was afflicted, so that I might learn Your statutes.
72The Torah of Your mouth is better for me than thousands in gold and silver.
73Your hands have made me and prepared me; grant me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.
74Those who fear You will see me and rejoice, because I hoped in Your word.
75I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are just; righteously have You afflicted me.
76Let Your kindness be my comfort, as You promised to Your servant.
77Let Your mercies come upon me, that I may live, for Your Torah is my delight.
78Let the scoffers be shamed, for they have maligned me with falsehood; but I will meditate upon Your precepts.
79May those who fear You return to me, and those who know Your testimonies.
80May my heart be perfect in Your statutes, so that I not be shamed.
81My soul longs for Your salvation; I hope for Your word.
82My eyes long for Your promise, saying, "When will You comfort me?”
83Though I became [dried out] like a wineskin in smoke, I did not forget Your statutes.
84How many are the days of Your servant? When will You execute judgment upon my pursuers?
85The wicked have dug pits for me, in violation of Your Torah.
86All Your commandments teach truth, [yet] they pursue me with lies, help me!
87They nearly consumed me upon the earth, but I did not forsake Your precepts.
88As befits Your kindness, grant me life, and I will keep the testimony of Your mouth.
89Forever, O Lord, Your word stands firm in the heavens.
90Your faithfulness persists for all generations; You established the earth, and it stands.
91They stand ready today [to execute] Your judgments, for all are Your servants.
92Had Your Torah not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
93Never will I forget Your precepts, for through them You have sustained me.
94I am Yours; save me, for I have sought Your precepts.
95The wicked hope to destroy me, but I meditate upon Your testimonies.
96To every goal I have seen a limit, but Your commandment is immensely broad.
Additional Three Chapters
The Baal Shem Tov instituted a custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms).
Today's Chapters are 73, 74, and 75.
Chapter 73
This psalm addresses the question of why the righteous suffer while the wicked prosper, and prays for an end to our long exile. Read, and you will find repose for your soul.
1A psalm by Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, to the pure of heart.
2But as for me, my feet nearly strayed; in an instant my steps would have been swept aside.
3For I envied the revelers when I saw the tranquility of the wicked.
4For there are no bonds to their death, and their health is sound.
5They have no part in the toil of men, nor are they afflicted like other mortals;
6therefore they wear pride as a necklace; their bodies are enwrapped in violence.
7Their eyes bulge from fat; they surpassed the fantasies of their heart.
8They consume [others], and talk wickedly of oppression-from on high do they speak.
9They set their mouths against Heaven, while their tongues walk upon the earth.
10Therefore His people return here, and suck the full [cup of bitter] waters.
11And they say, "How can it be that God knows? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12Behold these are the wicked, and they are ever tranquil, they have gained much wealth.
13Surely in vain have I purified my heart, and washed my hands in cleanliness;
14for I was afflicted all day, and my rebuke came each morning.
15Were I to say, "I shall tell it like it is," behold I would turn the generation of Your children to rebels.
16And when I pondered to understand this, it was unjust in my eyes;
17until I came to the sanctuaries of God, and perceived their end.
18Only on slippery places do You set them, You cast them into darkness.
19How they have become desolate in an instant! They came to an end, they were consumed by terrors,
20like a dream upon awakening. O my Lord, disgrace their image in the city.
21When my heart was in ferment, and my mind was sharpened,
22I was a boor and did not understand, like an animal was I with You.
23Yet I was always with You; You held my right hand.
24Guide me with Your counsel, and afterward, receive me with honor.
25Whom do I have in heaven [besides You]? And when I am with You I desire nothing on earth.
26My flesh and my heart yearn; God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever.
27For behold, all those who are far from You perish, You cut down all who stray from You.
28But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have put my trust in my Lord, God, that I may recount all Your works.
Chapter 74
The psalmist mourns and weeps over all the synagogues and study halls that have been burned: the Philistines destroyed the Tabernacle of Shiloh; Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the first Temple. We have been in exile for so long, without seeing any signs of redemption! When will the redemption come? Read, and you will find lamentation and consolation.
1A maskil by Asaph. Why, O God, have You abandoned us forever, does Your wrath fume against the sheep of Your pasture?
2Remember Your congregation which You acquired long ago, the tribe of Your inheritance whom You redeemed [and brought to] Mount Zion, where You rested Your Presence.
3Lift Your steps to inflict eternal ruin, because of all the evil done by the enemy in the Sanctuary.
4Your foes roared in the midst of Your meeting place; they considered their omens to be [genuine] signs.
5The axes in the thicket of trees were reckoned as bringing [an offering] to the Above.
6And now, all her ornaments together are smashed by hammer and hatchet.
7They set Your Sanctuary on fire; they desecrated the Abode of Your Name to the ground.
8Their rulers thought together in their hearts; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9We have not seen our signs; there is no longer a prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long.
10How long, O God, will the adversary disgrace, will the enemy blaspheme Your Name forever!
11Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? Cast it out from within Your bosom!
12For God is my King from long ago, working salvations in the midst of the earth.
13In Your might, You divided the sea; You shattered the heads of the sea-monsters on the waters.
14You crushed the heads of the Leviathan, leaving him as food for the nation [wandering in] the wilderness.
15You split [the rock, bringing forth] fountain and brook; You dried up mighty streams.
16Yours is the day, the night is also Yours; You established the moon and the sun.
17You set all the boundaries of the earth; summer and winter-You created them.
18Remember this, how the enemy reviled the Lord, and the vile nation blasphemed Your Name.
19Do not give the soul of Your turtledove to the wild beast; do not forget the life of Your poor forever.
20Look to the covenant, for the dark places of the earth are filled with dens of violence.
21Do not turn back the oppressed in disgrace; [then] the poor and needy will praise Your Name.
22Arise, O God, champion Your cause; remember Your insults from the perverse all day long.
23Forget not the voice of Your adversaries; the tumult of Your opponents ascends always.
Chapter 75
How great is Israel! During their holidays they do not engage in frivolity, but in song and praise, and the study of the holiday's laws. Also, when they proclaimed (at the giving of the Torah), "We will do and we will hear!" they allowed the world to remain in existence. This psalm also admonishes those who indulge in worldly pleasures and attribute their prosperity to their own efforts.
1For the Conductor, a plea not to be destroyed. A psalm by Asaph, a song.
2We gave thanks to You, O God, we gave thanks; and Your Name was near [when] they told of Your wonders.
3When I choose the appointed time, I will judge with fairness.
4When the earth and all its inhabitants were melting, I established its pillars forever.
5I said to the perverse, "Do not pervert [Israel]," and to the wicked, "Do not raise your pride.”
6Do not raise your pride heavenward, nor speak with an arrogant neck
7For not from the east or the west, nor from the desert does greatness come.
8For God is Judge; He humbles one, and elevates the other.
9For there is a cup [of punishment] in the hand of the Lord, with strong wine of full mixture; He pours from this, and all the wicked of the earth will drink, draining even its dregs.
10But as for me, I will tell of it forever; I will sing to the God of Jacob.
11I will cut off all glory of the wicked, but the glory of the righteous will be raised up.
Tehillim Ohel Yoseph Yitzchok,
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