#tehillim

עַ֥ל נַהֲר֨וֹת ׀ בָּבֶ֗ל שָׁ֣ם יָ֭שַׁבְנוּ גַּם־בָּכִ֑ינוּ בְּ֝זׇכְרֵ֗נוּ אֶת־צִיּֽוֹן׃ On the rivers of Bavel, there we sat, and also wept, as we remembered Tziyon. עַֽל־עֲרָבִ֥ים בְּתוֹכָ֑הּ תָּ֝לִ֗ינוּ כִּנֹּרוֹתֵֽינוּ׃ On the willows, in the midst, we hung our lyres כִּ֤י שָׁ֨ם שְֽׁאֵל֪וּנוּ שׁוֹבֵ֡ינוּ דִּבְרֵי־שִׁ֭יר וְתוֹלָלֵ֣ינוּ שִׂמְחָ֑ה שִׁ֥ירוּ לָ֝֗נוּ מִשִּׁ֥יר צִיּֽוֹן׃ For there our captors asked words of song; our tormentors, amusement, "sing for us from the song of Tziyon" אֵ֗יךְ נָשִׁ֥יר אֶת־שִׁיר־יְהֹוָ֑ה עַ֝֗ל אַדְמַ֥ת נֵכָֽר׃ How can we sing the song of YHVH on foreign soil? [Tehillim 137 1-4]

Thinking about how throughout history we've been made into the jesters, the comedians, the performers, how we're only good as long as we can entertain and amuse our oppressors. Over and over and over again throughout history we weep by the rivers of every generation's Babylon while our captors jeer and order us to sing our sacred songs.

And honestly? I think it's time we hung up our lyres on the proverbial willows. Enough. We don't have to keep on this performance. We don't live for the entertainment of Babylon. We won't perform for our captors anymore.

They plot craftily against Your people, take counsel against Your treasured ones.

They say, “Let us wipe them out as a nation; Israel’s name will be mentioned no more.”

Unanimous in their counsel they have made an alliance against You—

the clans of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites,

Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;

Assyria too joins forces with them; they give support to the descendants of Lot.

Yehudit Shadur (יהודית שדור, Israeli, 1928 - 2011), Psalms 92:13, "The Righteous shall Flourish like the Date Palm".

Dark purple cut paper on pale background and metallic underlays; 16.5" x 12.5". - The seven branches of the palm tree is suggestive of the Menorah. This psalm is recited in the [Erev Shabbat] prayer service in the synagogue. x

צַ֭דִּיק כַּתָּמָ֣ר יִפְרָ֑ח כְּאֶ֖רֶז בַּלְּבָנ֣וֹן יִשְׂגֶּֽה׃

The righteous bloom like a date-palm;

they thrive like a cedar in Lebanon;

In honor of Lag B’Omer and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai

There is a light that can’t always be seen with the eyes. But it’s there — hidden, tucked within each breath, each soul. It’s the light of the Infinite, a spark of Hashem, placed inside you with intention. It can’t always be measured or explained — but it can be felt. In the way you show up. In the way your presence heals, inspires, or creates. Each soul is drawn toward something it alone was created to do.

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the great sage and mystic of the Zohar, knew this light well. He was a man of truth — and he spoke it boldly, even when it was dangerous. When he condemned the Roman Empire for their corruption and injustice, they sentenced him to death. He went into hiding — on the run for his life — and took refuge in a cave.

Thirteen years. No comfort. No audience. Just earth, water, carob — and the fire of Divine learning.

But here’s the miracle: It was because of the darkness, not just despite it, that the light emerged. The cave became more than shelter — it became a womb of revelation. A hidden place where the soul of Torah was born anew. From exile came the Zohar — the sacred teachings that remind us that the soul is not separate from Hashem…It is a spark of the Divine.

King David wrote: ‎“כִּי עִמְּךָ מְקוֹר חַיִּים, בְּאוֹרְךָ נִרְאֶה אוֹר” “For with You is the source of life; in Your light, we see light” (Tehillim 36:10).

And the Zohar teaches: ‎“נֵר יְיָ נִשְׁמַת אָדָם” — “The soul of a person is the lamp of Hashem” (Zohar II:92b).

So don’t doubt your light. Even if it’s hidden, even if it’s shaped by challenge — it’s real. You are here with purpose. And the world needs the light only you can bring.

What light within you is waiting to be revealed?

You will not fear the fright of night, the arrow that flies by day;

Pestilence that prowls in darkness, destruction that ravages at noon.

A thousand will be stationed at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not approach you.