Mishlei 3:19-26 - Mishleic Security in God

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Artwork: The Mirari Conjecture, by James Arnold

Mishlei 3:19-26 - Mishleic Security in God

Some of my students decided to start learning Mishlei on their own this summer. They recently contacted me and asked for my assistance in learning the pasuk: "Hashem founded the earth with wisdom; He established the heavens with understanding" (Mishlei 3:19). They said that they had made some headway, but the ideas they came up with "didn't feel like Mishlei ideas."

I responded by affirming their observation: yes, the main idea of Mishlei 3:19 doesn't feel like a Mishlei idea, nor should it. Why not? Because this pasuk is from the first nine chapters of Mishlei, which serve a different purpose and are written in a different style than "regular Mishlei."

I wrote about this in my How to Learn Mishlei: A Step-by-step Guide. Chapters 1-9 constitute Shlomo ha'Melech's introductory discourse. The pesukim in chapters 1-9 were written to be learned paragraph by paragraph, sequentially. In contrast, the pesukim in chapters 10-29 are "standalone proverbs" which can be learned in any order, without any regard to their context within the sefer.

For this reason, I urge newer Mishlei students to skip chapters 1-9 and begin with chapters 10-29. These pesukim are easier to learn because they can be analyzed on their own. Moreover, it is also easier to approach chapters 1-9 after building up a basic "Mishleic intuition" from "standard Mishlei" pesukim, which will serve as a guide through the introductory material.

Although I usually write about standalone pesukim from chapters 10-29, I decided to switch it up for this week's Mishlei post and write about the pasuk that my students are learning, in order to illustrate just how different these introductory chapters can be.

The first step is to figure out the unit of which Mishlei 3:19 is a part. It's clearly not related to the pesukim before it, since that unit ends with the paragraph break at 3:18. It's also clear that 3:19 is connected to 3:20 at the very least, and the use of the pronoun "them" in 3:21 suggests that 3:19-20 is connected to 3:21-26. The pesukim after 26 seem to be their own thing.

Thus, the cluster of pesukim we'll be working with is this:

משלי ג:יט-כו

(יט) יְיָ בְּחָכְמָה יָסַד אָרֶץ כּוֹנֵן שָׁמַיִם בִּתְבוּנָה: (כ) בְּדַעְתּוֹ תְּהוֹמוֹת נִבְקָעוּ וּשְׁחָקִים יִרְעֲפוּ טָל: (כא) בְּנִי אַל יָלֻזוּ מֵעֵינֶיךָ נְצֹר תֻּשִׁיָּה וּמְזִמָּה: (כב) וְיִהְיוּ חַיִּים לְנַפְשֶׁךָ וְחֵן לְגַרְגְּרֹתֶיךָ: (כג) אָז תֵּלֵךְ לָבֶטַח דַּרְכֶּךָ וְרַגְלְךָ לֹא תִגּוֹף: (כד) אִם תִּשְׁכַּב לֹא תִפְחָד וְשָׁכַבְתָּ וְעָרְבָה שְׁנָתֶךָ: (כה) אַל תִּירָא מִפַּחַד פִּתְאֹם וּמִשֹּׁאַת רְשָׁעִים כִּי תָבֹא: (כו) כִּי יְיָ יִהְיֶה בְכִסְלֶךָ וְשָׁמַר רַגְלְךָ מִלָּכֶד:

Mishlei 3:19-26

(19) Hashem founded the earth with wisdom; He established the heavens with understanding. (20) With His knowledge the depths were cleaved, and the heavens drip dew. (21) My son – do not let them deviate from your eyes; guard wisdom and strategic thought, (22) and they will be life for your soul, and a graceful [ornament] for your neck. (23) Then you will walk securely on your path, and your foot will not falter. (24) When you lie down, you will not be afraid; you will lie down your sleep will be sweet. (25) Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor the darkness of the wicked when it comes, (26) for Hashem will be your security, and He will guard your foot from ensnarement.

When learning "standard Mishlei" pesukim from chapters 10-29, we try to ask all the questions we can. If we did that on this paragraph, we'd easily be overwhelmed. Instead, it is advisable to focus on getting the main idea of the paragraph as a whole - much like we do in our approach to Sefer Tehilim - and then examine the details in light of that main idea.

The major questions on this paragraph as a whole are:

(1) What are the first two pesukim saying? This certainly doesn't seem to be a practical decision-making idea, since it's about Hashem's creation of the world. These pesukim seem to be more appropriate for Tehilim or Bereishis than Mishlei!

(2) What is the relationship between 19-20 and 21? I am assuming that there is a connection because of how 21 begins: "Do not let them deviate from your eyes" - with the "them" referring to the chochmah, tevunah, and daas mentioned in 19-20.

(3) How do all of the benefits listed in 22-26 result from implementing the advice in 21? In other words, how do these effects (i.e. "they will be life for your soul ... and He will guard your foot from ensnarement") result from these causes ("do not let them deviate from your eyes; guard wisdom and strategic thought")?

Before we move on to the main idea, I just want to underscore how different these questions are from the kinds of questions we normally ask. For example, if we approached pesukim 22-26 as we would approach "regular Mishlei" (i.e. chapters 10-29), then we'd focus on all of the specifics - but since our pesukim come from Chapters 1-9, we need to prioritize the main idea over the details. 

It's not always clear which questions are major and which are minor. For example, one could expand on Question #1 by asking: "What are the definitions of chochmah (wisdom), tevunah (understanding), and daas (knowledge)?" or "Why is chochmah associated to Hashem's founding of the earth, tevunah to His establishing the heavens, and daas to His causing them to drip with dew?" An argument could be made that these are major questions which are critical for understanding the main idea. However, my intuition tells me that these questions are minor. Pesukim 19-20 are basically saying "Hashem created the universe with knowledge," and the terms used are synonyms.

[Okay - now it's time to think! Continue reading when you're ready.]

Due to the difference in style between "regular Mishlei" and the introductory chapters, I think it's best if I answer each of the three questions individually, and then summarize the main idea in 1-4 sentences - much like I do in my posts on Tehilim.

Answer to Question #1: What are the first two pesukim saying? 

The Meiri [1] offers several explanations of these two pesukim, but his final explanation appeals to me the most:

There are those who explain that the phrase "with chochmah" here refers to the [design of the] earth, meaning to say that He created it in accordance with chochmah - that is, with [laws of] nature that do not deviate from their creation, and which are responsible for the establishment and continued existence of the earth, [such as] the rotation of the earth, the rising and setting of the sun, the orders of the moon and stars which provide light at night, etc.

Turns out that the Meiri was quoting the Sefer Chukah, [2] whose explanation is spelled out a bit more:

"Hashem founded the earth with wisdom; He established the heavens with understanding" [means] that from the day He created them, they do not deviate from their ways, nor does any part of His design deteriorate, such that he would need to fix it - unlike human beings, who build a building, only to have it deteriorate years later and be in need of repair. The Creator (blessed is He) created all of His works with wisdom, and firmly established the earth through nature and [laws of] cause-and-effect - [such as] the rotation of the earth, the rising and setting of the sun, the order of the moon and the stars to provide light at night - and each and every one of them stands at its post and performs His commands. 

In other words, these two pesukim convey the idea that Hashem created the world and endowed it with lawful principles of cause and effect, which are consistent, perfect, and harmonious in their preservation of the universe, obedient to the will of the Creator. The terms chochmah, tevunah, and daas here all refer to the quality of intelligent lawfulness that is manifest everywhere in the universe. 

Answer to Question #2: What is the relationship between 19-20 and 21? 

Mishlei's premise, as stated in Saadia Gaon's Introduction to Mishlei, is that man is unique on account of his tzelem Elokim (i.e. truth-seeking intellect), which allows him to comprehend abstract knowledge, and to make decisions based on long-term benefits and consequences. 

In light of this premise, and the premise stated in 19-20 that the universe operates by natural cause-and-effect, it follows that man should utilize his intellect to understand the lawfulness of the world around him, in order to align himself with it to the best of his ability to maximize long-term pleasure and minimize long-term pain (again, as Saadia Gaon wrote in his Introduction to Mishlei). 

This manifests itself in two ways: "guard[ing] wisdom," which refers to avoiding actions and decisions which lead to harmful consequences, and "strategic thought," which refers to using knowledge of the laws of nature to bring about benefits that one wouldn't have otherwise received. But these two things will only be possible if he exercises Mishleic vigilance, "not letting [wisdom, understanding, and knowledge] deviate from his eyes." 

This might also be why the emphasis is on the "eyes": it's not enough to know, in abstract, that the universe operates by lawful cause and effect; you need to be able to see opportunities to implement Mishleic thinking in the sensory particulars of everyday life. 

Answer to Question #3: How do all of the wonderful benefits listed in 22-26 result from implementing the advice in 21?

These pesukim are a breakdown of the two general categories mentioned in the previous pasuk (i.e. "guarding wisdom and strategic design"). I don't know whether this is a comprehensive list or just a series of particular examples. Here's what my intuition tells me about each item on the list:

"they will be life for your soul" - If "soul" means your physical life, then this is a reference to all the ways that Mishlei literally prolongs your life by helping you make intelligent decisions to improve your physical health and to deter you from taking unwarranted risks and engaging in unhealthy practices or behavior. If "soul" means your mind, then this is referring to the enjoyment of Mishleic thinking, which will become the central pleasure of your life. (Judging by the rest of the list, I'd say that the first explanation is the correct one.) 

"and a graceful [ornament] for your neck" - If I recall correctly, "neck" in Mishlei refers to your larynx (a.k.a. vocal cords). [3] Mishlei will change the way you speak, the contents of your speech, and when you exercise your speech - all in a manner which will give you the quality of "grace" (i.e. people will naturally be drawn to you because of the benefits and pleasantness they derive from the effects of Mishlei on your personality, and the beneficial results of Mishlei in your life [4]). 

"you will walk securely on your path" - I think "your path" refers to the general direction you take in life (i.e. the goals you pursue), which will be "secured" by your intelligent decision-making. 

"your foot will not falter" - I doubt this means that you won't make mistakes, since that would be humanly impossible. Rather, I think it means that even when you do make mistakes, you will learn from them and benefit from the insight you gain. Thus, in the long run, even your mistakes will enhance the quality of your life. Either that, or it just means that you will make fewer mistakes than a person who doesn't learn Mishlei. 

"if you lie down, you will not be afraid" - As a student of Mishlei, you will have a healthy recognition and acceptance of what is in your control and what is not in your control; you will take all of the precautions to protect yourself from threats that are within your control, and you will accept that whatever is out of your control is out of your control, to the extent that when you go to sleep (i.e. a state of complete lack of control, and therefore, complete vulnerability), you will still feel secure that you have done everything in your ability to protect yourself from harm.

"when you lie down and your sleep will be sweet" - This physical security will also lead to an emotionally secure state of mind, which will enable you to have a restful sleep, free from those late-night bouts of stress, fear, and anxiety about the worries of the day. 

"do not be afraid of sudden terror, and the darkness of the wicked when it comes" - Even when unexpected catastrophes happen, whether natural ("sudden terror," such as hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, etc.) or brought about by human beings ("darkness of the wicked," such as assaults, robbery, war, the Holocaust, etc.), you need not be afraid; as a student of Mishlei, you will use the same decision-making approach in these situations as you would under normal conditions, and will be sure to achieve the best results that are in your control to achieve. 

"Hashem will be your security, and He will guard your foot from ensnarement" - I believe that this pasuk is framed in terms of Hashem in order to chiastically conclude this cluster of pesukim as it began. How does one take security in Hashem? By aligning oneself with Hashem's chochmah, tevunah, and daas which constitute the fabric of His universe. To the extent that you trust in His will, as manifest in the laws of nature, you will feel secure, and not become ensnared in the consequences of bad decisions, or in the stress and anxiety that results from non-Mishleic thinking.

Having said all of that, here is my four-sentence summary of the main idea:

The basis of Mishleic security in Hashem is the recognition that He created the universe in accordance with laws of cause and effect – laws which are universal, consistent, and rational (i.e. they can be known and understood by human beings). The Mishlei student’s trust in Hashem is based on the reliability of His will as manifest in these laws of nature. By using wisdom and strategic thinking to align himself with these natural laws, thinking and speaking about them constantly and harnessing them to his advantage, he will achieve both physical and emotional security – physical security from making the best decisions within the realm of his control based on the best of his knowledge, and emotional security derived from his trust in Hashem’s will, and from his knowledge that he has done everything in his power to make the best decision he can. And even when he makes a mistake, which will inevitably happen, he will learn from it, and use the insights he gained to improve his decision-making in the future.

There you have it. See how different this feels from a "regular Mishlei" idea? It's far more general and less focused on particular practical decision-making strategies. I also hope you can see what I meant when I said that I encourage students not to learn these introductory chapters until after they've developed their Mishleic intuition by learning chapters 10-29 for a while.

[1] Rabbeinu Menachem ben Shlomo Meiri, Commentary on Sefer Mishlei 3:19

[2] Rabbeinu Yosef Kimchi, Sefer Chukah on Mishlei 3:19

[3] see, for example, Rabbeinu Yonah on Mishlei 1:9

[4] I heard a great example of this yesterday from my Mishlei rebbi, who recently spent nearly an entire week in the hospital. He told me that many nurses and doctors came up to him and told him that he is the best and most pleasant patient they've ever had. My Mishlei rebbi attributed this to the effects of Mishlei on his personality, which we spent a while discussing and analyzing.

How to Learn Tehilim (Psalms)

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Artwork: Urza's Tome, by Aaron Miller

How to Learn Tehilim (Psalms)

Introduction/Disclaimer

There are books of Tanach (the Bible) with which I am familiar. I know how to learn and teach Sefer Mishlei (The Book of Proverbs). I've had ample experience learning and teaching Sefer Koheles (The Book of Ecclesiastes) and Sefer Iyov (The Book of Job). I have attained a measure of proficiency in parts of Chumash (the Five Books of Moses).

The purpose of this disclaimer is to make it clear that I do NOT claim any expertise in Sefer Tehilim (The Book of Psalms).

Tehilim is the longest book in Tanach. It contains over 2,500 pesukim (verses) in 150 perakim (chapters). Of those 150 perakim, I have only learned a handful in depth. Unlike Mishlei, which I've learned on a weekly basis for the past 17 years, I've only occasionally dabbled in Tehilim. Unlike books such as Koheles, Iyov, and Bereishis (Genesis), which I've taught annually for 5-7 years, I've only really taught Tehilim for one semester. 

So how am I qualified to write a post entitled "How to Learn Tehilim"? Because even though I'm not an expert, and even though I don't necessarily know what I'm doing, I do have an approach. 

My goal in this post is to provide a basic foundation for someone who wishes to begin learning Tehilim. I will present all of tools, strategies, and tips that I, myself, have used in my own learning and teaching of Tehilim. In the next couple of posts I will walk you through two perakim using these methods. 

What Tehilim is About

Tehilim is about Hashem and His relationship with His creation, including - and especially - His relationship with man.

By "man" I mean human beings in general, Bnei Yisrael (the Jewish People) in particular, and the yachid (individual) as well - whether David ha'Melech (King David) in specific, or those who aspire to follow in David's path.

By "relationship between God and His creation" I am referring to both hashgachah pratis (individual divine providence) and hashgachah klalis (the laws of nature). By "His relationship with man" I am referring to how He relates to man, and how man ought to relate to Him - in his thoughts, his emotions, and his actions.

How Tehilim Works

But when I say that Tehilim is "about" God's relationship to His creation etc., I do not mean that it should be treated as a textbook of philosophy, metaphysics, or science. Although Tehilim does contain deep concepts and profound insights about Hashem and His ways, the purpose of the sefer is not merely to convey knowledge to the mind, but to affect the emotions as well. This, in turn, will change the way a person experiences and lives his life, and will ultimately change the manner in which Hashem relates to him. 

I wrote another post entitled How to Say Tehilim for the Sick Without Violating Halacha, in which I cited the Sefer ha'Chinuch's [1] explanation of how the recitation of Tehilim can protect a person from harm. His view reflects the approach described above:

... these psalms contain words that inspire the soul that knows them to shelter in Hashem, to take security in Him, to establish a reverent fear of Him firmly in his heart, and to rely on His kindness and goodness; as a result of this inspiration, he will be protected from every harm, without a doubt. 

The phrase "inspires the soul that knows them" perfectly encapsulates how Tehilim is supposed to work. But isn't just any inspiration, but "this inspiration" - the inspiration of "the soul that knows [the meaning of the psalms]." Inspiration divorced from knowledge is insufficient, and knowledge devoid of inspiration also falls short of the mark. The goal of Tehilim is to inspire the soul by means of knowledge, which will strengthen our relationship with Hashem, and bring us under the purview of His providence.

Practically speaking, this means that it is not enough for a person to stop learning after reaching the point where he can say "I understand what this perek (chapter) of Tehilim is teaching." One must go further than that and ask: "How is this supposed to affect me?" "How is this intended to alter my view of reality?" "How can I make these ideas real to my mind and my emotions?"

In this sense, learning Tehilim is less like the study of Gemara or mathematics, and is more like psychotherapy, in which one seeks knowledge that has an impact on the entire psyche, rather than purely theoretical knowledge whose effect is confined to the intellect alone.

The Three Modes of Tehilim

According to the traditional meforshim (commentators), it would seem that there are three possible "modes" (or "interpretive frameworks") for every perek of Tehilim:

1. Biographical: some chapters of Tehilim were written at specific points in David's life, and reflect his thoughts and prayers at these times, such as Chapter 34 ("By David, When he disguised his sanity before Avimelech, who drove him out and he left"), Chapter 51 ("For the conductor, a song by David, when Noson the Prophet came to him, when he came to Bas-sheva"), and Chapter 56 ("For the conductor ... by David, a michtam, when the Philistines seized him in Gath"). 
2. National: other chapters are about the nation of Israel as a whole - in the past, the present or the future - such as Chapter 78 (which summarizes Bnei Yisrael's journey from Egypt through the Wilderness and into Israel), Chapter 114 ("When Israel went out of Egypt, Jacob's household from a people of foreign tongue"), and Chapter 137 ("By the rivers of Bavel, there we sat and also wept when we remembered Tzion").
3. Universal: other chapters deal with universal topics, without reference to specific people, times, or events, such as Chapter 1 (about the persona of the tzadik), Chapter 119 (about the Torah and its practitioners), and Chapter 150 (about praising God with music). 

The aforementioned examples fall squarely into one of these three modes. The tricky thing about Tehilim is how ambiguous most of the other perakim are. In the majority of cases, the meforshim debate which mode a given perek is in, and it will not always be clear how the meforshim arrived at their conclusions. Some will insist that a perek is about Klal Yisrael (the Jewish People) at the Messianic era, even though it contains no mention of the nation and is written from the perspective of an individual. Others will say that a perek which appears to be universal is really about David at a particular time in his life. There are certain meforshim (e.g. Radak, Meiri, Rashi) who will even interpret a perek in multiple modes, giving a dual or triple commentary on each pasuk. 

Since it is unclear which mode most perakim are in, the important thing is to take a firm stance and follow through with it in your analysis. If you're going to treat the perek as being about David, do so for the entire thing; if it's about Klal Yisrael, then it's entirely about Klal Yisrael. And if you're going to use meforshim, make sure you identify which mode they're learning in, since not all of them make this clear.

Personally, I prefer to default to the universal mode, unless I'm forced into one of the other two. I find the universal mode to be the most accessible, since it allows me to learn ideas from the pesukim and apply them directly to my life. The perakim in the biographical or national modes are more difficult, since they often necessitate the circuitous route of researching those episodes in David's life or in the life of the nation, then analyzing the pesukim in light of that background information, and only afterwards applying those insights to one's own life.

I also prefer the universal mode as a default because I believe that it is the ultimate goal of the other two modes. In other words, even if a perek is written from the perspective of David at a specific juncture in his life, or even if it's written about the condition of the Jewish People in the future, the goal of learning these ideas should be to arrive at universal truths which apply to every Jew in every generation.

How to Learn Tehilim 

My methodology for learning Tehilim is based on a technique taken straight out of Mortimer J. Adler's How to Read a Book. [2] He refers to it as "The Four Basic Questions a Reader Asks." Here is the technique in his words:

The Four Basic Questions a Reader Asks 

(1) What is the book about as a whole? You must try to discover the leading theme of the book, and how the author develops this theme in an orderly way by subdividing it into its essential subordinate themes or topics.

(2) What is being said in detail and how? You must try to discover the main ideas, assertions, and arguments that constitute the author’s particular message.

(3) Is the book true, in whole or part? You cannot answer this question until you have answered the first two. You have to know what is being said before you can decide whether it is true or not. When you understand a book, however, you are obligated, if you are reading seriously, to make up your own mind. Knowing the author’s mind is not enough.

(4) What of it? If the book has given you information, you must ask about its significance. Why does the author think it is important to know about these things? Is it important to you to know them? And if the book has not only informed you, but also enlightened you, it is necessary to seek further enlightenment by asking what else follows, what is further implied or suggested. 

Here is my adaptation Adler's "The Four Questions a Reader Asks" to Sefer Tehilim:

The Four Basic Questions to Ask When Learning Tehilim 

(1) What is the perek about as a whole? You must try to discover the main idea of the perek. What major insight is this teaching us about Hashem, about man, or about the relationship between them? I say "main idea" rather than "main theme" because a "theme" can be stated in a word or a phrase, whereas your goal in this is step should be to clearly articulate the main idea in 1-4 complete sentences. 

(2) What is being said in detail and how? You must try to understand what each pasuk is saying and how it contributes to or develops the main idea. This is not an all or nothing deal. The more complete your understanding, the better, but if there are specific words, phrases, or even entire pesukim that you don't understand, then it doesn't mean your answer to Question #1 is invalid - unless, of course, these pesukim contradict or undermine your main idea.

(3) Is the perek true, in whole or in part? Even though we accept Tehilim as true insofar as it is part of Torah she'bi'Chsav (the Written Torah), this doesn't mean that we will automatically be convinced that what David says is actually true. As Adler would say: "Knowing David's mind is not enough. You must make up your own mind." 

(4) What of it? What "inspiration via knowledge" is this perek written to bring about? How is the main idea in this perek supposed to affect your life, your view of reality, and your relationship with God? What else follows - what is further implied or suggested by the insights? What else can you do to internalize and be moved by these ideas? 

I feel obliged to point out a rookie mistake: starting with Question #2. All of my first attempts at learning Tehilim failed because I got bogged down in the particulars. I thought it made sense to approach Tehilim using the same method I use to approach Mishlei. I started by raising ALL of the questions and difficulties on ALL of the pesukim, and then I turned to the meforshim for answers. Since I had so many questions, I would feel obligated to read the entire commentary of multiple meforshim, for fear of missing out on an important detail. Typically this would result in me being overwhelmed by the sheer number of questions and problems, which would be compounded by reading the meforshim. The web of complexity would be too difficult to navigate, and I'd give up. 

Eventually I tried going to the opposite extreme: ignoring all of the particulars and attempting to grasp the whole - and it worked! I found that starting with Question #1 would naturally lead to a sort of back-and-forth "dance" between Questions #1 and 2: I'd come up with an approach for the main idea, and then I'd "test" it by seeing how this idea was developed through each of the pesukim. Whenever I'd encounter a question or a difficulty, then I would turn to the meforshim for assistance. This "macro" approach was far more manageable, and guided my "micro" analysis of the individual pesukim. 

I would even go so far as to recommend intentionally not attempting to do a comprehensive job in answering Question #2. Focus on Questions #1 and 4, and only address Questions #2 and 3 as your analysis and interest dictate. As long as you walk away with a clear grasp of the main idea and the intended purpose of the perek, then your learning of Tehilim was a success, even if you haven't explained every pasuk or verified every idea.

And it's as simple as that! Just work on these questions one at a time, putting the most emphasis on Question #1, and Tehilim will soon become more approachable than ever before. But there is one more critical tool you'll want to add to your Tehilim-learning arsenal before you get started.

The Pivot Point 

Over a decade ago, when my chavrusa (learning partner) and I first started trying to learn Tehilim, we observed a common structural phenomenon that appeared throughout the sefer. We noticed that in many cases, the perek of Tehilim will be moving along with a discernible thematic, structural, or stylistic flow, and then suddenly - seemingly out of nowhere - there will be a dramatic shift to a different theme, structure, or style. My chavrusa dubbed this "The Pivot Point." 

The best way to illustrate this is to point out some clear examples. As you read through each example, see if you can spot the pivot point before reading my answer:

Tehilim 92 

(1) A psalm, a song for the Sabbath day. (2) It is good to thank Hashem and to sing to Your Name, O Exalted One; (3) to recount Your kindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness in the nights. (4) Upon a ten-stringed instrument and upon lyre, with singing [accompanied] by harp. (5) For You have gladdened me, Hashem, with Your actions; about Your handiwork I will sing joyously. (6) How great are Your works, Hashem; [how] very deep are Your thoughts - (7) a boorish man doesn’t know, and a fool doesn’t understand this - (8) when the wicked bloom like grass, and all the doers of iniquity blossom, it is to destroy them forever and ever. (9) But You [remain] exalted forever, Hashem. (10) For behold Your enemies, Hashem, for behold – Your enemies shall perish; dispersed shall be all doers of iniquity. (11) You raised like a re’eim my pride; I was saturated with fresh oil. (12) My eyes have seen my foes; when those who would harm me rise up my ears have heard. (13) A righteous person will flourish like a date palm, and like a cedar in the Lebanon he will grow tall. (14) Planted in the house of Hashem, in the courtyards of our God they will flourish. (15) They will still be fruitful in old age, vigorous and fresh they will be, (16) to tell that Hashem is upright, my Rock in Whom there is no injustice.

Did you see it? It's verse 7. The first half of the perek, up until verse 7, is about David praising the handiwork of Hashem (i.e. the laws of nature). The second half of the perek after 7 is about the destruction of the wicked and the flourishing of the righteous. 

Indeed, verse 7 itself can be read in accordance with either half. If read with the first half, David is saying: "a boorish or foolish man cannot understand the greatness of Hashem's works and the depth of His thoughts as reflected in nature." If read with the second half, David is saying: "a boorish or foolish man cannot understand that although the wicked may bloom and the doers of iniquity may blossom, they will ultimately be destroyed." 

I believe that verse 7 was deliberately written to be ambiguous (which is why I tried as best as I could to retain the ambiguity in my English translation, through my use of poor punctuation). Verse 7 can be read as part of either half of the perek, but no matter how you read it, it is clearly the pivot point - and I believe that this is the key understanding the main idea of the perek (as I will write about in the sequel to this post).

Here's another straightforward example:

Tehilim 19 

(1) For the Conductor, a psalm of David. (2) The heavens declare the glory of God, and His handiwork is declared by the firmament. (3) Day following day expresses speech, and night following night speaks knowledge. (4) There is no speaker and there are no words; their voice is unheard. (5) Throughout the earth their measuring-line goes forth, and their words reach the ends of society. For the sun He set up a tent, in their midst. (6) And it (i.e. the sun) is like a groom coming forth from his wedding canopy, rejoicing like a warrior to run the course. (7) The ends of the heavens is its source, and its circuit is to their other end, and nothing is hidden from its heat. (8) The Torah of Hashem is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of Hashem is trustworthy, making wise the simpleton. (9) The ordinances of Hashem are upright, causing the heart to rejoice; the commandment of Hashem is clear, illuminating the eyes. (10) Fear of Hashem is pure, enduring forever; the judgments of Hashem are true, and are universally righteous. (11) They are more desirable than gold, than even much fine gold, and they are sweeter than honey, and the drippings of honeycombs. (12) At first Your servant was warned by them, [but] when he kept them, there was reward. (13) Errors –who can discern them? Cleanse me from hidden [faults]. (14) Also from wanton ones keep back Your servant, so they do not rule over me then when I am weak; [then] I will keep myself clean from great transgression. (15) May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart find favor before You, Hashem, my Rock, and my Redeemer.

The pivot point should be obvious: it's at the end of verse 7 and the beginning of verse 8. The first half of the perek (1-7) is about the perfection and precision of the heavens in their obedience of God's will, with a focus on the individual entity of the sun; the second half of the perek (8-15) is about the perfection of the Torah, with a focus on the individual person of David, who beseeches Hashem to help him to fulfill His will with complete obedience in his actions, his speech, and the thoughts of his heart.

Here's another example, which is slightly less obvious than the other two:

Tehilim 23 

(1) A psalm by David. Hashem is my Shepherd; I shall not lack. (2) In lush meadows he lays me down, beside tranquil waters He leads me. (3) He restores my soul. He leads me on level paths for His Name's sake. (4) Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no harm, for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff - they comfort me. (5) You will prepare a table before me in view of my tormentors. You anointed my head with oil, my cup overflows. (6) Only goodness and kindness will pursue me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the House of Hashem for long days.

Did you catch it? It's at the end of verse 4 and the beginning of verse 5. In the first four verses of the psalm, David is a sheep; after verse 4, he's a human. 

In the three examples mentioned above, the perek is divided neatly in half. However, there are other types of pivot points as well. See if you can figure out this one:

Tehilim 136 

(1) Give thanks to Hashem for He is good, for His kindness endures forever.(2) Give thanks to the God of the heavenly powers, for His kindness endures forever.(3) Give thanks to the Lord of the lords, for His kindness endures forever.(4) To Him Who alone performs great wonders, for His kindness endures forever.(5) To Him Who makes the heavens with understanding, for His kindness endures forever.(6) To Him Who spread out the earth upon the waters, for His kindness endures forever.(7) To Him who makes great lights, for His kindness endures forever.(8) The sun for the reign of the day, for His kindness endures forever.(9) The moon and the stars for the reign of the night, for His kindness endures forever.(10) To Him Who smote Mitzrayim through their firstborn, for His kindness endures forever.(11) And brought Israel forth from their midst, for His kindness endures forever.(12) With strong hand and outstretched arm, for His kindness endures forever.(13) To Him Who divided the Sea of Reeds into parts, for His kindness endures forever.(14) And caused Israel to pass through it, for His kindness endures forever.(15) And threw Paroh and his army into the Sea of Reeds, for His kindness endures forever.(16) To Him Who led His people through the wilderness, for His kindness endures forever.(17) To Him Who smote great kings, for His kindness endures forever.(18) And slew mighty kings, for His kindness endures forever.(19) Sichon, king of the Emorites, for His kindness endures forever.(20) And Og, king of Bashan, for His kindness endures forever.(21) And presented their land as a heritage, for His kindness endures forever.(22) A heritage for Israel, His servant, for His kindness endures forever.(23) In our lowliness He remembered us, for His kindness endures forever.(24) And released us from our tormentors, for His kindness endures forever.(25) He gives nourishment to all flesh, for His kindness endures forever.(26) Give thanks to God of the heavens, for His kindness endures forever.

Did you see what he did? That's right: this perek involves a double-pivot! Verses 1-9 are about Hashem's kindnesses in nature. In verses 10-24 David pivots to Hashem's kindnesses to the Jewish people. But at the very end, in verses 25-26, he pivots back to the original theme of Hashem's kindnesses in nature. 

And here's a short one:

Tehilim 134 

(1) A song of ascents. Behold, bless Hashem, all you servants of Hashem, who stand in the House of Hashem in the nights. (2) Lift your hands in the Sanctuary and bless Hashem. (3) May Hashem bless you from Tzion, Maker of heaven and earth.

This pivot point is at the end of verse 2, and hinges on the switch from the imperative to the subjunctive mood. In verses 1-2 the author is commanding the servants of Hashem to bless Him; in verse 3 he is expressing his hope that Hashem will bless them in return.

Sometimes you'll run into a perek where the pivot point is debatable. Take another look at Tehilim 19 above. The most obvious pivot point is between verses 7 and 8, with the first half of the perek being about the heavenly bodies following the perfect laws of nature and the second half of the perek being about human beings striving to follow the perfect laws of Torah. However, it can be argued that the pivot point is between verses 11 and 12, with the first half of the perek (1-11) being about the perfection of Hashem's creations (i.e. the universe and the Torah), and the second half of the perek (12-15) being about the imperfect human being struggling to use his free will to align himself with God's will. Depending on where you place the pivot point, you might arrive at a different understanding of what the perek is about. 

Similarly, one of my students was convinced that the pivot point in Tehilim 23 was between verses 3 and 4. In verses 1-3 David refers to Hashem in the third person voice, but in verses 4-6 he refers to Hashem in the second person, implying an increased sense of closeness. We had a lively debate about this in class, which led to some nice insights. 

The next question is: How do we incorporate the notion of a pivot point into our methodology? The answer involves a four step process:

Step #1: Identify the pivot point. 

Step #2: Define the main idea of each "half" of the perek on its own, without thinking about the other half. Treat the two halves almost as if they are two separate chapters.

Step #3: Attempt to unify the two halves. Figure out the main idea which encompasses both. Abstract a major theme from the sub-themes and formulate the main idea.

Step #4: Ask yourself: "What purpose does this pivot point serve? How is it necessary for the main idea or for the intended purpose of the perek? Why couldn't David have just written a perek about this idea without the pivot?" Sometimes the purpose of the pivot lies in the shift of intellectual frameworks or premises. Sometimes there is a reason for the shift in mood or tone. Sometimes it's even a simple dichotomy like "before/after," "distress/salvation," "metaphor/lesson" - but even in these obvious cases, it pays to ask why the pivot point was needed in the first place.

You might wondering: "Do ALL 150 chapters of Tehilim have a pivot point?" This is where I will (conveniently) plead lack of expertise. Like I said, I haven't been through all 150 chapters. There are even some chapters I read on a daily or weekly basis, and still can't figure out whether I've identified the pivot point, or whether I'm just imagining it. For all I know, it could be that 100% of Tehilim contains pivot points, or maybe 10%, or somewhere in between.

All I can say is this: the search for the pivot point will be beneficial for your analysis in any event. Either you'll find a clear pivot point, which will help you in answering Question #1 (since defining each half and then defining the unity is easier than just trying to define the unity straightaway), or you'll find several candidates for pivot points, which will also help you in answering Question #1 (since you'll have several possible approaches based on where the pivot point is), or you won't find any pivot point, but you'll have already scrutinized the entire perek multiple times looking for unity, which will help you in answering Question #1. However it turns out, the quest for the pivot point will help you!

Other Tips

I have a few more assorted tips and decided to just list them all at the end:

When answering Question #1, begin by using an English translation if English is the language you think in - even if you know Hebrew. When analyzing the intricacies of the text there is no substitute for the original Hebrew, but when trying to get an initial birds-eye impression, I find that it's much more productive to think about the perek in the language that is most natural to your mind. After you have an approach to the main idea, and you start working on Question #2, you can delve into the Hebrew with the meforshim and sort out any translation issues.

Look for literary devices and structural anomalies. Sefer Tehilim is rife with examples of literary devices, such as parallelism, allusion, repetition, chiastic structures, and more, so be on the lookout for them. Although I have yet to find any instance in which these literary devices are essential to the main idea, I have noticed that they are helpful in answering Question #2. 

Think about it on your own first - then consult meforshim as needed. I cannot stress this point enough. If you start your analysis by jumping right into the meforshim, you will quickly become overwhelmed by the questions, problems, and answers they raise. Instead, only look into the meforshim to answer specific questions that naturally occur to you. And if this inquiry leads you to do further research, that's fine. Just don't feel obligated to do a complete survey of what the meforshim say on every pasuk.

Learn with your mind, but read with your emotions. Since Tehilim is designed to convey knowledge and inspire the emotions, it is important to allow yourself to feel what David is trying to make you feel. For example, in Chapter 23, when he describes himself as a lamb being guided through lush meadows and tranquil waters by a benevolent and protective Shepherd, use your imagination evoke those feelings from your own experience being guided by a caring and trustworthy figure. And when he describes Hashem as setting up a table for him in front of his tormentors, bring to mind your own tormentors and contemplate how you would feel if you were face to face with them, sitting at a table set with a feast, drinking wine and being anointed with oil. And if what David says doesn't resonate with your own emotions and experiences, then this is something to think about.  

Concluding Thoughts

I hope that I have succeeded in providing you with enough of a Tehilim methodology to begin learning on your own. I would like to reiterate that I am NOT an expert in Tehilim, and I am still trying to unlock the sefer for myself. My views on Tehilim methodology will continue to evolve, and when that evolution reaches a point where an update of this post is warranted, then I will update it.

In the meantime, let me know if you have any other insights or tips on how to learn Tehilim - and let me know if the guidelines provided here prove to be fruitful.

And stay tuned for my next two posts in this series, where I apply this methodology to Tehilim 92 and Tehilim 23. 

[1] Sefer ha'Chinuch: Mitzvah #512
[2] Mortimer J. Adler, How to Read a Book (1976 edition), pp.46-47

The Perfect Piña Colada (Doesn't Exist)

Originally posted in September 2009

The Experience

We recently came back from a trip to Hawaii. It was a short trip, but I managed to get in some solid relaxation time on the beach. On one particularly beautiful day I saw people walking around sipping piña coladas from hollowed out pineapple shells, like the one in this picture. It was such a hot and sunny day and those piña coladas looked so cool and refreshing that I decided to buy one for myself. 

I went over to the bar and asked how much a piña colada costs. The bartender responded, "$13". My first reaction was "!!!" but then I told myself, "What the heck. I'm on vacation," and placed my order. He handed me my cocktail and I eagerly went back to my beach chair to enjoy it. 

It was the perfect piña colada ... for about 30 seconds. Then reality kicked in. 

First of all, the thing was massive. Technically speaking I could hold it in one hand, but it was so big and unwieldy that I was afraid I would drop it, so I held it with both hands instead. This severely compromised my bodily position, making it difficulty to recline in my beach chair and drink at the same time. I was forced to hunch forward in my chair while holding the pineapple in both hands. So much for the drinking-while-luxuriating.

Shortly thereafter I began to get annoyed by the freezing temperature of the shell. You see, it would be inefficient to hollow out a fresh pineapple on the spot for every customer, so instead, all of the pineapple shells are hollowed out ahead of time and then frozen until an order is placed. When I first got my piña colada, the pineapple shell was actually encrusted with ice. This made my grip even harder to tolerate.

Then the pineapple started to thaw. If I were drinking from an ordinary glass, I would just get a little bit of condensation-water on my hands, which wouldn't be a big deal, but this was not an ordinary glass; it was a natural fruit co-opted for an unnatural purpose. As the shell thawed, the pineapple juice began dripping onto my hands. That alone wouldn't have been so bad, but as it continued to thaw, the juice ran down my arms, reaching my elbows and quickly drying into a sticky residue.

That wasn't the only ill effect of the melting fruit. As I continued to sip the piña colada, I started to detect the taste of old, freezer-burned pineapple. Apparently, these fruits were not frozen that morning, but were prepared days or weeks in advance. I suddenly realized that the thawing pineapple put me on a clock: the slower I drank, the more my piña colada would be polluted by freezer-taste, but the faster I drank, the less I would enjoy it. It was a lose-lose situation.

Then there was the act of drinking, itself. If I were drinking from an ordinary glass, a straw would have facilitated drinking, but this was not an ordinary glass. The bottom of the hollowed-out pineapple shell was uneven and chunky with shredded pineapple flesh. As I got towards the bottom of my drink, my straw started to get clogged by strands of pineapple, making it necessary for me to periodically cleanse my straw by forcefully and repeatedly expelling air. This became a task in and of itself: to maximize the liquid intake and minimize the pineapple blockage in each sip. Eventually, I realized that I was so caught up in the tedium of this chore that I wasn't even enjoying my drink anymore; I become so preoccupied with the means of drinking that the end became meaningless.

Finally, after resigning myself to the fact that it wasn't worth it to try to get the rest of the liquid, I decided that I was done. But could I then sit back in my chair and resume my relaxation? No sir. My hands and arms were covered with sticky pineapple juice, remember? I had to go and find water to wash them off. As I got and tossed the emptied shell into the trash, I kept on asking myself, "Was this worth $13?"

The Insight

Later on that day, I remembered the piña colada ordeal and decided to reflect on it to see what I could learn from the experience. I recalled the Rambam's definition of imagination (koach ha'dimayon or "the imaginative faculty") as stated in the first chapter of Shemoneh Perakim: 

The imagination encompasses the capacity to retain impressions of sensory experiences when they have vanished from the senses involved, and to combine some and separate others. It is the capacity that enables a person to combine certain experiences he has had along with others he never had nor ever could grasp - for example, to imagine an iron ship sailing [translator's note: sailing, not flying!] in the air, or an individual whose head is in the heavens while his feet are on the ground, or an animal with a thousand eyes, as well as many other such impossible things that are remembered when the imagination combines things and produces a fantasy.

Rabbi Yoni Sacks once compared the imaginative faculty to computer imaging software, like Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop allows you to take an image and manipulate it at will. You can turn it this way and that. You can crop the image, blocking out the parts you don't want to see. You can enlarge one part and make the image sharper while diminishing and blurring another part. You can even import other images from your memory and combine those images with this one to produce new creations. But unlike the images edited on Photoshop, which we know to be false, the images produced by our imaginative faculty can seem very real - so real, that we often mistake them for reality itself.

My experience with the piña colada - well, I should say, my fantasy of the piña colada prior to the actual experience - is a perfect example of the imaginative faculty in action. Rewind to beginning of the story. There I was, happily relaxing in the sun, when I saw people drinking piña coladas out of pineapple shells. These sense impressions were recorded and preserved in my memory as raw material for my imaginative faculty, which then proceeded to select only those images which I found pleasing, ignoring the unpleasant details. My imagination conjured up a tantalizing fantasy, in which I was the one relaxing and sipping my piña colada - an experience which, in my fantasy-world, only enhanced my relaxation without adding any pain or conflict.

But this fantasy was just that: a fantasy - a nonexistent product of the imagination. Had I subjected this fantasy (or the initial sensory data) to the light of reason, I could have easily detected the inevitable, unpleasant aspects of purchasing the piña colada. I could have foreseen the consequences of the decision, weighed them against the pleasure to be gained, and made an informed, reality-based decision. [I'm not saying that the decision to buy the piña colada was intrinsically bad. I might have even concluded that the piña colada would have been worth it, but I would have at least known what I was getting myself into: that in paying $13 for a tasty drink, I was also buying the experience of cold fingers, sticky hands, a frustrating straw, and a time-limit on my enjoyment.]

The Principle

What is true for piña coladas is true for all pleasures. Human beings are driven to pursue pleasure and avoid pain. The Rishonim refer to the source of this drive as the koach ha'misorer ("the emotive faculty) or the koach ha'misaveh ("the appetitive faculty"). If the appetitive faculty only drove us to seek real pleasures, that would be difficult enough to contend with. Unfortunately, most of the pleasures we seek are not really existing experiences, but fantasies - figments of our imagination. Not only do these fantasies greatly exaggerate the amount of pleasure to be gained, but they gloss over all of the painful details and harmful consequences and present the imagined experience as flawless, as my piña colada fantasy illustrates.

At the same time, we mustn't forget that the imaginative faculty is not intrinsically bad, and that without our imagination, the pursuit of human perfection would be impossible. The imaginative faculty is what allows us to recall sensory data which we can analyze in order to gain knowledge and understanding. Without the imaginative faculty, learning would be impossible; the rational faculty would have nothing to work with. Without the imaginative faculty I would not have been able to learn anything from the piña colada episode. I would have had the experience and immediately forgotten it. The same imaginative faculty which produced the fantasies that led me away from reality also functioned as a tool used by my mind to gain insight into reality.

The Ralbag summarizes all of these points in his introduction to the story of Gan Eden:

It has already been explained in On the Soul (3:7) that the imaginative faculty and the emotive faculty are the causes of motion in animals, be it moving towards an object or away from it. This occurs when the imaginative faculty generates a certain image of a perceptible thing, which causes the appetitive faculty to move the animal towards this image or to flee from it. Since it is in this manner that a person can be drawn after the physical pleasures, which remove him from his proper course of human development, the appetitive faculty is the yetzer ha’ra ("evil inclination"), and the imaginative faculty is its guide. It is therefore clear that the imaginative faculty can function in two separate frameworks: either as an instrument utilized in man’s development, or as an instrument which removes him from his path of proper development.

Sforno (Bereishis 3:1), citing a pithy allegory of the Sages, explains this idea in reference to the nachash (snake) in Gan Eden: 

"The Satan, the yetzer ha'ra, [and the malach ha'maves] are one and the same" (Bava Basra 16a) ... The yetzer ha'ra which causes one to sin is called "nachash," since it resembles a snake, which yields minimal benefit, causes great harm, and is almost completely unseen. The Sages said that Samael rides on top of it (Pirkei de'Rebbi Eliezer 12). [In other words,] the appetitive faculty causes one to sin by means of the imaginative faculty, which incites it with fantasies of physical pleasures, causing one to deviate from the path of perfection intended by God, Blessed is He. The appetitive faculty, along with the fantasies of physical pleasures which incite it, commands the bodily powers and causes them to stray from the objective and from the will of God, Blessed is He, unless the rational faculty stands firm against it and opposes it. Accordingly, the Sages say, "The eyes and the heart are the agents of sin" (Talmud Yerushalmi, Berachos 1:8). Concerning this, the Torah warns us, "And you shall not stray after your hearts and after your eyes" (Bamidbar 15:39).

The Sages refer to the imaginative faculty as "Samael" (suma + El) - that which blinds us to God's reality, or deceives us into believing that God is blind. The snake-like appetitive faculty, or yetzer ha'ra, is allegorically described as a nachash. Samael rides on top of the nachash and steers it in its pleasure-seeking with alluring fantasies. Together, they cause us to sin. The internal forces which moved me to seek out that piña colada are the same forces which cause all sin.

So in the end, considering all of the insight I gained, was the piña colada worth the $13? You bet. Every cent, and infinitely more.