1 Opening Question
Does time seem like a blessing or like a curse? What makes it seem like either?
Happy Chanukah! This class was taught on the second night of Chanukah 5782 / Monday, December 19, 2022.
By ארכיון השומר הצעיר יד יערי - Hashomer Hatzair Archives Yad Yaari, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5840684
2 Time
2a Time... and Chanukah
(מה) וישלח המלך ספרים ביד הרצים אל ירושלים ולכל ערי יהודה, ויצוום ללכת בדרכי גויי הארץ.
(מו) לבלתי הקריב עוד עולה ומנחה בקודש, ולבלתי הסך נסך לה', ולהפר את השבתות ואת המועדים.
(מז) לחלל את המקדש ואת הכוהנים, ולהקים במות ובתים לאלילים, ולהקריב בשר חזיר וכל בהמה טמאה.
(45) For the king had sent letters by messengers unto Jerusalem and the cities of Juda that they should follow the strange laws of the land,
(46) And forbid burnt offerings, and sacrifice, and drink offerings, in the temple; and that they should profane the sabbaths and festival days:
(47) And pollute the sanctuary and holy people: Set up altars, and groves, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice swine’s flesh, and unclean beasts:
(נז) ויצווה יהודה ואחיו וכל קהל ישראל לחוג את חנוכת המזבח ביום החמישה ועשרים לחדש כסלו שמונת ימים מדי שנה בשנה בהלל ובתודה לה'.
(57) Moreover Judas and his brethren with the whole congregation of Israel ordained, that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their season from year to year by the space of eight days, from the five and twentieth day of the month Casleu (Kislev), with mirth and gladness.
With regard to the opinion that one need not rekindle the Hanukkah light if it is extinguished, the Gemara asks: And is it true that if the Hanukkah light is extinguished one is not bound to attend to it? The Gemara raises a contradiction from that which was taught in a baraita: The mitzva of kindling the Hanukkah lights is from sunset until traffic in the marketplace ceases. Does that not mean that if the light is extinguished, he must rekindle it so that it will remain lit for the duration of that period? The Gemara answers: No, the baraita can be understood otherwise: That if one did not yet light at sunset, he may still light the Hanukkah lights until traffic ceases. Alternatively, one could say that this is referring to the matter of its measure. One must prepare a wick and oil sufficient to burn for the period lasting from sunset until traffic ceases. If he did so, even if the light is extinguished beforehand, he need not relight it.
2b. Time... and the 2022 World Cup
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup_Final
Lionel (Leo) Messi
By Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=126494101
2c. Time and Secularity
saeculum (plural saeculums or saecula)
- A length of time roughly equal to the potential lifetime of a human being or, equivalently, the complete renewal of a human population. (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/saeculum)
Adjective[edit]
secular (comparative more secular, superlative most secular)
- Not specifically religious; lay or civil, as opposed to clerical.
- Temporal; worldly, or otherwise not based on something timeless. (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/secular)
The phrase Novus ōrdō sēclōrum (English: /ˈnoʊvəs ˈɔːrdoʊ sɛˈklɔːrəm/, Latin: [ˈnɔwʊs ˈoːrdoː seːˈkloːrũː]; "New order of the ages") is the second of two mottos added by the secretary of the Congress of the Confederation, Charles Thomson, on the reverse (the back side) of the Great Seal of the United States (the first motto is Annuit cœptis).[1]
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novus_ordo_seclorum)
3. Guiding Questions
- What are the different ways ways this passage describes time?
- What redeems a mortal life in this psalm?
- Does this passage address Israel (the Jewish people) or humanity in general?
4. Our Text: Psalm 90
(1) A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
O Lord, You have been our refuge in every generation. (2) Before the mountains came into being,
before You brought forth the earth and the world,
from eternity to eternity You are God.
(3) You return man to dust;
You decreed, “Return you mortals!” (4) For in Your sight a thousand years
are like yesterday that has passed,
like a watch of the night.
(5) You engulf men in sleep;-b
at daybreak they are like grass that renews itself;
NRSV: You sweep them away; they are like a dream...
(6) at daybreak it flourishes anew;
by dusk it withers and dries up. (7) So we are consumed by Your anger,
terror-struck by Your fury.
(8) You have set our iniquities before You,
our hidden sins in the light of Your face. (9) All our days pass away in Your wrath;
we spend our years like a sigh. (10) The span of our life is seventy years,
or, given the strength, eighty years;
but the best of them-b are trouble and sorrow.
They pass by speedily, and we are in darkness.-c (11) Who can know Your furious anger?
Your wrath matches the fear of You. (12) Teach us to count our days rightly,
that we may obtain a wise heart.
(יג) שׁוּבָ֣ה ה' עַד־מָתָ֑י וְ֝הִנָּחֵ֗ם עַל־עֲבָדֶֽיךָ׃ (יד) שַׂבְּעֵ֣נוּ בַבֹּ֣קֶר חַסְדֶּ֑ךָ וּֽנְרַנְּנָ֥ה וְ֝נִשְׂמְחָ֗ה בְּכׇל־יָמֵֽינוּ׃ (טו) שַׂ֭מְּחֵנוּ כִּימ֣וֹת עִנִּיתָ֑נוּ שְׁ֝נ֗וֹת רָאִ֥ינוּ רָעָֽה׃ (טז) יֵרָאֶ֣ה אֶל־עֲבָדֶ֣יךָ פׇעֳלֶ֑ךָ וַ֝הֲדָרְךָ֗ עַל־בְּנֵיהֶֽם׃ (יז) וִיהִ֤י ׀ נֹ֤עַם אדושם אֱלֹקֵ֗ינוּ עָ֫לֵ֥ינוּ וּמַעֲשֵׂ֣ה יָ֭דֵינוּ כּוֹנְנָ֥ה עָלֵ֑ינוּ וּֽמַעֲשֵׂ֥ה יָ֝דֵ֗ינוּ כּוֹנְנֵֽהוּ׃ {פ}
(13) Turn, O LORD!
How long?
Show mercy to Your servants. (14) Satisfy/s.b.` us at daybreak with Your steadfast love
that we may sing for joy all our days. (15) Give us joy for as long as You have afflicted us,
for the years we have suffered misfortune. (16) Let Your deeds be seen by Your servants,
Your glory by their children. (17) May the favor of the Lord, our God, be upon us;
let the work of our hands prosper,
O prosper the work of our hands!
5. Overview of the Psalm
Adele Berlin & Marc Zvi Brettler, Jewish Study Bible, commentary to Psalm 90, introductory note
Human life is perceived as, by its nature, difficult and sorrowful. The psalmist asks for divine compassion to make human life satisfying and joyful.
Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, Psalms 90, comment to verse 3
...the supplication becomes the vehicle for a Wisdom-style meditation on the transience of human life, cast in the universal terms characteristic of Wisdom literature. There is, in fact, a certain kingship between this poem and passages in both Job and Qohelet (Ecclesiastes).
Amos Hakham, Da'at Mikra, Commentary to Psalms, Summary of Psalm 90
...the Psalmist does not give in to despair...but rather turns in prayer to God, seeking that He grant those who are in awe of Him, his servants who wait for his kindness/chesed, a life with feelings of contentment/sova` (s.b.`) and happiness. [These feelings] can help one overcome the feelings that one's life has passed like a dream full of suffering and pain. (DR transl.) DR: See Genesis 25:8, below.
Richard J. Clifford, The New Oxford Annotated Bible, introduction to Psalm 90
A community prayer that God would rein in his wrath. Though scholars often assume the psalm as a meditation on human frailty and God's eternity, it is best viewed as a community petition complaining that God's wrath has lasted beyond a normal human life span and asking how much longer this unhappy state will continue (verses 10-11).
(ח) וַיִּגְוַ֨ע וַיָּ֧מׇת אַבְרָהָ֛ם בְּשֵׂיבָ֥ה טוֹבָ֖ה זָקֵ֣ן וְשָׂבֵ֑עַ וַיֵּאָ֖סֶף אֶל־עַמָּֽיו׃
(8) And Abraham breathed his last, dying at a good ripe age, old and contented/s.b.`; and he was gathered to his kin.
(11) This whole land shall be a desolate ruin.
And those nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. (12) When the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation and the land of the Chaldeans for their sins—declares the LORD—and I will make it a desolation for all time.
6. A Prayer of Moses
[A prayer of Moses,] the man of God: for he was a prophet.
Richard J. Clifford, The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Note on superscription to Psalm 90
[This is] the only psalm attributed to Moses, who often asked God to turn and have compassion (e.g., Exodus 32:12) as in Psalm 90:13.
How long?
Show mercy to Your servants.
Berlin & Brettler, comment to verse 1
This psalm alone is associated with Moses, perhaps because, on the one hand, he died prematurely, before entering the land, and on the other hand, he lived until 120, the ideal life span, with eyes undimmed and vigor unabated (Deuteronomy 34.7).
Rashi, following several teachings in the Midrash, connects Psalm 90 (and Psalms 90-100 as a unit) to Moses' blessing of the people upon the completion of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness as described at the end of the book of Exodus/Shemot.
(1) ויברך אתם משה AND MOSES BLESSED THEM — He said to them “May it be the will of God that His Shechinah rest upon the work of your hands; ‘and let the beauty/favor/no`am of the Lord our God be upon us and establish Thou the work of our hands upon us’” (Psalms 90:17.) (Sifra, Shemini, Mechilta d'Miluim 2 15)
This (from ויהי נועם onward) is part of one of the eleven Psalms (90—100) that are in the section beginning with, תפלה למשה; (Numbers Rabbah 12:9).
7. The favor or pleasantness (no`am) of God, verse 17
(יז) וִיהִ֤י ׀ נֹ֤עַם אדושם אֱלֹקֵ֗ינוּ עָ֫לֵ֥ינוּ וּמַעֲשֵׂ֣ה יָ֭דֵינוּ כּוֹנְנָ֥ה עָלֵ֑ינוּ וּֽמַעֲשֵׂ֥ה יָ֝דֵ֗ינוּ כּוֹנְנֵֽהוּ׃ {פ}
(17) May the favor of the Lord, our God, be upon us;
let the work of our hands prosper,
O prosper the work of our hands!
(א) תְּפִלָּה֮ לְמֹשֶׁ֢ה אִֽישׁ־הָאֱלֹ֫קִ֥ים אדושם מָע֣וֹן אַ֭תָּה הָיִ֥יתָ לָּ֗נוּ בְּדֹ֣ר וָדֹֽר׃
(1) A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
O Lord, You have been our refuge in every generation.
Amos Hakham, Da'at Mikra, Commentary to Psalms, note to Ps. 90:17
The word נעם/no`am may hint at the word מעון refuge (verse 1) with the letters reversed. The Psalmist has concluded in a manner similar to the opening: "O Lord, you have been our refuge מעונ" (DR transl.)
DR: So the words "favor/נעם of Adonai" form a kind of chiasm with the words "Adonai, refuge/מענ".
8. Verse 17: An opening to blessing
At the end of Shabbat, Psalm 90:17 and all of Psalm 91 are recited as a unit.
Psalm 91 has been called "the Psalm of Blessing" (Rabbi Sacks, Siddur, p. 695)
(א) יֹ֭שֵׁב בְּסֵ֣תֶר עֶלְי֑וֹן בְּצֵ֥ל שַׁ֝דַּ֗י יִתְלוֹנָֽן׃ (ב) אֹמַ֗ר לַ֭ה' מַחְסִ֣י וּמְצוּדָתִ֑י אֱ֝לֹקַ֗י אֶבְטַח־בּֽוֹ׃ (ג) כִּ֤י ה֣וּא יַ֭צִּילְךָ מִפַּ֥ח יָק֗וּשׁ מִדֶּ֥בֶר הַוּֽוֹת׃
let the work of our hands prosper,
O prosper the work of our hands! (1) O you who dwell in the shelter of the Most High
and abide in the protection of Shaddai— (2) I say of the LORD, my refuge and stronghold,
my God in whom I trust, (3) that He will save you from the fowler’s trap,
from the destructive plague.
(יד) כִּ֤י בִ֣י חָ֭שַׁק וַאֲפַלְּטֵ֑הוּ אֲ֝שַׂגְּבֵ֗הוּ כִּֽי־יָדַ֥ע שְׁמִֽי׃ (טו) יִקְרָאֵ֨נִי ׀ וְֽאֶעֱנֵ֗הוּ עִמּֽוֹ־אָנֹכִ֥י בְצָרָ֑ה אֲ֝חַלְּצֵ֗הוּ וַאֲכַבְּדֵֽהוּ׃ (טז) אֹ֣רֶךְ יָ֭מִים אַשְׂבִּיעֵ֑הוּ וְ֝אַרְאֵ֗הוּ בִּישׁוּעָתִֽי׃ {פ}
(14) “Because he is devoted to Me I will deliver him;
I will keep him safe, for he knows My name. (15) When he calls on Me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in distress;
I will rescue him and make him honored; (16) I will let him live to (DR: I will make him content / s.b.` with) a ripe old age,
and show him My salvation.”
(א) בָּרֵךְ עָלֵֽינוּ ה' אֱלֹקֵֽינוּ אֶת־הַשָּׁנָה הַזֹּאת וְאֶת־כָּל־מִינֵי תְבוּאָתָהּ לְטוֹבָה, וְתֵן
This blessing is known in Hebrew as "the blessing of Years / Birkat HaShanim.
(1) Bless for us, Adonai our God, this year and all the varieties of its produce for good; and bestow
(ה) טַל וּמָטָר לִבְרָכָה
(ו) עַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה וְשַׂבְּ֒עֵֽנוּ מִטּוּבֶֽךָ וּבָרֵךְ שְׁנָתֵֽנוּ כַּשָּׁנִים הַטּוֹבוֹת: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' מְבָרֵךְ הַשָּׁנִים:
(5) dew and rain for a blessing*
(6) upon the face of the earth; satisfy/sabe`enu (s.b.`) us from Your bounty and bless our year, like the good years. Blessed are You, Adonoy, Blesser of the years.
[9. God's awareness of sins]
Mitchell Dahood, Anchor Bible: Psalms 51-100, note to verse 8
You have kept our iniquities: Probably inscribed on a tablet which [God] read by the light issuing from his face.
(8) You have set our iniquities before You,
our hidden sins in the light of Your face.
blot out all my iniquities.