Shavuot 5780: Psalm 29

(1) A psalm of David. Ascribe to the LORD, O divine beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

(2) Ascribe to the LORD the glory of His name; bow down to the LORD, majestic in holiness.

(3) The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over the mighty waters.

(4) The voice of the LORD is power; the voice of the LORD is majesty;

(5) the voice of the LORD breaks cedars; the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon.

(6) He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion, like a young wild ox.

(7) The voice of the LORD kindles flames of fire;

(8) the voice of the LORD convulses the wilderness; the LORD convulses the wilderness of Kadesh;

(9) the voice of the LORD causes hinds to calve, and strips forests bare; while in His temple all say “Glory!”

(10) The LORD sat enthroned at the Flood; the LORD sits enthroned, king forever.

(11) May the LORD grant strength to His people; may the LORD bestow on His people wellbeing.

Do not read your children [banayikh], but your builders [bonayikh]: “Those who love Your Torah have great peace; there is no stumbling block for them” (Psalms 119:165); and “May there be peace within your walls, prosperity within your palaces” (Psalms 122:7), because: “For the sake of my brothers and friends, I shall say: Peace be within you. For the sake of the House of the Lord, our God, I will seek your good” (Psalms 122:8–9), and “May the Lord give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace” (Psalms 29:11).

And why did they see fit to institute that one says the blessing beginning with the words: Grant peace, after the Priestly Benediction? As it is written: “And they shall put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them” (Numbers 6:27), and the blessing of the Holy One, Blessed be He, is peace, as it is stated: “The Lord blesses His people with peace” (Psalms 29:11).

MISHNA: Rabban Gamliel says: Each and every day a person recites the prayer of eighteen blessings. Rabbi Yehoshua says: an abridged version of eighteen blessings. Rabbi Akiva says: If he is fluent in his prayer, he recites the prayer of eighteen blessings, and if not, an abridged version of eighteen blessings.

GEMARA: To what correspond these eighteen? Rabbi Hillel, son of Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani, said: Corresponding to the eighteen mentions of God’s name that King David said in the psalm: “Give unto the Lord, O you sons of might” (Psalms 29). Rav Yosef said: Corresponding to the eighteen mentions of God’s name in Shema. Rabbi Tanḥum said that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Corresponding to the eighteen vertebrae in the spine.

[Ed note: there are more than 18 vertebrae in the spine]

Corresponding to what were these seven blessings of the Shabbat Amida prayer instituted? Rabbi Ḥalafta ben Shaul said: Corresponding to the seven “voices” which David mentioned on the waters [in Psalm 29]

Shimon HaPakuli arranged the eighteen blessings of the Amida prayer before Rabban Gamliel in their fixed order in Yavne. Rabbi Yoḥanan said, and some say that it was taught in a baraita: A hundred and twenty Elders, i.e., the Men of the Great Assembly, and among them several prophets, established the eighteen blessings of the Amida in their fixed order. The Sages taught in a baraita: From where is it derived that one says the blessing of the Patriarchs? As it is stated: “Ascribe to the Lord, mighty ones” (Psalms 29:1). And from where is it derived that one then says the blessing of mighty deeds? As it is stated: “Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength” (Psalms 29:1). And from where is it derived that one then says the blessing of holiness? As it is stated in the next verse: “Give to the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Psalms 29:2).

And furthermore, it was taught in a baraita: On the intermediate days of the Festival [of Sukkot], on the first day, what would they say as the song accompanying the offering on that day? “Ascribe [havu] unto the Lord, O you sons of might” (Psalms 29:1). On the second day, what would they say? “But unto the wicked [velarasha] God says: What have you to do to declare My statutes?” (Psalms 50:16). On the third day, what would they say? ]“Who [mi] will rise up for me against the evildoers?” (Psalms 94:16). On the fourth day, what would they say? “Consider [binu], you brutish among the people” (Psalms 94:8). On the fifth day, what would they say? “I removed [hasiroti] his shoulder from the burden” (Psalms 81:7). On the sixth day, “All the foundations of the earth are moved [yimotu]” (Psalms 82:5).

Rabbi Elazar HaModa’i says: [Yitro] heard about the giving of the Torah and came. As when the Torah was given to the Jewish people, the voice of the Holy One, Blessed be He, went from one end of the world to the other end, and all of the kings of the nations of the world were overcome with trembling in their palaces and recited a song of praise, as it is stated: “The voice of the Lord makes the hinds to calve…and in his palace all say: Glory” (Psalms 29:9).

All of the kings gathered around Balaam the wicked and said to him: What is the tumultuous sound that we have heard? Perhaps a flood is coming to destroy the world, as it is stated: “The Lord sat enthroned at the flood” (Psalms 29:10)? Balaam said to them: “The Lord sits as King forever” (Psalms 29:10), the Holy One, Blessed be He, already took an oath never to bring a flood to the world.

The kings said to him: He will not bring a flood of water, as he vowed, but perhaps He will bring a flood of fire, as it is stated: “For by fire will the Lord contend, and by His sword with all flesh; and the slain of the Lord shall be many” (Isaiah 66:16). Balaam said to them: He already took an oath that He will not destroy all flesh.

They asked: And what is this tumultuous sound that we have heard? Balaam said to them: He has a good and precious item in His treasury, that was hidden away with Him for 974 generations before the world was created, and He seeks to give it to his children, as it is stated: “The Lord will give strength to His people” (Psalms 29:11). Immediately, they all began to say: “The Lord will bless His people with peace” (Psalms 29:11).

A Sage taught: If food and drink are under one’s bed, even if they are covered with iron vessels, an evil spirit rests upon them. The Sages taught: A person should not drink water on Tuesday nights or on Shabbat nights. And if he drinks water, his blood is upon his own head, due to the danger. What is this danger? The danger of the evil spirit. And if he is thirsty, what is his remedy? He should say the seven voices that David said over the water, and afterward he may drink. As it is stated: “The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; God of glory thunders, even the Lord upon many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. The voice of the Lord hews out flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the hinds to calve, and strips the forests bare; and in His temple all say: Glory” (Psalms 29:3–9).

And if he does not remember that verse, he should say as follows: Lul, Shafan, Anigron, Anirdafin, I sit between the stars, I walk between thin and fat people. And if he does not recall this incantation, if there is another person with him, he should wake him and say to him: So-and-so, son of so-and-so, I thirst for water; and then he may drink. And if there is no other person with him, he should knock the cover on the cup and then drink. And if he is not able to do this, he should throw some object in it and then drink.