(א) אַנְעִים זְמִירוֹת וְשִׁירִים אֶאֱרוֹג, כִּי אֵלֶֽיךָ נַפְשִׁי תַעֲרוֹג.
(ב) נַפְשִׁי חָמְדָה בְּצֵל יָדֶֽךָ, לָדַֽעַת כָּל רָז סוֹדֶֽךָ.
(ג) מִדֵּי דַבְּרִי בִּכְבוֹדֶֽךָ, הוֹמֶה לִבִּי אֶל דּוֹדֶֽיךָ.
(ד) עַל כֵּן אֲדַבֵּר בְּךָ נִכְבָּדוֹת, וְשִׁמְךָ אֲכַבֵּד בְּשִׁירֵי יְדִידוֹת.
(ה) אֲסַפְּרָה כְבוֹדְךָ וְלֹא רְאִיתִֽיךָ, אֲדַמְּךָ אֲכַנְּךָ וְלֹא יְדַעְתִּֽיךָ.
(ו) בְּיַד נְבִיאֶֽיךָ בְּסוֹד עֲבָדֶֽיךָ, דִּמִּֽיתָ הֲדַר כְבוֹד הוֹדֶֽךָ.
(ז) גְּדֻלָּתְךָ וּגְבוּרָתֶֽךָ. כִּנּוּ לְתֹֽקֶף פְּעֻלָּתֶֽךָ.
(ח) דִּמּוּ אוֹתְךָ וְלֹא כְפִי יֶשְׁךָ, וַיְשַׁוּֽוּךָ לְפִי מַעֲשֶֽׂיךָ.
(ט) הִמְשִׁילֽוּךָ בְּרוֹב חֶזְיוֹנוֹת, הִנְּךָ אֶחָד בְּכָל דִּמְיוֹנוֹת.
(י) וַיֶּחֱזוּ בְךָ זִקְנָה וּבַחֲרוּת, וּשְׂעַר רֹאשְׁךָ בְּשֵׂיבָה וְשַׁחֲרוּת.
(יא) זִקְנָה בְּיוֹם דִּין וּבַחֲרוּת בְּיוֹם קְרָב, כְּאִישׁ מִלְחָמוֹת יָדָיו לוֹ רָב.
(יב) חָבַשׁ כּֽוֹבַע יְשׁוּעָה בְּרֹאשוֹ, הוֹשִֽׁיעָה לּוֹ יְמִינוֹ וּזְרֽוֹעַ קָדְשׁוֹ.
(יג) טַלְלֵי אוֹרוֹת רֹאשוֹ נִמְלָא, קְוֻצּוֹתָיו רְסִֽיסֵי לָֽיְלָה.
(יד) יִתְפָּאֵר בִּי כִּי חָפֵץ בִּי, וְהוּא יִהְיֶה לִי לַעֲטֶֽרֶת צְבִי.
(טו) כֶּֽתֶם טָהוֹר פָּז דְּמוּת רֹאשוֹ, וְחַק עַל מֵֽצַח כְּבוֹד שֵׁם קָדְשׁוֹ.
(טז) לְחֵן וּלְכָבוֹד צְבִי תִפְאָרָה, אֻמָּתוֹ לוֹ עִטְּרָה עֲטָרָה.
(יז) מַחְלְפוֹת רֹאשוֹ כְּבִימֵי בְחֻרוֹת, קְוֻצּוֹתָיו תַּלְתַּלִּים שְׁחוֹרוֹת.
(יח) נְוֵה הַצֶּֽדֶק צְבִי תִפְאַרְתּוֹ, יַעֲלֶה נָּא עַל רֹאש שִׂמְחָתוֹ.
(יט) סְגֻלָּתוֹ תְּהִי נָא בְיָדוֹ עֲטֶֽרֶת. וּצְנִיף מְלוּכָה צְבִי תִפְאֶֽרֶת.
(כ) עֲמוּסִים נְשָׂאָם עֲטֶֽרֶת עִנְּדָם, מֵאֲשֶׁר יָקְרוּ בְעֵינָיו כִּבְּדָם.
(כא) פְּאֵרוֹ עָלַי וּפְאֵרִי עָלָיו, וְקָרוֹב אֵלַי בְּקָרְאִי אֵלָיו.
(כב) צַח וְאָדוֹם לִלְבוּשׁוֹ אָדוֹם, פּוּרָה בְּדָרְכוֹ בְּבוֹאוֹ מֵאֱדוֹם.
(כג) קֶֽשֶׁר תְּפִלִּין הֶרְאָה לֶעָנָו, תְּמוּנַת יְיָ לְנֶֽגֶד עֵינָיו.
(כד) רוֹצֶה בְעַמּוֹ עֲנָוִים יְפָאֵר, יוֹשֵׁב תְּהִלּוֹת בָּם לְהִתְפָּאֵר.
(כה) רֹאשׁ דְּבָרְךָ אֱמֶת קוֹרֵא מֵרֹאשׁ, דּוֹר וָדוֹר עַם דּוֹרֶשְׁךָ דְּרוֹשׁ.
(כו) שִׁית הֲמוֹן שִׁירַי נָא עָלֶֽיךָ, וְרִנָּתִי תִּקְרַב אֵלֶֽיךָ.
(כז) תְּהִלָּתִי תְּהִי לְרֹאשׁךָ עֲטֶֽרֶת, וּתְפִלָּתִי תִּכּוֹן קְטֹֽרֶת.
(כח) תִּיקַר שִׁירַת רָשׁ בְּעֵינֶֽיךָ, כַּשִּׁיר יוּשַׁר עַל קָרְבָּנֶֽיךָ.
(כט) בִּרְכָתִי תַעֲלֶה לְרֹאשׁ מַשְבִּיר, מְחוֹלֵל וּמוֹלִיד צַדִּיק כַּבִּיר.
(ל) וּבְבִרְכָתִי תְנַעֲנַע לִי רֹאשׁ, וְאוֹתָהּ קַח לְךָ כִּבְשָׂמִים רֹאשׁ.
(לא) יֶעֱרַב נָא שִׂיחִי עָלֶֽיךָ. כִּי נַפְשִׁי תַעֲרוֹג אֵלֶֽיךָ.
(לב) לְךָ יְיָ הַגְּדֻלָּה וְהַגְּבוּרָה וְהַתִּפְאֶֽרֶת וְהַנֵּֽצַח וְהַהוֹד, כִּי כֹל בַּשָּׁמַֽיִם וּבָאָֽרֶץ, לְךָ יְיָ הַמַּמְלָכָה, וְהַמִּתְנַשֵּׂא לְכֹל לְרֹאשׁ. מִי יְמַלֵּל גְּבוּרוֹת יְיָ, יַשְׁמִֽיעַ כָּל תְּהִלָּתוֹ.
(1) I shall make pleasant songs, and weave verses; Because for You my soul longs.
(2) My soul desires to be in Your hand’s shade; To know all of Your deepest mysteries.
(3) When I speak of Your glory; My heart yearns for Your love.
(4) Therefore I will speak reverently of You; And Your name I will honor in songs of love.
(5) I will recount Your glory, though I have not seen You; I describe You though I have not known You.
(6) In Your prophet's writings, in Your servants' speech; You depicted the beauty of Your glorious splendor.
(7) Your greatness and might; They portrayed in accordance with Your actions.
(8) They depicted you, though You are not as they depicted; They characterized you according to Your doings.
(9) They allegorized you in many visions; Behold, You are one in all depictions.
(10) They saw in You old age and youth; They represented Your hair as both whitened and black.
(11) Old age on the day of judgment, youth on the day of battle; Like a man of war who has many talents.
(12) Like one who wears the helmet of redemption on His head; His right arm and holy left arm bring redemption.
(13) His head is full of the dew of light; His locks with the drops of the night.
(14) He beautifies Himself through me, because He desires me; And He shall be for me a crown of beauty.
(15) His head is like pure gold; On His forehead is inscribed His honored holy name.
(16) For grace, honor, and splendid beauty; His people have made themselves His crown.
(17) The locks of his head are as in youth; His locks are black curls.
(18) The place of justice, His splendid beauty; May He elevate it above his greatest joy.
(19) May His chosen people be a crown of beauty in His hand; may the gloriously beautiful people be a royal diadem.
(20) He carried them like a load, He wore them as a crown; He honored them beyond the worth He saw in them.
(21) His splendor is on me, and my splendor is on Him; He is close to me when I call to him.
(22) White and red, His garments are red; He trod the winepress when He came from Edom.
(23) He showed His tefillin-knot to the humble one; the picture of God was before his eyes.
(24) He desires His people, He glorifies the humble ones; He who sits glorified by their praises.
(26) Take my many songs to Yourself; And may my hymn come be close to You.
(27) May my praise be a crown to Your head; May my prayer be set before You like incense.
(28) May this pauper's song be as valued in Your eyes; As the song sung over Your sacrifices.
(29) May my blessing go up to the Provider; the Creator, the Begetter, Just and Mighty.
(30) May You nod your head to my blessing; May You accept it like the finest spices.
(31) May my contemplation be sweet to You, For my soul yearns for You.
(32) Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the splendor and the triumph and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and on land is Yours. Your, Lord, is the sovereignty and the rule over every king. Who can recount the heroic acts of the Lord, who can do justice to all His praise?
Moshe Halbertal, "Of Pictures and Words: Visual and Verbal Representation of God
But why is a visual representation of God inappropriate even though a verbal representation is appropriate? A picture is meant to capture the entire essence of what is being represented; it strives to create a full representation, leaving no gaps. Not so language: a verbal description is only partial, and the open spaces it leaves make language an appropriate medium for representing God…How, then, is it possible to create a representation that makes the sublime God present to worshipers without desecrating, fixing, or replacing God? Only through language. Implicit within the distinction between word and picture is the possibility of confronting the complexity of representing the sublime.
Barnett Newman, Onement, 1948
Mark Rothko, No. 8, 1952
Brent Spodek, "I (Don't) Believe in God, Times of Israel, July 13, 2016
Divinity is an abstract noun, almost a verb, like love or electricity. The idea of God, the character of “Mr. God” is a representation of something much larger and elusive. We know this from the prohibitions on idolatry; it’s not that we shouldn’t represent the Divine — it’s that we can’t represent the Divine. If you can see it in a picture, it’s not the Divine.
Think of contemporary art — it’s not powerful because it capture reality more accurately than a photograph; it’s powerful because it indicates things which cannot be apprehended directly.
Marc-Alain Ouaknin, Mysteries of the Alphabet
The history of meaning is the history of forgetting the image, the history of a suppression of the visible. No doubt there are good reasons for this. In his book Moses and Monotheism Freud claimed that "the prohibition on making an image of God-the compulsion to worship a God whom one cannot see ... meant that a sensory perception was given second place to what may be called an abstract idea-a triumph of intellectuality over sensuality."
Through this extrapictorial image, "The new realm of intellectuality was opened up, in which ideas, memories and inferences became decisive in contrast to the lower psychical activity which had direct perceptions by the sense-organs as its content. This was unquestionably one of the most important stages on the path to hominization."
For Freud, a departure from the visibility of the divine represented the dematerialization and deterritorialization of the sacred, the transition from the sacred-pagan to the holy. This movement eventually resulted in a transition from the stone-built place of worship (the Temple) to worship through the book, a transition from the cult to the cultural. The prohibition on graven images also applied to writing and the letters. The fact that images could not be depicted may well have been the mechanism that caused the alphabet to change so radically from its pictographic form to the abstractions of the alphabetic form. It is not going too far to consider, as did L. Benveniste, that "writing was born on Sinai." On the basis of these considerations, it would appear that the abstract form of the letters of the alphabet have a superior status to that of the pictorial form as we encountered it in proto-Sinaitic. However, we believe that it is important to take the trip back to the original image and that this step is required if we are to be able to link up with our most ancient and deeply buried memories. This is not a violation of the prohibition on representation, as long as we are in a dialectic mode and seeking the meaning and we do not fall into the trap of being stuck in the rut of "this means that and that alone" !