Psalm 30 is associated with
Hanuka. The Ashkenaz prayer book follows the tradition of the Vilna Gaon zt”l and
instructs it to be said during the morning service instead of the normal psalm
for the day of the week. The Sephard text used by Hasidim and Sephardim has it
said during the evening service instead of Psalm 121. The earliest source for
the tradition is one of the minor tractates of the Talmud, Tractate Soferim (scribes)
(chapter 18). The first Mishna brings a discussion between the Talmudic sages Rabbi
Yochanan and Resh Lakish about the service of the Levi’im in the Holy Temple,
may it be built speedily in our days, during which a Psalm for each day of the
week was said, plus a special psalm on Rosh Hodesh. They draw the conclusion
that everyone who recites a verse in its time is given credit as if he built a
new altar and brought an offering on it. The mesechta then continues that the
appropriate one for Hanuka is Psalm 30.
Psalm 30 opens by saying it is
a song for the inauguration of the Temple. Inauguration in loshen hakodesh is “hanuka”
(חֲנֻכַּת).
It is the same word for the Jewish holiday Hanuka which refers to the
inauguration of the Temple, when it was repurfied by the Maccabees. A question
is raised as to how this could be a tribute to the inauguration of the Temple
when the Temple was not built during the lifetime of King David, rather it was
built by his son Solomon. The answers are often like the Midrash Shocher Tov which
says
If one thought to do a mitzvah, but was
compelled not to do so, HaKadosh Baruch Hu credits him as if he did so. You
should know in fact David is considered as building the Temple even though he
did not build it as it says, “A psalm; a song of dedication of the House, of
David”. From here [it is learned] if one who is pained about something, it is
counted in his name. Likewise we have found with Moshe who was pained with the
Torah of Hashem and worked long in it forty days and forty nights. Therefore it
is called in his name as it says, “Remember the Torah of Moshe My servant”.
Likewise David was pained about the praise (meaning the Temple) therefore it is
called in his name.
Another
difficulty is that the text of the psalm is not what is generally expected in a
song of inauguration. It is basically a poem of personal thanksgiving for
rescue from a horrible situation. David talks about: enemies, healing implying
illness, descending into destruction, and being in hell. From all of this G-d
rescued him. Implying punishment for sin, he exclaims that G-d’s anger is for a
moment but His favor is for a lifetime. He confesses that when Hashem hid His
face from him, he was alarmed and that he called to G-d and beseeched Him. The
psalm concludes that his mourning has been changed to dancing and sack cloth to
joy. For this he will sing noble songs that will never be stilled and forever
give thanks to G-d.
King
Solomon’s prayer, when he inaugurated the Temple, is more conventional. In it
he asks that the Temple will be a shrine of prayer. There Israel will confess
their sins and call out to G-d for help in times of trouble, and people from
all nations will come to pay homage to the G-d of Israel. In addition all
mankind will learn the name of G-d and to fear Him.
If Psalm 30 is examined
especially as a follow up to Psalm 51, it emerges as the prototype and the
first of the prayers that will be expressed at the Temple. The intellectual
foundation of the Temple of David is not precisely the same as the Tabernacle
built by Moshe Rabenu. While penitence, forgiveness, and mercy are part of the
foundation of the Tabernacle of Moshe, they are much larger in the Temple of
David.
Psalm 51 expresses David’s
fears of retribution from above because of his sin with Bath Sheva.
Specifically that he will no longer have divine inspiration and will die by the
sword. In Psalm 30 he acknowledges that he has been punished and forgiven, and
he renders thanksgiving that the things he feared most did not happen.
Basically King David is saying, I did bad things, I was punished, I changed, I
was forgiven. For this I wish to give thanks to Hashem at the Temple.
The joy of the repentant
sinner recalls the Talmudic (Brachos 34b) discussion around the saying or Rabbi
Abahu, “In the place where penitents stand even the wholly righteous cannot
stand”. One can say that a repentant sinner grains insights that one, who did
not sin, never acquires. In addition the penitent has a much greater
appreciation of Hashem’s mercy. Rabbi Yochanan, though, differs saying that the
reward for the wholly righteous has only been seen by G-d. The debate revolves
around a homiletic interpretation of a verse from Isaiah (57:19), “Peace, peace
to the distant and to the near”. The passage in the prophet does not seem to
imply a comparison. Rather, both the repentant and the righteous will have
peace. The great tsadik Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levy says that meaning of “what the
eye has not seen” is the wine that has been preserved since the six days of
creation.
These are concepts found in
the story of Hanuka. Josephus in his book “Jewish Antiquities” starts the story
of Hanuka with Antiochus, King of Syria. Like other kings of Asia he gave the
Temple a large gift because he was impressed with the piety of the Jews (Book
12 chapter 3 paragraph 3). He donated the value of 20,000 pieces of silver plus
large quantities flour, wheat, and salt as an endowment for the sacrifices, among
other favorable treatments. Subsequently there was a dispute and a rebellion
concerning who should be the High Priest. When the candidate of Antiochus lost,
he and his followers returned to their king and told him they wished to leave
the Jewish way of life and adopt the Greek way of life. When doing so, they
specifically hid the fact that they were circumcised.
After that Antiochus brutally
suppressed the Jewish religion. He was joined by many Jews some because of fear
for others it was voluntary. The Temple was made into a place of idolatry and
unkosher animals were brought on the altar. In the end they were all defeated
by the Maccabees who then purified the Temple and reinstituted Torah law. After
the victory a miracle occurred in that one day’s supply of oil to light the
menorah in the sanctuary lasted eight days long enough for them to produce a
new supply.
This was the rededication of
the Temple. The Jews had done wrong in leaving the teaching of the Torah. As a
punishment they suffered atrocities at the hand of a former friend. They
repented and returned to the faith. They were given a miracle from heaven as a
sign that they were forgiven.
לע"נ
הסבא אהרן בן יוסף ז"ל נלב"ע כז בטבת תשכ"ו
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