Universally Beloved Book of Psalms
Since we are talking about Psalms, here are a few tidbits that perhaps you didn’t know before.
The Hebrew name of the Book of Psalms is “Sefer Tehillim,” which means “Book of Praises.” It is one of the 24 books of the Bible, and is composed of 150 separate poems.
Jewish tradition attributes the book of Psalms to King David, and 73 of those psalms contain his name.
In order to parallel the structure of the five books of Moses, known as the Torah, the book of Psalms is also divided into 5 sections.
Psalms are an integral part of many other religions and their liturgy, and many psalms have been set to music. One interesting, little known tidbit is that the Rastafari movement considers psalms as their most beloved part of the Bible, and Rasta singer Prince Far I produced a recording entitled “Psalms for I” which is a spoken, atmospheric version of the book of Psalms, which is set to a roots reggae backdrop from the group called the Aggrovators.
It is easy to be inspired by the Book of Psalms, and much of Rabbi Balkany’s inspiration certainly has come from this beautiful sacred book of poetry.
