Reading Tehillim from Rosh Chodesh Elul to Yom Kippur According to the Baal Shem Tov
Reading Tehillim from Rosh Chodesh Elul to Yom Kippur According to the Baal Shem Tov
When Tzemach Tzedek was nine years old, his grandfather, the Alter Rebbe, told him:
"I heard from my teacher, the Maggid of Mezeritch, who heard it from his teacher, the Baal Shem Tov, in the name of his renowned teacher (the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite), that from the second day of Rosh Chodesh Elul until Yom Kippur, we should recite three psalms each day.
On Yom Kippur itself, we recite the final 36 psalms:
9 - before Kol Nidrei;
9 - before going to sleep;
9 - after the Musaf prayer;
9 - after the Neilah prayer.
Whoever did not begin reading Tehillim on the second day of Rosh Chodesh Elul should begin on the day he learns of this practice and make up the missed psalms."
("HaYom Yom")
Interestingly, a similar schedule for reading Tehillim exists in the Sephardic tradition and is transmitted as a segula for finding one's match: reciting three psalms a day for 40 days, and on the final day, the remaining 30 psalms.
(Transmitted from the Kisei Rachamim Yeshivah by Rabbi Meir Mazuz)
Was this helpful?
100% of readers found this article helpful (130 votes).
Please note: some articles on our site contain the holy Names of the Almighty. If you print these articles, they may not be thrown away or destroyed. Please handle printed copies with care and respect.
Tags: The Power of Tehillim, Tehillim in Elul, Baal Shem Tov, Three Tehillim in the Month of Elul According to the Baal Shem Tov, Tehillim from Rosh Chodesh Elul to Yom Kippur, Tehillim from Rosh Chodesh Elul to Yom Kippur, According to the Baal Shem Tov, Reading Tehillim Through the Whole Month of Elul, According to the Baal Shem Tov
