The Power of Tehillim and the Power of Teshuvah
In our tradition, it is stated in many places that it is good to complete reading the entire Book of Tehillim at least twice before Rosh Hashanah, since the gematria of the word כפר, “to forgive,” is 300, while Tehillim contains 150 chapters.And to complete it a third time before Yom Kippur.
Whoever wishes to succeed in teshuvah should read Tehillim regularly, because reading Tehillim facilitates teshuvah.
For this reason, we see so many people reading Tehillim during Elul and the Ten Days of Repentance.
There are many obstacles to teshuvah, and even those who wish to do teshuvah do not know how, because there are 50 Gates of Teshuvah and they do not know which gates to approach, while those who do know may find them closed.
Through the words of Tehillim, all these obstacles can be overcome.
This is alluded to in the first pasuk of the Book of Shemot: וְאֵלֶּ׳ה שְׁמוֹ׳ת בְּנֵ׳י יִשְׂרָאֵ׳ל הַבָּאִי׳ם מִצְרָיְמָ׳ה אֵ׳ת יַעֲקֹ׳ב אִי׳שׁ וּבֵית׳וֹ בָּאוּ.
The final letters of these words form Tehillim and Teshuvah — תהילים תשובה — and immediately afterward, the Torah lists the names of the twelve tribes, whose total number of letters is 49, corresponding to the 49 Gates of Teshuvah.
The Egyptian exile, Galut Mitzrayim, encompasses all the other exiles, but through Torah and teshuvah we can be freed from exile.
In our time, everyone is capable of doing teshuvah. Moreover, Ha-Shem assured David HaMelech that the Sefer Tehillim would be regarded as equivalent to studying Oholot (“Tents”) and Negaim (“Signs of Leprosy”) — the most difficult tractates of the Talmud.
(The D’Kala Game, Shemot; commentaries on Tehillim by Zeivel Shterenberg, 1873)
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Tags: The Power of Tehillim, Teshuvah, Elul, Tehillim and Teshuvah
