Stories of Tzadikim - Tzemach Tzedek

The Book of Tehillim - On the Importance of Reading Even with Mistakes

8 Tevet is the yahrzeit of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, the wife of the Tzemach Tzedek. Every day, the Rebbetzin read the entire Book of Tehillim—all 150 psalms. One day, she complained to her son, Rabbi Yehuda Leib, that she did not remember all the psalms by heart, even though she had been reading them since childhood. Her son said: “Perhaps you do not remember them because each time you make a mistake in one of the words”? The Rebbetzin became very upset and asked her husband, the Tzemach Tzedek: “Could it really be so? Should I stop reading Tehillim”? The Tzemach Tzedek replied: “Under no circumstances—continue reading the entire Book of Tehillim every day”! He summoned the one responsible for his mother’s tears and said to him: “You should know that all the victories I achieved in Petersburg over the authorities who sought to deprive us of our Jewish identity were sent from Heaven in the merit of your mother’s daily reading of the Book of Tehillim. You must ask her forgiveness”. (Our Leaders, Our Princes, pp. 276–277) No one knows how much Tehillim Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka—the wife of the Tzemach Tzedek—read throughout her life. But as we can see, the power of the psalms she read saved her people from various harsh decrees and helped her husband rescue the cantonists.  (From the book “Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka” by Leah Yaakobi)