Practices for Reading Tehillim — The Reverse (Return) Order of Reading Tehillim

Practices for Reading Tehillim — The Reverse (Return) Order of Reading Tehillim

Chazal offer us several ways to elevate praises to the Holy One, blessed be He, in order to strengthen our prayers. 1. Reading Tehillim for a Set Period One well-known practice is to repeat specific psalms a certain number of times—for example, for an eye ailment, “Shimush Tehillim” recommends reading Psalm 6 seven times a day for seven consecutive days. 2. Reading a Specific Selection of Psalms There is a well-known practice of reading several Tehillim consecutively in a specific order—“Tikun HaKlali”—ten psalms beginning with specific words from the ten fundamental words that form the framework of the entire book of Tehillim; Tikkun HaKlali - the Fundamental Rectification of Pgam HaBrit 3. Reading Acrostics According to Rabbanit Batsheva Kanievsky, reading three psalms whose opening letters form an acrostic—the Hebrew names of the numbers 48, 35, and 91—produces the phrase “Machlah Tze”—“Away with illness.” 3 Tehillim for the Healing of Rabbanit Kanievsky, or How Acronyms Heal The same method is used with Psalm 65 for good fortune: the letters representing 65—סה—form the Hebrew phrase “Sod Hatzlachah.” 4. Circling with Tehillim When our ancestors began building new neighborhoods or homes in Jerusalem, they would circle the entire area designated for construction while reading Psalm 91—“Shir Shel Pega'im”—seven times. Chazal teach that it should be read as follows: begin with the last line of Psalm 90: “Vihi Noam HaShem Eloheinu”—twice. Psalm 91 is represented in Hebrew by צ — צא (tzadi = 90) and א  (aleph = 1)—the gematria of the word “Amen.” Tehillim 91 – “Shir Shel Pegaim” – the Song of the Afflicted It is well known that the Mekubalim advise making hakafot (circuits) counterclockwise around the kever of the great Tanna Rabbi Yehuda bar Ilai, reciting Psalm 29 seven times together with the prayer “Ana BeChoach,” and so on. 5. The Reverse (Return) Order of Reading There is another unusual practice in reading Tehillim—the reverse (return) order of reading the words. The holy Zohar reveals the hidden meaning of this method of reading using Tehillim (32:7) as an example: “Atah seter li, mi-tzar titzreni—ronnei falet tesoveveni selah”—(You are my shelter; protect me from my enemy, surround me forever with songs of deliverance). “Rabbi Yose said: “Atah seter li” —(You are my shelter). This refers to the Kadosh Baruch Hu, Who conceals and protects a person who follows the path of Torah. A person is saved beneath the shelter of His Wings, so that no one can harm him. It may be asked: if it has already been said, “Atah seter li,” why must we continue, “mi-tzar titzreni” —(protect me from my enemy)? Is this not the same as “Atah seter li”? The answer is: above and below. Above, a person has haters and enemies, and concerning this it is said: “Atah seter li.” Below, there are also enemies. And who are they? The Yetzer Hara. Therefore it is said: “mi-tzar titzreni.” There is a “tzar”—an oppressor—above, and a “tzar”—an oppressor—below. It descends and incites a person to sin, then rises and denounces him. If not for the Yetzer Hara, a person would have no haters in the world; but it exists, and therefore it is written, “mi-tzar titzreni”—shelter me from the hater and protect me from the oppressor. This refers to the Yetzer Hara. Why does he turn to the Kadosh Baruch Hu with the words: “Surround me”? The reason is that these songs contain levels of salvation. Concerning this verse from Tehillim it is said: “This entire sentence can be read in the ordinary order, as written, or in the opposite direction—“selah tesoveveni”—(Shechinah, surround me).” “Palet rannei”—(the song will save and deliver me). “Titzreni mi-tzar li seter Atah”—(You will save me from trouble; You, my Savior, conceal me). It is said this way because these songs contain levels of salvation. And concerning this verse from Tehillim it is said: “However one reads this verse—from beginning to end or from end to beginning—its meaning does not change.” Reading in the ordinary order—from beginning to end—indicates the right line and the Ohr of Chasadim, which shines from above downward. Reading from end to beginning—in reverse order—indicates the left line, that is, the Ohr of Chochmah, which shines from below upward. Because both kinds of Light are mentioned in the verse, it can be read from beginning to end and from end to beginning, for it contains both the right and left lines. In other words, both kinds of Light are drawn down—the direct and the returning Light. This strengthens our prayer and makes it possible for our prayer to be accepted. There are several segulot based on this way of reading Tehillim. 1) Tehillim 32—the Segulah of Rabbi Yehuda HaChassid It is transmitted in the name of Rabbi Yehuda HaChassid (may his merit protect us)—a distinguished 12th-century Jewish sage and kabbalist, author of Sefer HaChassidim (“The Book of the Pious”)—that whoever reads every day the verses whose first letters form the acrostic AVI (“My Father”) in both the regular and reverse order will be saved from all troubles: “Atah seter li, mi-tzar titzreni—ronnei falet tesoveveni selah. Selah tesoveveni falet ronnei titzreni mi-tzar li seter Atah. Bitchu ve-Ad-nai adei ad, ki ve-Yah Ad-nai Tzur Olamim. Olamim Tzur Ad-nai be-Yah ki ad adei ad ve-Ad-nai bitchu. Ad-nai oz le-amo yiten, Ad-nai yevarech et amo ve-shalom. Ve-shalom amo et yevarech Ad-nai yiten le-amo oz Ad-nai.” (“Kaf HaChaim” (286: 8), Sefer “Segulot Yisrael” (90,20) 2) Tehillim 59:17—the famous segulah of the Arizal (may his merit protect us) for protection and good fortune in times of trouble. [Recite seven times]: “Va-ani ash ir uzzecha va-aranen la-boker chasdecha ki hayita misgav li u-manos be-yom tzar li. Li tzar be-yom u-manos li misgav hayita ki chasdecha la-boker va-aranen uzzecha ashir va-ani.” (And I will sing of Your strength, and in the morning I will praise Your kindness, for You were my stronghold and refuge on the day of my distress.) “Yihyu le-ratzon imrei fi ve-hegyon libi lefanekha, Ad-nai Tzuri ve-Goali.” (Rabbi Meir Mazuz, “Yeshivat Kise Rahamim”) 3) Tehillim 91:16 There is a beautiful minhag to repeat the final verse of Psalm 91: “Orech yamim asbiehu”—twice, and then read it in reverse order. According to one opinion, this is done in order to bring the number of verses in the psalm to 17 (the gematria of the word “tov”), since Psalm 91 contains 16 verses. (“Birnbaum Siddur HaSiddur HaShalem,” p. 310) Avudraham teaches that this provides protection for the 248 eivarim (limbs). Maharam explains that repeating this verse twice gives the numerical value of the word “Kohanim,” and this is connected to the fact that the Hasmoneans were kohanim. When they went to war, they recited “Vihi Noam” seven times and “Orech Yamim” twice—and they were victorious. (Tashbatz 258) Reading this verse in reverse strengthens the prayer and draws down its acceptance. (Based on the lessons of Rav Tzvi NisanZon on Bereishit, Parshat Vayishlach, the fifth day, drawing on materials from “Sila Tehilim”)