Shir HaMa'alot—15 Psalms Against the Flood and Witchcraft
Shir HaMa'alot—15 Psalms Against the Flood and Witchcraft
The 15 Psalms of "Shir HaMa'alot" are Psalms 120–134.
The number 15 indicates the existence of a hierarchy of spiritual levels. The source of these levels is the Name of the Almighty, consisting of the two letters י "Yud" and ה "Heh", through which the world was created (through י "Yud"—the World to Come, and through ה "Heh""—this world), whose combined gematria is 15. (The Maharal of Prague).
The lunar cycle plays an important role in Jewish tradition, symbolizing a person's capacity for spiritual renewal and growth. Let us recall that exactly 15 days pass from the new moon to the full moon.
15 generations passed from Abraham—the first Jew—to King Solomon, under whom the Jewish kingdom reached unprecedented prosperity.
The Kaddish prayer contains 15 expressions of praise of the Almighty.
15 years during which all three Patriarchs of the Jewish people lived simultaneously in the Land of Israel were years of unprecedented blessing for the entire world.
15 words comprise the Priestly Blessing—Birkat Kohanim—the most powerful berachah among the Jewish people. (Yosef Tehillot).
The Passover Haggadah enumerates 15 stages of the people's ascent from the depths of Egyptian slavery to the building of the Temple.
15 steps led from the Women's Courtyard of the Holy Temple to the courtyard where men from all the tribes of Israel could be present.
The Levites sang 15 Songs of Ascents as they climbed from one step to the next.
15 hymns to G-d were composed by Jews of different generations. (Sforno).
It is stated in Bereishit Rabbah (74:11) that, in order to drive away sleep (when he was serving Laban), Jacob sang Shir HaMa'alot.
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Jacob recited the 15 "Songs of Ascents" found in Tehillim. This is alluded to in the words: Shir HaMa'alot, LeDavid, Lulei Adonai Shehayah Lanu, Yomar Na Yisrael—(A Song of Ascents, by David. Had it not been for the L-rd, who was with us—let Israel say)—this refers to Israel-Jacob.
King David and Shir HaMa'alot
The Midrash relates that although King David did not build the Temple, he dug the foundation pits for it. So that the wine of the nesachim (libations), passing through openings in the altar's foundation, would pour into the deepest layers of the earth, he excavated to a depth of more than 1,500 cubits. When he reached this depth, David discovered a piece of clay that he thought had been placed there by human hands. He therefore wanted to dig still deeper, until he reached untouched earth. But when he tried to dig further, he suddenly received a message—it seemed to come miraculously from the piece of clay he had found.
"Stop here! —the clay commanded. —You have reached the place where the underground waters are confined. I was placed here to prevent them from emerging."
"Who placed you here?" David asked.
"According to the laws of nature, the underground waters should have risen and flooded the earth," the clay explained, "but by the command of the Almighty, they have been held in place since the time of Creation. Until the Giving of the Torah, the earth remained in turmoil (for had the people of Israel not accepted the Divine Torah, the entire world would have been destroyed). On the day the Torah was given, the Almighty placed me here to seal the underground waters firmly and forever."
David did not heed the warning. He lifted the piece of clay. At that very moment, water began rising from the depths, threatening to flood the earth. The prophet forbade David from building the Temple, and David was also forbidden to dig a pit for its foundation.
The laying of the Temple's foundation was a pivotal moment in the history of all humanity—it was to complete the Giving of the Torah. When the Torah was given, the Shechinah descended to earth temporarily. Now it was to dwell in the Temple forever.
At decisive moments in history, the Accuser appears, condemning the sins of the Jewish people. The descent of the Shechinah into the midst of the people of Israel was accompanied by a spiritual battle Above, and the world was therefore threatened with flooding. But when the spiritual victory was won, the Accuser fell silent.
"Who can save us from the flood?" David cried out.
"The waters would have inundated us, the torrent would have swept over our soul; then the raging waters would have swept over our soul." (Tehillim 124:4–5).
David's wisest minister, Ahithophel, was nearby, but offered no advice. This treacherous man would certainly not have objected to David's drowning; he would then have found a way to calm the waters and declared himself heir to the throne. "Anyone who can stop the waters and does not reveal his secret deserves to be hanged!" David proclaimed in despair. Only then did Ahithophel advise David: "If the Holy Name of Hashem (which, at Creation, confined these waters to their appointed place) is written on a scroll and thrown into the water, they will calm down."
If, for the sake of restoring peace between husband and wife, the Almighty permits His Name to be erased in the bitter waters of the sotah, then surely He permits it to be dissolved for the sake of restoring harmony throughout the universe. As soon as the scroll bearing the Holy Name touched the waters, they calmed. They became completely still at a depth of 1,500 cubits below the earth's surface.
David thought: "If the waters of the depths rose higher, that would benefit the plants."
Then 15 songs of Shir HaMa'alot (Tehillim 120–134) poured from his lips, and with each one the water rose by one hundred cubits.
Although Ahithophel revealed the secret of how to calm the waters, David's words came true (for the words of a sage have power). Ahithophel hanged himself with his own hands (II Samuel 17:23). (Based on the book by Moshe Weissman, "The Midrash Says")
Moreover, Rabbi Yosef of Dubno writes in the book "Yesod Yosef" that when David HaMelech was deepening the ground for the Temple altar, the water began rising specifically because of witchcraft performed many hundreds of years earlier. David HaMelech then recited Shir HaMa'alot, and the witchcraft was nullified. Therefore, when witchcraft is suspected, one should recite Shir HaMa'alot with kavanah and ask Hashem to remove all harm caused by witchcraft from the entire people of Israel. (Based on the book "David's Candle" by Moshe Abramovich)
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Tags: The Hidden Meaning of Tehillim, Tehillim 120–134, Shir HaMa'alot, or How to Calm the Waters with the 15 Psalms, Shir HaMa'alot – Psalms for Protection from the Flood and Witchcraft, Shir HaMa'alot, The Number 15 in Judaism
