From the Deep - Praise the Lord - Psalm 148

Marduk and Tiamat

Psalm 148:1-7

1] Hallelujah! Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the heights. 2] Praise Him, all His angels, praise Him all his hosts. 3] Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him all the bright stars. 4] Praise him, highest heavens, and waters that are above the heavens. 5] Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded that they be created. 6] He made them endure forever, placing a boundary that they cannot cross. 7] Praise the Lord from the earth, sea monsters (taninim) and all depths (tehomot).

 א הַֽלְלוּיָ֨הּ ׀ הַֽלְל֣וּ אֶת־ה מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֑יִם הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּ בַּמְּרוֹמִֽים: ב הַֽלְל֥וּהוּ כָּל־מַלְאָכָ֑יו הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּ כָּל־צבאו [צְבָאָֽיו]: ג הַֽ֭לְלוּהוּ שֶׁ֣מֶשׁ וְיָרֵ֑חַ הַ֝לְל֗וּהוּ כָּל־כּ֥וֹכְבֵי אֽוֹר: ד הַֽ֭לְלוּהוּ שְׁמֵ֣י הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וְ֝הַמַּ֗יִם אֲשֶׁ֤ר ׀ מֵעַ֬ל הַשָּׁמָֽיִם: ה יְֽ֭הַֽלְלוּ אֶת־שֵׁ֣ם ה כִּ֤י ה֭וּא צִוָּ֣ה וְנִבְרָֽאוּ: ו וַיַּֽעֲמִידֵ֣ם לָעַ֣ד לְעוֹלָ֑ם חָק־נָ֝תַ֗ן וְלֹ֣א יַֽעֲבֽוֹר: ז הַֽלְל֣וּ אֶת־ה מִן־הָאָ֑רֶץ תַּ֝נִּינִ֗ים וְכָל־תְּהֹמֽוֹת:

If you've been reading 'From the Deep' from the beginning, you might be starting to wonder why I keep talking about the sea monsters as the enemies of God and God's divine order. Where are all the mentions of combat and fighting? Apart from in Psalm 74, we've seen little evidence of such myths. Well, today we still won't, as we conclude our journey through the sea monsters of the book of Psalms with a final harmonious view of the sea monsters in creation.

Psalm 148 is traditionally recited every day as part of the morning service, and it describes God's harmonious creation with everything in it praising God. Among those mentioned that should praise God, in a list that goes on to include mountains, beasts and all human beings, are the sea monsters and the depths. We've already seen in Genesis 1 that the word Tanin shares a root with the Canaanite Tunannu, but the word 'depths' or Tehomot in Hebrew, is new to our exploration.

Tehomot is related to the Babylonian Tiamat, who in the epic myth of Enuma Elish, is the divine primordial ocean, progenitor of the gods, who must ultimately be slain by Marduk in his rise to chief deity. Thus both Taninim and Tehomot have deep mythological connections.

So why are they placed in the list of beings that should praise God?

The High Holy Days - A reflection

While getting in the mood for Yom Kippur, I found this reflective piece I wrote last year about an encounter on the plane back to New York - what actually happened, and what, perhaps, I could have done differently.

Normal service, with a new chapter of Radiance, should begin again next week. If you're keeping Yom Kippur I wish you gemar chatima tova - may you be sealed in the book of life.

    “Are you learning gemara?”
    I crane my head, surprised and interrupted by the previously nondescript young man sitting two seats over, raising his voice over the background roar of clouds and jet engines.
    “Yes, I’m about to,” I respond.
    The flight from Heathrow to JFK is long and drawn out, a skein of wool pulled across oceans and stretched between worlds. My seat is resistant and makes me squirm, though it still feels good to sit at all after the long day and night of standing before God. The gates are closed now, and so I sit, and prepare to prepare for normal classes to resume.
    “Could you study in the memory of my friend who passed away, Jessica Spengler?”
    (I don’t know if I looked at him then, though I like to imagine that I took a moment, a pause, to see who was sitting next to me, the man himself. But maybe I didn’t. Maybe I never saw him at all.)
    “She wasn’t Jewish,” he adds.