Psalm 23

Mt af Tet es Ae POSS AON AEE DAES I ee anny) Seep eee Se ee want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He refreshes my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You set a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup is filled to overflowing. May goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life, and may I live in the House of the LORD for evermore. No Kiddush is said before Se'uda Shelishit. However, some say the following: vaKX And Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is the Sabbath for the LORD, Ex.16 today You will not find it in the field. For the LORD has given you the Sabbath; and so He will give you the bread of two days on the sixth of every week: sit each of you in his place, and do not go out on the seventh day.’ And all of the people rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day Ex. 20 and declared it holy. Please pay attention, my masters. ‘3113 Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. The metaphor then changes. Now the Psalmist is a guest at God’s table, his cup of wine filled to overflowing, his head anointed with oil (oil was placed on the heads of honored guests at banquets: see Ecclesiastes 9:8; Psalm 92:11). Though his enemies are close, they can do him no harm for he is under his host’s protection. The last line delivers the unexpected denouement: the place where the poet experiences these rich feelings of safety is the Temple, “the House of the LORD.’ Said here, toward the end of Shabbat, the psalm has particular force. Often Jews were all too conscious of the dangers that lay ahead as they left the refuge of Shabbat and prepared to reengage with the world outside. With them, however, they took the courage born of faith that “I will fear no evil, for You are with me.”