Tehillim 137 | “By the Rivers of Babylon”

Psalm 137 opens with intense emotion: the exiles in Babylon sit by the rivers and weep. They remember the destroyed Zion and refuse to be comforted. They hang up their harps — as if stowing away the possibility of joy. Chazal also linked the destruction to the cessation of music: “From the time when the Sanhedrin ceased – song was also nullified from the places of feasts... Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, said: From that which the verse states: ‘The Elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music’” (Sota 48a). Their captors demand they sing a “song of Zion,” but they respond with refusal: How can we sing God’s song in a foreign land?

In the second section, the poet swears the famous oath of remembrance: “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.” Rav Elchanan Samet, in the article attached, analyzes the psalm as describing a gradual process of acclimation to exile. At first, the exiles are overcome with spontaneous grief. But as time passes, they begin to adapt — thus, in order to continue remembering Jerusalem, they must make a vow. The psalm, then, describes the process of adaptation to exile and the transition from spontaneous mourning to long-term remembrance. Rav Samet compares this to Yirmeyahu’s prophecy that encouraged the exiles to settle down in Babylon: “This is what the Lord of Hosts, God of Israel, said to all the exiles…: Build houses and dwell in them” (Yirmeyahu 29:4–5). He also shows how the same process is described by Chazal in relation to the destruction of the Second Temple (Bava Batra 60b):

“The Sages taught: When the Temple was destroyed a second time, there was an increase in the number of ascetics among the Jews, whose practice was to not eat meat and to not drink wine. Rabbi Yehoshua joined them to discuss their practice. He said to them: My children, for what reason do you not eat meat and do you not drink wine? They said to him: Shall we eat meat, from which offerings are sacrificed upon the altar, and now the altar has ceased to exist? Shall we drink wine, which is poured as a libation upon the altar, and now the altar has ceased to exist?”

These ascetics express the initial mourning, just like the opening of our psalm — the inability to accept the new reality. Rabbi Yehoshua then pushes their logic to the extreme, showing that this would lead to abstaining from food and drink entirely. In the end, he concludes:

“To not mourn at all is impossible, as the decree was already issued and the Temple has been destroyed. But to mourn excessively as you are doing is also impossible.”

The sages therefore instituted enduring practices of remembrance:

“A person may plaster his house with plaster, but he must leave over a small amount in it without plaster… a woman may engage in all of her cosmetic treatments, but she must leave out a small matter... as it is stated: ‘If I forget you, O Jerusalem...’”

The practices of remembrance are derived from the verse in our psalm, which, as noted, marks the transition from spontaneous grief to long-term memory and adaptation to exile.

The psalm concludes with a plea that God remember the destruction and repay the enemies in kind: “Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell.” In this way, the psalm completes a circle of remembrance: the exiles remember Jerusalem and vow never to forget it  — and they ask God to remember as well.

One final question remains: What is the role of such a deeply exilic psalm in the heart of the fifth book of Tehillim, which is largely devoted to redemption, praise, and thanksgiving? For that, we will turn tomorrow to Psalm 138, which completes the picture.

***

It seems so fitting that today [the morning after America's direct involvement in our war in Iran] we study Psalm 136 - the Great Hallel:
"Who remembered us in our lowly state – His loving-kindness is forever;
And rescued us from our tormentors – His loving-kindness is forever; 
Who gives food to all flesh – His loving-kindness is forever. 
Give thanks to the God of heaven – His loving-kindness is forever."