My mouth was full of Your praises. All day long I praised You (Psalms 71:8).

Last Sunday, about twenty women in the community studied together the practice of reading psalms, Tehilim in Hebrew (from the word Tehilà, meaning praise), and the custom of reading them at different times in life. Many others participated and joined the project proposed by ADEI from their own homes.
The project, which called for the reading of as many psalms as possible by women from around the world, through an app that assigned each woman the desired number of chapters to recite (one, two, or even ten chapters), added a special and moving innovation: each woman wrote to whom she wanted to dedicate her recitation, and for what area of ​​life—health, success, family tranquility—and received a randomly assigned name of another person and their wish. I personally received a certain Ruben son of (mother’s name), a complete stranger, probably from Mexico, who became very dear to me after reading my psalms, imagining them to be for his good. This system, knowing that while I pray for one there is another woman in the world who prays for me, adheres to the Talmudic law which states:

“Whoever asks for mercy for his neighbor because of the same need that he has, will be heard first.”

A wonderful rule that promotes movement toward others, ensuring that each of us steps out of ourselves a little, shifts our normal self-absorption from our own difficulties, and sees the needs of our partner—even if they’re a stranger from faraway Mexico.
It was a wonderful initiative by Adei that we all happily embraced, between one celebration and another, using the meeting for a pleasant aperitif, studying together with our Rabbaniot Alessandra Somekh and Tiziana Finzi the ways of reading the psalms, particularly beloved chapters, and various explanations and anecdotes related to the reading of the Tehilim.

Ruth Mussi