Saying Tehillim In Its Entirety While Standing

Reb Akiva at Mystical Paths analyzes a brand new segulah, perhaps some of it from Rabbi Yom Tov of Bnei Brak, of saying all of Tehillim while standing up, and finds troubling aspects of it, in terms of a "subtle deviation from Torah Judaism concepts." He finds troubling aspects of the "cleaning and preparing"; "being prepared for the coming light"; and the "surrender". See inside.

I would add that it strikes me as adding more suffering in order to improve the efficacy of the segulah, which is strange. And more than that, see Tosafot on Berachot 51b, dibbur hamatchil והלכתא בכולהו יושב ומברך, where he states that since Birchat haMazon is Biblical, they imposed a chumra that one should sit while bentching, rather than standing. I would add that sitting allows one to have increased focus and concentration, which is how I would understand this extra requirement by bentching. And indeed, that is how Aruch haShulchan, Orach Chaim, siman 183, seif 8 explains it, where he also suggests that one be machmir for al haMichya to sit.

Why, then, would it be better to stand while saying all of Tehillim, such that one is not able to focus as well? Because it is a hard thing to do, so God will reward Olympic Tehillim zugging, rather than Tehillim said with introspection, thought, and emotion? Do we not say that Rachmana liba ba'i, Hashem desires our hearts? It seems to me that the idea of saying all of Tehillim, rather than specific perakim relevant to the request or problem, such that one can channel one's bakasha through those words, also seems motivated by the idea that Hashem awards Olympic Tehillim zugging rather than intent and feeling.

At any rate, here is the segulah:

by Sara of (an unnamed Kabbalah discussion site)

The Segulah of reading the entire book of Tehilim standing up

The Story

It was ten years ago when I first learned the Segulah of reading the entire book of Tehilim standing up.

I was in Israel and was consulting Rabbi Yom Tov in Bnei Brak from time to time. Most of our communication was conducted over the phone, but he was seeing people at a small room outside his home so I went to see him sometimes for guidance and sometimes just to discuss life.

I always returned with gifts and on one very special occasion the gift was that he shared with me this Segulah that brought a lot of change into my life.

I was talking about a situation that I wasn't sure how to solve in a way that would serve everyone. I kept feeling that I was missing something and then he told me:

"You know there is something that I've learned from my Rabbi many years ago. If you read the entire book of Tehilim standing up you are able to ask for anything and your request would be granted".

I looked at him and asked the first thing I that came into my mind. It takes a long time can you stand for so long? Won't your feet hurt?

He looked back at me and said ask for help and it would be given.

The process

After cleaning and preparing for the event. Just stand in the place you feel is most suitable.

Say the prayers that are said before reading Tehilim chapters and then just start reading out loud.

It takes almost three hours including the closing prayers that are said after reading Tehilim chapters.

When you finish make your personal requests, thank for anything that comes and rest.

Be prepared for a sleepless night as the coming light is so strong that the entire body feels so much alive you might not need sleep. It varies from person to person but I know several people whose body reacted the same way.

The requests

I was planning to ask for help in some concrete situation but at the end all I could ask was for guidance and that the situation would resolve at the best way that reflected Hashem will.

I completely forgot about all the things I thought were a desirable result and it is a very good thing that I did as what happened was much beyond what I could have asked for.

The key is to surrender.

A word of advice

Don't let your set goals and desires to scare you into not surrendering in this way.

I too was concerned that the things I wanted to ask for were too ordinary to use such a strong Segulah. At the end of the reading you'll know exactly what to ask and it won't be something trivial.

Don't turn it into something you do more than you need to as there is a great wisdom in asking for just the right amount of light and blessings that you really need.

Use of a floating wooden plate to find a corpse, in Taamei Haminhagim

I meant to post this here a day or two ago, when I put it on parshablog, but here it is:

As a followup to my previous post about "A Miracle Worthy of Elisha," it seems that there is a similar segulah mentioned in Taamei Haminhagim, by Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Sperling (1851-1921) and accessible at HebrewBooks.org on this page here (page 582 in the pdf pager, or 569 if you have the physical book). The image to the right is the relevant selection.

In this accounting of the segulah, it seems that they do not use a flat bread with a lit candle on it. Rather, "if they throw a wooden plate upon the face of the waters and leave it, it floats of its own accord to the place where it stops of its own accord. Then, in that place, that is where he drowned." He cited Yosef Ometz, page 205, though I cannot at the moment track the specific sefer and the specific page.

But written there is: "I have heard that via this segulah they found a certain man whose name was Meir, the father-in-law of Tevlin {?} David, who is near Pidkap {?}. And if the matter is true, it is a segulah and a wondrous matter to permit the wife of the one drowned, such that she does not need to dwell as an agunah."

Thus, they came up with the same idea I did -- why not use this in general to be mattir agunot, whether in a body of water that has an end, or does not have an end? I am not sure if he meant this specifically where they find the body in this location, or if one is so confident in the efficacy of the segulah that one could use this. If the latter, it would be an interesting intersection between miracles and halacha, something discussed here earlier.

There is a difference here in what they did, from the practice mentioned in Taamei HaMinhagim. All sorts of additions to the practice as mentioned in taamei haminhagim. Here, they baked a bread with the meis in mind, and put a candle on it. And after they found the "spot," they dropped a stone with writing attached to it, to get the body to come up. And they had a bunch of rabbis saying tehillim and tefillot. This frums it up a bit, but at the same time makes it into greater sorcery. And I still do not think that it works, or worked.

A Miracle Worthy of Elisha

Over at The Yeshiva World, a miracle worthy of Elishah. Unfortunately, a Jewish man drowned on Monday, August 25th. One week later, on Monday, Sept 1, the following happened.

Sources told YWN that approximately 5:00AM on Monday morning, a group of 10 Rabbonim gathered on a boat on the lake, and performed a Segula in the hope of finding the body of Naftali Z”L. Apparently, a flat bread was baked in his Zechus, and the bread was set afloat on the lake with a lit candle on it.

Certain Tehillim and other Tefillos were then said until the bread stopped moving. At that precise location a stone was dropped into the water, and shortly later the body rose to the surface!

May his family be comforted, and the fact that the body was found and may now be buried give them closure.

This calls to mind the story in which Elisha, a miracle worker empowered because he was a Navi Hashem, brought up an axe-head from the water. In II Melachim 6:

א וַיֹּאמְרוּ בְנֵי-הַנְּבִיאִים, אֶל-אֱלִישָׁע: הִנֵּה-נָא הַמָּקוֹם, אֲשֶׁר אֲנַחְנוּ יֹשְׁבִים שָׁם לְפָנֶיךָ--צַר מִמֶּנּוּ.	1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha: 'Behold now, the place where we dwell before thee is too strait for us.
ב נֵלְכָה-נָּא עַד-הַיַּרְדֵּן, וְנִקְחָה מִשָּׁם אִישׁ קוֹרָה אֶחָת, וְנַעֲשֶׂה-לָּנוּ שָׁם מָקוֹם, לָשֶׁבֶת שָׁם; וַיֹּאמֶר, לֵכוּ.	2 Let us go, we pray thee, unto the Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell.' And he answered: 'Go ye.'
ג וַיֹּאמֶר, הָאֶחָד, הוֹאֶל נָא, וְלֵךְ אֶת-עֲבָדֶיךָ; וַיֹּאמֶר, אֲנִי אֵלֵךְ.	3 And one said: 'Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants.' And he answered: 'I will go.'
ד וַיֵּלֶךְ, אִתָּם; וַיָּבֹאוּ, הַיַּרְדֵּנָה, וַיִּגְזְרוּ, הָעֵצִים.	4 So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood.
ה וַיְהִי הָאֶחָד מַפִּיל הַקּוֹרָה, וְאֶת-הַבַּרְזֶל נָפַל אֶל-הַמָּיִם; וַיִּצְעַק וַיֹּאמֶר אֲהָהּ אֲדֹנִי, וְהוּא שָׁאוּל.	5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water; and he cried, and said: 'Alas, my master! for it was borrowed.'
ו וַיֹּאמֶר אִישׁ-הָאֱלֹהִים, אָנָה נָפָל; וַיַּרְאֵהוּ, אֶת-הַמָּקוֹם, וַיִּקְצָב-עֵץ וַיַּשְׁלֶךְ-שָׁמָּה, וַיָּצֶף הַבַּרְזֶל.	6 And the man of God said: 'Where fell it?' And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and made the iron to swim.
ז וַיֹּאמֶר, הָרֶם לָךְ; וַיִּשְׁלַח יָדוֹ, וַיִּקָּחֵהוּ. {פ}	7 And he said: 'Take it up to thee.' So he put out his hand, and took it. {P}

However, the way this "segulah" was performed today strikes me as practical magic, perhaps within applied kabbalah. But it is not a good thing. It approaches witchcraft and divination. There was the divination to find the place of the body and the sinking of the stone (which does sink, unlike a stick) to bring up the body.

This does not seem like my Judaism.

What about the particulars of the case? It truly seems miraculous, no?

Well, they are leaving out or glossing over a bunch of details, which are revealed in the comment section.

1) The park ranger said that it takes about 1 week to 13 days for a body to come to the surface. This was 1 week later, so it is entirely within derech hateva for the body to have come up yesterday.

2) This was not the first time they tried this segulah. They tried it on previous days, with no results. This was the third time they tried it. And I guess, the third time was the "charm."

3) This was kept secret until success, at which point someone leaked it. Had it not succeeded, we would have heard nothing about it. Which means we will only hear success stories to bolster the belief in the segulah, and no contrary evidence. Indeed, even when it worked the first time, the published story made no mention of the previous attempts.

4) The body did not immediately float up. They left the lake at 8 AM and the body was found at about 11:30 AM, which is 3 and 1/2 hours later.

5) They did not find the exact spot. Depending on which comment you are relying upon, the body was spotted floating about 150, or else 300 yards away from where they dropped the rock with the message attached. That is either 3, or 1 and a half, football fields away. If the flat bread segulah was supposed to divine the spot the body was, why did it not float an additional 150 t0 300 yards?

6) Also, Chazal talk about agunah situations involving a body lost in and mayim sheyesh lahem sof and mayim sheain lahem sof. See e.g. Yevamot 115a. Why didn't they use this segulah to simply find the body?

So we have a segulah which looks like divination and witchcraft, and the particulars, when you actually examine them closely, are none too impressive. Of course, when it is told over years from now, these particulars will likely not be mentioned, and it will be much more difficult to discover them. I don't think that this kind of inspirational story is the type that should be spread.

Update: In the comment section at parshablog, moshe points out that this is a mistaken pseudo-scientific belief, based on the properties of quicksilver, and is mentioned in Huck Finn and covered in the New York Times.

Thanks!