מֵעִנְיַן אֲמִירַת תְּהִלִּים
Finding Yourself in Tehillim
The main thing in saying Tehillim is to say every psalm about yourself and find yourself in it: Dovid HaMelech's wars are your own war with the evil inclination. Even his self-praise, 'for I am devout', applies to you: judge yourself favourably and find your good point. As Yehoshafat lifted his heart in the ways of Hashem, and as each morning we first say 'what are we' and then 'but we are Your people', a person must be humble and then strong. The last Torah of Tinyana.
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הַמָּקוֹר · Original text
מֵעִנְיַן אֲמִירַת תְּהִלִּים
דִּבֵּר עִם אֶחָד וְאָמַר לוֹ, שֶׁעִקָּר אֲמִירַת תְּהִלִּים לוֹמַר כָּל מִזְמוֹרֵי תְּהִלִּים עַל עַצְמוֹ, לִמְצֹא אֶת עַצְמוֹ בְּתוֹךְ כָּל מִזְמוֹר וּמִזְמוֹר. וְשָׁאַל אוֹתוֹ זַ"ל: אֵיךְ, וּפֵרֵשׁ לוֹ רַבֵּנוּ זַ"ל קְצָת, כִּי כָל הַמִּלְחָמוֹת שֶׁבִּקֵּשׁ דָּוִד הַמֶּלֶךְ, עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם, שֶׁיַּצִּילֵהוּ הַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ מֵהֶם – הַכֹּל צְרִיכִין לְפָרֵשׁ לְעַצְמוֹ עַל מִלְחֶמֶת הַיֵּצֶר הָרָע וְחֵילוֹתָיו, וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּזֶה בִּשְׁאָר הַמִּזְמוֹרִים (וְכַמְבֹאָר מִזֶּה לְעֵיל בְּסִימָן קא).
וְשָׁאַל אוֹתוֹ: אֵיךְ יְפָרֵשׁ לְעַצְמוֹ מֵהַפְּסוּקִים, שֶׁדָּוִד הַמֶּלֶךְ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם מְשַׁבֵּחַ אֶת עַצְמוֹ, כְּגוֹן: שָׁמְרָה נַפְשִׁי כִּי חָסִיד אָנִי (תהלים פו), וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּזֶה. הֵשִׁיב לוֹ: גַּם זֶה צְרִיכִין לְפָרֵשׁ עַל עַצְמוֹ, כִּי צְרִיכִין לָדוּן אֶת עַצְמוֹ לְכַף זְכוּת, וְלִמְצֹא בְּעַצְמוֹ אֵיזֶה זְכוּת וּנְקֻדָּה טוֹבָה, אֲשֶׁר בִּבְחִינַת הַנְּקֻדָּה טוֹבָה הַזֹּאת הוּא בְּחִינַת חָסִיד, וְכַיּוֹצֵא.
וְאָמַר לוֹ רַבֵּנוּ זַ"ל: הֲלֹא אֵצֶל יְהוֹשָׁפָט כְּתִיב (ד"ה־ב יז): וַיִּגְבַּהּ לִבּוֹ בְּדַרְכֵי ה', שֶׁבְּדַרְכֵי ה' וַעֲבוֹדָתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ הִגְבִּיהַּ לִבּוֹ קְצָת.
עוֹד אָמַר לוֹ רַבֵּנוּ זַ"ל: הֲלֹא בַּבֹּקֶר אָנוּ אוֹמְרִים בַּתְּחִלָּה: מָה אָנוּ מֶה חַיֵּינוּ וְכוּ', וְאָנוּ מַקְטִינִים עַצְמֵנוּ מְאֹד, וְאַחַר־כָּךְ אָנוּ אוֹמְרִים: אֲבָל אֲנַחְנוּ עַמְּךָ בְּנֵי בְרִיתֶךָ וְכוּ', שֶׁאַחַר־כָּךְ אָנוּ מְחַזְּקִים עַצְמֵנוּ וּמְרִימִים אֶת עַצְמֵנוּ, וְאָנוּ מְסַפְּרִים אֶת גְּדֻלָּתֵנוּ, וּמִתְפָּאֲרִים שֶׁאֲנַחְנוּ עַמּוֹ בְּנֵי בְרִיתוֹ זֶרַע אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב וְכוּ', כִּי כָּךְ צְרִיכִין לְהִתְנַהֵג בַּעֲבוֹדַת הַשֵּׁם כַּנַּ"ל.
וְעַיֵּן מִזֶּה בְּסוֹף סֵפֶר הָרִאשׁוֹן בְּסִימָן רפ"ב, עַל פָּסוּק: אֲזַמְּרָה
לֵאלֹקַי בְּעוֹדִי:
Hebrew text: Likutei Moharan Tinyana - rabenubook.com via Sefaria (Public Domain) · Sefaria. Names of Hashem are written in the customary form.
Transcripts
1-minute recap
Likutey Moharan Tinyana, Torah one hundred and twenty five: finding yourself in Tehillim.
The main thing in saying Tehillim is to say every psalm about yourself, and find yourself inside each one.
All of Dovid HaMelech's wars are your own war, against the evil inclination and its forces.
Even when Dovid praises himself, 'for I am devout', say it about yourself: find in yourself a good point.
Each morning we say: what are we? And then: but we are Your people. First humble, then strong.
Our own reflection: open Tehillim and look for yourself in it. Your battles are there, and your good points too.
Explainer
Likutey Moharan Tinyana, Torah one hundred and twenty five, the last Torah of Tinyana. How should we say Tehillim? Rebbe Nachman tells one of his followers: find yourself in it.
He told someone that the main thing in saying Tehillim is to say all the psalms about oneself: to find oneself in each and every psalm.
The man asked: how? The Rebbe explained a little. All the wars Dovid HaMelech asked Hashem to save him from, a person should read as his own war: the war with the evil inclination and its forces. And the same with the other psalms.
Then he asked: what about the verses where Dovid praises himself, like 'guard my soul, for I am devout'? The Rebbe answered: those too, say about yourself. Judge yourself favourably, and find in yourself some merit, some good point. In that good point, you are devout.
He added: about King Yehoshafat it is written, his heart was lifted up in the ways of Hashem. In the ways of Hashem and His service, it is right to lift the heart a little.
And every morning we first make ourselves small: what are we, what is our life? Then we say: but we are Your people, children of Your covenant, the children of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. First humility, then strength and pride in who we are. This is how one must serve Hashem. He points us to Likutey Moharan Torah two hundred and eighty two, on the verse: I will sing to my Elokim while I still exist.
Some reflections of our own, not a quotation. Tehillim is not someone else's diary. Your struggles are written there, and so are your good points. Say it about yourself.
Full shiur
— Part 1: Finding Yourself in Tehillim —
Likutey Moharan Tinyana, Torah one hundred and twenty five, the last Torah of Tinyana. A short shiur in one part: how to say Tehillim about yourself.
Gold is Rebbe Nachman's own words, from Likutey Moharan Tinyana, Torah one hundred and twenty five. Grey is a verse or teaching he quotes. Green is our own explanation. The Hebrew is the public-domain text from Sefaria; the English is our own paraphrase.
On the matter of saying Tehillim.
He spoke with someone and told him that the main thing in saying Tehillim is to say all the psalms of Tehillim about oneself: to find oneself within each and every psalm. The man asked him: how? And our Rebbe explained to him a little: all the wars that Dovid HaMelech, peace be upon him, asked Hashem to save him from, one must explain all of them to oneself as the war with the evil inclination and its forces, and so too with the other psalms. This is explained above, in Torah one hundred and one.
And he asked him: how should he explain to himself the verses where Dovid HaMelech, peace be upon him, praises himself, such as: guard my soul, for I am devout, and the like? He answered him: this too one must explain about oneself. For one must judge oneself favourably, and find in oneself some merit and good point; and in the aspect of this good point, he is in the aspect of devout, and the like.
And our Rebbe said to him: is it not written about Yehoshafat: his heart was lifted up in the ways of Hashem? That is, in the ways of Hashem and His service, he lifted his heart a little.
Our Rebbe also said to him: in the morning, at the start, we say: what are we, what is our life, and so on, and we make ourselves very small. Then we say: but we are Your people, the children of Your covenant, and so on. That is, afterwards we strengthen ourselves and lift ourselves up, and tell of our greatness, and take pride that we are His people, children of His covenant, the seed of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. For this is how one must conduct oneself in serving Hashem.
Our explanation, step by step. Every morning the siddur teaches the order. First we make ourselves small: what are we, what is our life? Then we lift ourselves up: but we are Your people. In Tehillim too, find your good point and stand on it; that is how a person can say 'for I am devout' about himself.
See more on this at the end of the first book, in Torah two hundred and eighty two, on the verse: I will sing to my Elokim while I still exist.
Some reflections of our own, not a quotation. Tehillim is your own story. Your battles are there, and so is your good point. First humble, then strong: we are His people.
This has been Likutey Moharan Tinyana, Torah one hundred and twenty five, the last Torah of Likutey Moharan Tinyana. Chazak, chazak, v'nischazek.
Sources for this Torah
Texts used
Hebrew: Likutei Moharan Tinyana (Part II), Torah 125, edition 'Likutei Moharan Tinyana – rabenubook.com', public domain, via Sefaria — https://www.sefaria.org/Likutei_Moharan%2C_Part_II.125
English: our own paraphrase of the Hebrew, written for these videos. It is not copied from any published translation.
Verses and teachings of the Sages appear only as Rebbe Nachman quotes them inside this Torah.
How the text is shown
The Divine Name is shown as ה' and voiced as Hashem. Other Names are written in the customary form (אֱלֹקִים, קֵ-ל, קָהּ, שַׁ-דַּ-י, אֲדֹ-נָ-י, אֶקְיֶ-ה, צְבָקוֹת). No full Name is written or voiced.
Parenthetical source references inside the printed Hebrew are left off the screen to save space; the citation line names the source instead.
Long paragraphs are shown in consecutive pieces. Every Hebrew word on screen is from the edition above; nothing is reworded.
Cards labelled EXPLANATION (green), and every line marked 'our own reflection — not a quote', are our own words, not quotations.
Every on-screen quotation in the full shiur, by part
Part 1 — Finding Yourself in Tehillim
Scene 3 · LM II:125 §1 · paragraph §1.1
מֵעִנְיַן אֲמִירַת תְּהִלִּים
EN (our paraphrase): On the matter of saying Tehillim.
Scene 4 · LM II:125 §1, on Likutei Moharan II, 101 · paragraph §1.2
דִּבֵּר עִם אֶחָד וְאָמַר לוֹ, שֶׁעִקָּר אֲמִירַת תְּהִלִּים לוֹמַר כָּל מִזְמוֹרֵי תְּהִלִּים עַל עַצְמוֹ, לִמְצֹא אֶת עַצְמוֹ בְּתוֹךְ כָּל מִזְמוֹר וּמִזְמוֹר. וְשָׁאַל אוֹתוֹ זַ"ל: אֵיךְ, וּפֵרֵשׁ לוֹ רַבֵּנוּ זַ"ל קְצָת, כִּי כָל הַמִּלְחָמוֹת שֶׁבִּקֵּשׁ דָּוִד הַמֶּלֶךְ, עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם, שֶׁיַּצִּילֵהוּ הַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ מֵהֶם – הַכֹּל צְרִיכִין לְפָרֵשׁ לְעַצְמוֹ עַל מִלְחֶמֶת הַיֵּצֶר הָרָע וְחֵילוֹתָיו, וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּזֶה בִּשְׁאָר הַמִּזְמוֹרִים.
EN (our paraphrase): He spoke with someone and told him that the main thing in saying Tehillim is to say all the psalms of Tehillim about oneself: to find oneself within each and every psalm. The man asked him: how? And our Rebbe explained to him a little: all the wars that Dovid HaMelech, peace be upon him, asked Hashem to save him from, one must explain all of them to oneself as the war with the evil inclination and its forces, and so too with the other psalms.
Scene 5 · LM II:125 §1, on Tehillim 86:2 · paragraph §1.3
וְשָׁאַל אוֹתוֹ: אֵיךְ יְפָרֵשׁ לְעַצְמוֹ מֵהַפְּסוּקִים, שֶׁדָּוִד הַמֶּלֶךְ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם מְשַׁבֵּחַ אֶת עַצְמוֹ, כְּגוֹן: שָׁמְרָה נַפְשִׁי כִּי חָסִיד אָנִי, וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּזֶה. הֵשִׁיב לוֹ: גַּם זֶה צְרִיכִין לְפָרֵשׁ עַל עַצְמוֹ, כִּי צְרִיכִין לָדוּן אֶת עַצְמוֹ לְכַף זְכוּת, וְלִמְצֹא בְּעַצְמוֹ אֵיזֶה זְכוּת וּנְקֻדָּה טוֹבָה, אֲשֶׁר בִּבְחִינַת הַנְּקֻדָּה טוֹבָה הַזֹּאת הוּא בְּחִינַת חָסִיד, וְכַיּוֹצֵא.
EN (our paraphrase): And he asked him: how should he explain to himself the verses where Dovid HaMelech, peace be upon him, praises himself, such as: guard my soul, for I am devout, and the like? He answered him: this too one must explain about oneself. For one must judge oneself favourably, and find in oneself some merit and good point; and in the aspect of this good point, he is in the aspect of devout, and the like.
Scene 6 · LM II:125 §1, on Divrei HaYamim II 17:6 · paragraph §1.4
וְאָמַר לוֹ רַבֵּנוּ זַ"ל: הֲלֹא אֵצֶל יְהוֹשָׁפָט כְּתִיב: וַיִּגְבַּהּ לִבּוֹ בְּדַרְכֵי ה', שֶׁבְּדַרְכֵי ה' וַעֲבוֹדָתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ הִגְבִּיהַּ לִבּוֹ קְצָת.
EN (our paraphrase): And our Rebbe said to him: is it not written about Yehoshafat: his heart was lifted up in the ways of Hashem? That is, in the ways of Hashem and His service, he lifted his heart a little.
Scene 7 · LM II:125 §1 · paragraph §1.5
עוֹד אָמַר לוֹ רַבֵּנוּ זַ"ל: הֲלֹא בַּבֹּקֶר אָנוּ אוֹמְרִים בַּתְּחִלָּה: מָה אָנוּ מֶה חַיֵּינוּ וְכוּ', וְאָנוּ מַקְטִינִים עַצְמֵנוּ מְאֹד, וְאַחַר־כָּךְ אָנוּ אוֹמְרִים: אֲבָל אֲנַחְנוּ עַמְּךָ בְּנֵי בְרִיתֶךָ וְכוּ', שֶׁאַחַר־כָּךְ אָנוּ מְחַזְּקִים עַצְמֵנוּ וּמְרִימִים אֶת עַצְמֵנוּ, וְאָנוּ מְסַפְּרִים אֶת גְּדֻלָּתֵנוּ, וּמִתְפָּאֲרִים שֶׁאֲנַחְנוּ עַמּוֹ בְּנֵי בְרִיתוֹ זֶרַע אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב וְכוּ', כִּי כָּךְ צְרִיכִין לְהִתְנַהֵג בַּעֲבוֹדַת הַשֵּׁם כַּנַּ"ל.
EN (our paraphrase): Our Rebbe also said to him: in the morning, at the start, we say: what are we, what is our life, and so on, and we make ourselves very small. Then we say: but we are Your people, the children of Your covenant, and so on. That is, afterwards we strengthen ourselves and lift ourselves up, and tell of our greatness, and take pride that we are His people, children of His covenant, the seed of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. For this is how one must conduct oneself in serving Hashem.
Scene 9 · LM II:125 §1, on Likutei Moharan I, 282 and Tehillim 146:2 · paragraph §1.6, §1.7
וְעַיֵּן מִזֶּה בְּסוֹף סֵפֶר הָרִאשׁוֹן בְּסִימָן רפ"ב, עַל פָּסוּק: אֲזַמְּרָה לֵאלֹקַי בְּעוֹדִי:
EN (our paraphrase): See more on this at the end of the first book, in Torah two hundred and eighty two, on the verse: I will sing to my Elokim while I still exist.
Hebrew phrases in the Explainer
Scene 2 · §1.2: לִמְצֹא אֶת עַצְמוֹ בְּתוֹךְ כָּל מִזְמוֹר וּמִזְמוֹר.
Scene 3 · §1.2: עַל מִלְחֶמֶת הַיֵּצֶר הָרָע וְחֵילוֹתָיו,
Scene 4 · §1.3: וְלִמְצֹא בְּעַצְמוֹ אֵיזֶה זְכוּת וּנְקֻדָּה טוֹבָה,
Scene 5 · §1.4: וַיִּגְבַּהּ לִבּוֹ בְּדַרְכֵי ה',
Scene 6 · §1.5: אֲבָל אֲנַחְנוּ עַמְּךָ בְּנֵי בְרִיתֶךָ
Hebrew phrases in the 1-minute recap
Scene 2 · §1.2: לִמְצֹא אֶת עַצְמוֹ בְּתוֹךְ כָּל מִזְמוֹר וּמִזְמוֹר.
Scene 3 · §1.2: עַל מִלְחֶמֶת הַיֵּצֶר הָרָע וְחֵילוֹתָיו,
Scene 4 · §1.3: וְלִמְצֹא בְּעַצְמוֹ אֵיזֶה זְכוּת וּנְקֻדָּה טוֹבָה,
Scene 5 · §1.5: אֲבָל אֲנַחְנוּ עַמְּךָ בְּנֵי בְרִיתֶךָ