Who remembers television reruns? Once upon a time, there would be a season finale episode, and then you’d have to wait till the fall for new episodes. Now? There are spring premieres, summer series, and numerous streaming choices. How about syndication? These days, you can find almost anything and everything if you look hard enough. They may not have been good originally, but you can still watch them endlessly.
What good comes out of repetition?
In a recent article, author Elliott Holt describes a practice he learned from a friend in which he reads to same poem each day for a month. He writes:
“As a writer, I’m always trying to rekindle that feeling, of connecting to words through their sounds, not just their meanings. So I read poetry every day, and my reading takes a particular form: On the first day of every month, I pick a poem, and then I read that poem every day that month…Repetition led to revelation: Every day, I noticed new things in the text. By the end of the month, I knew the poem by heart…Revisiting the same poem every day is the antithesis of the attention economy; instead of scrolling along the surface, I’m diving deep beneath it.”
Judaism believes in the power and value of chazarah, repetition. The Talmud (Chagigah 9b) states: “Hillel taught: one who reviews one’s study 100 times is not comparable to one who reviews one’s study 101 times.” I always thought this sounds extreme. Reviewing something 100 times and 101 is somehow better?!?
Holt writes: “Repetition led to revelation…When you reread the same poem over and over again, you stop scrolling along the surface and dive deep beneath it.” Repetition is about more than quantity. Repetition helps elevate the quality.
Here, we come to Psalm 27 – “L’David Hashem Ori – A Psalm of David: God is my light.” (See the full text HERE.) We will recite this Psalm over 100 times during the High Holiday season, from Elul through Sukkot. That’s a lot of repetition. It’s also a lot of articulation of how God provides light and salvation so why should we fear? We state over 100 times of how desperately we want to experience God’s embrace. We invoke the beauty and protection of the sukkah, the role of song, and the power of hope. Reciting Psalm 27 is more than a repetitive liturgical insertion; it is a spiritual elevation.
In KJ, Rabbi Lookstein would present the “Psalm 27 Challenge.” On Hoshana Rabba, he invited all the young people to come forward and recite L’David Hashem Ori by heart. Those who could, would receive $5. Now, it wasn’t all that popular in my time at KJ. (Today’s young people may need more of an incentive.) Maybe the reward is in the repetition. Maybe the more real “Psalm 27 Challenge” is in how we respond to 100 reruns of the liturgy this season. What can we find when dig beneath the surface?
לוּלֵא הֶאֱמַנְתִּי לִרְאוֹת בְּטוּב ה' בְּאֶרֶץ חַיִּים׃ קַוֵּה אֶל ה' חֲזַק וְיַאֲמֵץ לִבֶּךָ וְקַוֵּה אֶל ה'׃
Had I not believed in
seeing the good of the Lord in the land of the living! Hope for the Lord, be
strong and He will give your heart courage, and hope for the Lord.
