DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 458 KB)
Reciting Tehillim During the Month of Elul and During the Ten Days of Repentance

There is a custom to recite ten chapters of Tehillim each day during the month of Elul after the morning Shaharit service. By reciting ten chapters each day throughout the thirty days of Elul, one completes the entire 150-chapter book of Tehillim twice, reading a total of 300 chapters. Three hundred is the numerical value of the word "Kaper" ("atonement"), and is thus a very significant number as we approach the judgment on Rosh Hashanah. The custom is to continue reciting Tehillim even after Elul, and complete the book a third time during the Aseret Yemeh Teshuba – the Ten Days of Repentance from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur.

It should be noted that while this is certainly a laudable practice that we should all endeavor to observe, one must ensure to recite the text slowly and with precision. Often, in a person’s rush to complete the customary quota of ten daily chapters, he reads the text incorrectly, mispronouncing words and skipping letters or syllables. There is an important principle that when it comes to voluntary prayers such as this, "a little with concentration is preferable to a lot without concentration." Quality is far more important than quantity. Therefore, if a person is unable to spend the time reciting ten chapters of Tehillim each day with precise, proper pronunciation and concentration, it is preferable for him to recite fewer chapters correctly and with concentration.

Summary: It is an admirable custom to recite ten chapters of Tehillim each day throughout the month of Elul, and to then recite the entire book of Tehillim over the course of the Ten Days of Repentance. One must ensure, however, to recite the words properly and with concentration, and it is preferable to recite fewer chapters properly than to recite ten chapters improperly.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Yom Kippur- Halachot of the Final Meal Before Yom Kippur; Using Pills to Alleviate the Effects of Fasting
Yom Kippur – Candle Lighting
Laws and Customs of Kapparot
Must Pregnant Women Fast on Yom Kippur?
Yom Kippur – Wearing Gold Jewelry
Yom Kippur – Guidelines for Ill Patients Who Need to Eat
Ereb Yom Kippur – Immersing in a Mikveh; Wearing Gold Jewelry; Preparing the Home
Yom Kippur – Customs Relevant to the Musaf Prayer
Should Children Fast on Yom Kippur?
Yom Kippur- How Much Should a Sick Person Eat on Yom Kippur?
Yom Kippur: Lighting Candles
The Misva to Eat on Ereb Yom Kippur
Learning Torah on Yom Kippur Night
Yom Kippur – Guidelines for One Who Needs to Drink
May the Kohanim Wash Their Hands for Birkat Kohanim on Yom Kippur?
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found