Songs of Ascent (Shir HaMaalot): 15 Psalms for the Journey Up
Fifteen short psalms, fifteen days, one step at a time. Psalms 120 to 134 are the fifteen Songs of Ascent, known in Hebrew as Shir HaMaalot. Tradition hears in them the voices of pilgrims climbing to Jerusalem for the festivals, and the Mishnah describes the Levites standing with their instruments on the fifteen Temple steps that match these fifteen songs. They begin far from home and end at night in the house of Hashem. Read one psalm a day and let the climb steady you: lifting your eyes to the hills, sowing in tears and reaping in joy, calling from the depths, resting like a quieted child.
15 days
- Day 1: Starting Far From Home
- Day 2: I Lift My Eyes
- Day 3: Rejoicing at Jerusalem's Gates
- Day 4: Eyes on His Hand
- Day 5: Escaped Like a Bird
- Day 6: Steady as Mount Zion
- Day 7: Sowing in Tears, Reaping in Joy
- Day 8: Unless Hashem Builds the House
- Day 9: Blessing Around Your Table
- Day 10: Pressed but Not Broken
- Day 11: Out of the Depths
- Day 12: A Soul Grown Quiet
- Day 13: A Home for His Presence
- Day 14: How Good to Dwell Together
- Day 15: Blessing Hashem in the Night