Shevuot 15

From time to time, the Temple in Jerusalem was expanded (most famously under Herod the Great). The mishnah quoted on our daf explains the requirements for this expansion:

… Additions can be made to the city of Jerusalem or to the Temple courtyards only by a special body comprised of the king, a prophet, the urim v’tummim (the high priest’s breastplate oracle) and the Sanhedrin of 71 judges, and with two thanks-offerings and with a special song.

Only under the auspices of this august assembly are expansions approved, and then they are consecrated with sacrifice and song. What song? Shevuot 15b quotes a beraita that elaborates:

They sang the song of thanksgiving (Psalm 100) which begins: “A psalm of thanksgiving …” accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals at every corner and upon every large stone in Jerusalem. And they also recited Psalm 30, which begins: “I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up …”

We can understand why our ancestors recited Psalm 100 — it’s entirely, and fittingly, about the community’s gratitude to God. Psalm 30, which thanks God for not letting our enemies rejoice over our demise makes sense too since, as the talmudic commentator known as the Maharsha (Rabbi Shmuel Eidels, Poland 1555–1631) reminds us, danger surrounded the original rebuilding of the Temple and Jerusalem’s walls. (See Nehemiah 4.)

In addition to these two psalms, the beraita names another:

… And the song of evil spirits (Psalm 91) which begins: “He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High…” And some say that this psalm is called the song of plagues. 

The Gemara explains: The reasoning of the one who calls it the song of plagues is that it is written: “Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling” (verse 10). And the reasoning of the one who calls it the song of evil spirits is that it is written: “A thousand (i.e., evil spirits) shall fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.” (Psalms 91:7)

Psalm 91, which is about how God protects those who see divine shelter, has two names. The first, “song of plagues,” is a reference to the tenth verse while the second, “song of evil spirits” is an interpretation of the seventh, in which an attack by “thousands” is described. The rabbis imagined these swarming attackers to be not human, but demons.

Yet what do plagues and evil spirits have to do with the Temple consecration and with the historical circumstances I mentioned above? The Maharsha provides a surprising answer: “The point of reciting this psalm (at that time) was to expel the spirit of impurity from places which had not been sanctified. The evil spirits referred to in the Talmud were the demons and spirits of impurity that would inhere in places left unconsecrated. Plagues would result from their presence.”

Rabbi Eidels is suggesting that these songs for Temple consecration were the people’s way of exorcising demonic spiritual enemies and the impurity they caused. Indeed, the Gemara next relates that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi recited these same verses to protect himself from evil spirits while he slept. They were, for him, an incantation of protection.

Much of the discussion we’ve encountered about purification (and in this Daf Yomi journey there is a great deal more to come) is focused on actions that can eliminate impurity: isolating, immersing, sacrificing. But in this case, the solution to impurity is none of those but in fact song — a testament to the power of the human voice, especially when we sing together “at every corner and on every large stone.” While we might not personally worry about demons spreading impurity today, the Talmud insightfully recognizes the incredible capacity of communal chorus to drive away, even briefly, the spirits of sadness, anger and fear that too often plague us.

Read all of Shevuot 15 on Sefaria.

This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on May 16, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.