The Soul's Refuge: Meditations on the Psalms by Shaina Trapedo

The Soul's Refuge invites readers into the timeless poetry of Tehillim, the biblical Book of Psalms, through wide-ranging reflections by faculty and alumni of Yeshiva University. From lamentation to exaltation, grief to gratitude, solitude to solidarity, this collection explores the Psalms as dynamic expressions of the human experience and articulates a range of approaches that include historical context, homiletics, cultural reception, exegesis, literary analysis, and personal meditation. Rather than an exhaustive commentary on all 150 chapters of Tehillim, this volume presents brief essays on individual psalms, arranged topically in unique categories, which illuminate the multifaceted nature of mizmorim as individual psalms that often intertwine the personal and communal, Jewish history, artistry, ethical insights, and spiritual yearning. Accessible and resonant, The Soul's Refuge offers readers a deeper appreciation of the Psalms as poetic sanctuaries for the human soul as it reaches toward the Divine.