Hukat (Psalms)

Psalm 133: The Oil on Aaron’s Beard and the Dew on Mount Hermon

Parshat Hukkat describes Aaron’s death (Num 20:22-29); the brief psalm discussed here contains an interesting, rather enigmatic reference to Aaron. (Incidentally, this death is a rather ceremonial one, in which Aaron is accompanied by Moses and his son Eleazar to an isolated mountain, Mount Hor, his priestly garments ceremoniously removed and placed on his son, and then his soul departs, says the Midrash, with the Divine kiss—very much like Moses’ death later on, alone on a mountain.)

Psalm 133, one of the “Songs of Degrees” or “Pilgrim Songs” (see our discussion of the entire group of fifteen in HY VI: Emor), begins with a celebration of fellowship: “How good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together”—the text of a well-known Hebrew song. But then it turns to compare this fellowship to “the goodly oil” that pours down the head and beard, the long flowing beard of Aaron, and from there to his (priestly) garments (Kabbalistic associations of oil and beards with hesed come readily to mind). Then, in the final verse, all this is compared to the dew of Mount Hermon that descends on Mount Zion (an anachronism in literal geographical terms), from whence God shall give blessing—Peace upon Israel!

What is the relation among these three things? The psalm—which Hakham sees recited at a joyful celebration by the pilgrims who have come to Jerusalem, perhaps at a sacred festal meal—seems to draw an equation among three things: brotherly fellowship; the anointing oil, specifically on Aaron’s beard (that used to anoint him as priest?); and the life-giving gift of dew, perhaps as a generic term for the rain, snow, and moisture that enable all vegetation to grow and flourish. These three elements might be described as: the social cohesion and brotherly love experienced in community, particularly at moments of high, sacred joy; the holiness and purity of Divine worship, embodied in the person of the high priest and the items that surround him—the oil used to anoint him, his vestments, and even his long, impressive beard; and material blessings, of abundant fruit and grain nourished by the gift of water from Heaven.

The overall picture painted here is one of an optimistic, positive, uncomplicated outlook on life—without the dualistic tension between body and spirit, between earth and Heaven, between love of God and taking joy in the ordinary pleasures of life—but in which, on the contrary, these things form a single, harmonious, goodly whole.