The Development of the Daily Recitation of Psalms in Medieval Ashkenaz

By the early middle ages, a group of selections from the Book of Psalms had become a recognized part of the fixed daily Jewish liturgy. However, several studies have dated the recitation of additional psalms as a devotional or therapeutic practice following the prayers (and even the recitation of the entire book of Psalms during the course of the seven days of the week) only to the mid-fourteenth century, as indicated by a passage in a rabbinic handbook from Toledo, Spain. On the basis of extensive manuscript findings and their correlation with additional material from published works, this paper will demonstrate that there was a well-established custom in northern France already by the twelfth century to recite the psalms of ascent (among others) each day at the conclusion of the prayers (along with other supplications), while a number of German liturgies and rabbinic figures of the thirteenth century appeared to favor the recitation of large portions or even the entire book of Psalms (in some instances, as preparatory to the daily prayers). These passages also suggest several different purposes for the recitation of Psalms, from additional Torah study to protection from or the warding off of harm. In presenting these findings, parallels and possible directions of influence will be discussed, involving liturgies found in the Cairo Geniza, ritual practices during the geonic period, and Christian prayer practices from late antiquity and onward.