כה דבקה לעפר נפשי; חיני כדברך׃
כו דרכי ספרתי ותענני; למדני חקיך׃
כז דרך פקודיך הבינני; ואשיחה בנפלאותיך׃
כח דלפה נפשי מתוגה; קימני כדברך׃
כט דרך שקר הסר ממני; ותורתך חנני׃
ל דרך אמונה בחרתי; משפטיך שויתי׃
לא דבקתי בעדותיך; ה׳ אל תבישני׃
לב דרך מצותיך ארוץ; כי תרחיב לבי׃
This stich starts with David talking about how miserable he is (דבקה לעפר נפשי and דלפה נפשי מתוגה) without ה׳'s words (כדברך). He has previously talked about בדרך עדותיך ששתי; this is the flip side of that. Then the volta introduces the idea of דבקות to ה׳, which is a common concept but hard to understand. How can one be “attached” to the infinite? Two answers are given. The first is the idea of imitatio Dei:
אחרי ה׳ אלקיכם תלכו ואתו תיראו; ואת מצותיו תשמרו ובקלו תשמעו ואתו תעבדו ובו תדבקון
ובו תדבקון: הִדַּבֵּק בִּדְרָכָיו—גְּמוֹל חֲסָדִים, קְבוֹר מֵתִים, בַּקֵּר חוֹלִים, כְּמוֹ שֶׁעָשָׂה הַקָּבָּ״ה
But that doesn’t seem to connect to learning Torah, דבקתי בעדותיך.
כי אם שמר תשמרון את כל המצוה הזאת אשר אנכי מצוה אתכם לעשתה; לאהבה את ה׳ אלקיכם ללכת בכל דרכיו ולדבקה בו׃
ולדבקה בו: אֶפְשָׁר לוֹמָר כֵּן? וַהֲלֹא אֵשׁ אוֹכְלָה הוּא? אֶלָּא הִדָּבֵק בְּתַלְמִידִים וּבַחֲכָמִים וּמַעֲלֶה אֲנִי עָלֶיךָ כְּאִלּוּ נִדְבַּקְתָּ בּוֹ.
So why does connecting to Torah scholars count as connecting to G-d? In our pasuk, why does David want דבקתי בעדותיך and not ולדבקה בו? Rabbi Jack Abramowitz of the OU cited an idea from Techiya Levine, who is a teacher in Seattle. She asked why we, as Orthodox Jews, don’t seem to talk about G-d (or Hashem).
Perhaps the most powerful illustration of this for me was a few years back, when I was tasked with creating the mission statement for our city’s new “almost-Bais Yaacov” high school. Looking to plagiarize some good material, I visited websites of a bunch of BY/BY-lite high schools, figuring I’d gather some good “bones” for the basic structure, and doctor it up with my mushy Seattle-friendly flavor.
I found 8 websites for a variety of high schools, both “in” and “out” of town. As I read through the missions statements or “About Us” pages, I truly wished I could join my daughter in receiving this brand of education. They cited lofty and valuable goals like “inspiring girls to excellence in personal growth, middos and Torah Values” or “encouraging them to become active members of their communities.” “Seeking excellence in Limudei Kodesh and Limudei Chol” “Loving Torah and Eretz Yisrael.”
But after the first three, it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen anything like “developing a relationship with Hashem” on any of them.
Actually, none had mentioned G-d. At all.
Her answer is surprising and in retrospect, obvious. As Rabbi Abramowitz says, “There is an idea that I read recently, which was a chiddush (novelty) to me, and I will fully credit the author when I get there. But my hope is for this idea to become so axiomatic that we don’t even think that it needs to be sourced.”
Now, there was one word that was present on each and every site, either in the mission statement itself, or in the “about us” paragraphs.
That word was Torah.
…
I was curious. What was the deal? How could I make sense of the common practice of using the word “Torah,” and the lack of any direct mention of “G-d.”
And then it hit me!
Often, great Rabbis are often referred to as the name of the most preeminent book!
…Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, A.K.A.” the Chofetz Chaim.” Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz, A.K.A. “the Chazon Ish.” And…
Hashem, A.K.A. ‘the Torah!”
…I certainly have been taught that Torah is Hashem’s love letter, His guide book, His communication to us. It is precious. We learn how to think, respond to challenges, behave, love and grow from the sacred lessons He shares with us in Torah. One might say it is synonymous with Him.
We use “the Torah” as a metonym for הקב״ה Himself. And it’s more than a literary convention; we feel it. We talk about what “the Torah says”. As David says here, דבקתי בעדותיך is the same thing as ולדבקה בו.
Now, Ms Levine doesn’t like this and wants us to talk about Hashem explicitly:
I want to spell it out here, in big bold letters.
“Torah” cannot be used to substitute “Hashem.”
Torah is not a substitute for Hashem.
Torah study, even coupled with structured prayer, is not enough to foster a personal and animated relationship with G-d. The kind of relationship we long for must be woven into the fabric of education.
I want children to know and to authentically, in their kishkas, understand that Hashem is with them, to know they will find the guidance they need and the comfort they seek, by reaching out to Ha Kadosh Baruch Hu.
Honestly, I cannot imagine how I could possibly ask (let alone EXPECT) my children to be observant without setting them up to have a genuine relationship with Hashem that feeds them emotionally, spiritually and psychologically.
If we have any chance of Hashem’s name being the first thing on their lips, we need to make “A Close Relationship with Hashem” the very first thing on these lists.
But to understand this פרק תהילים, and to understand the Jews' approach to the Torah as a whole, we need to realize that this identification, of Hashem with His Word, is very real and is fundamentally at the core of our relationship with Hashem. We will come back to this idea many times.