Thursday, July 12, 2012

Pslams by the Sea


I came across the following question answered by Rabbi Yaakov Cohen of the Beit El Yeshiva:

Question: Can I say Tehilim on the sea side without a shirt on?
Answer:  One should dress respectably when praying or saying Tehilim. But there is no Isur (prohibition).

I love this particular question and the response - which is totally appropriate and subjective. The questioner is comfortable enough to daven at a beach or felt moved to pray after bathing topless.  The rabbi recognizes that there is a need to promote proper decorum in prayer but that there is no real restriction to spontaneously say psalms.  

Think about it - who wouldn't be at a beach, pondering the eternity of the tide and not think to praise Gd and nature's amazing cycle?  Just to bridge to a post last week on davening on airplane - I am not sure I would recommend gathering a minyan of people to pray as it might bother the other sun worshipers.

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