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The great banquet

 

♦ I will raise the cup of salvations and I will call upon the Name of God.

            Psalms 116:13

 

            The Talmud (Pesachim 119b) tells:

 

            On the day that the Holy One, blessed be He, will manifest His love to the descendants of Isaac, He will make a great banquet for the righteous….

            David will be told, “Take [the wine cup] and recite grace.” And he will reply, “I will recite grace, and it is fitting for me to recite grace.” [This response of David is alluded to in] the verse, “I will raise the cup of salvations and I will call upon the Name of God.”

 

            Elul, the month of manifest love between ourselves and God, presages the period of that great banquet. During this month, we too sing, “I will raise the cup of salvations and I will call upon the Name of God.”

 

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