PRAYER IN A HOUSE OF MOURNING לַמְנַצֵּֽחַ Psalm 49. Repentance is part of the process of mourning (Maimonides). Confronted with an awareness of our mortality, we begin to rethink our priorities, knowing that what occupy our energies and thoughts much of the time, are often matters of relatively minor significance when weighed against the fullness of eternity and the brevity of our lives on earth. Psalm 49 is a most powerful expression of this idea. What lives on after us is not our wealth but the ideals for which we live and the good we do.

מִכְתָּם לְדָוִד Psalm 16: On days when Taḥanun is not said, we recite this psalm, quite different in mood from Psalm 49. The psalm reflects that, despite our loss, we are here, alive, and with much for which to thank God. This is a poem of reaffirmation.