Praising God for having made great the United States is not
the reason why on weekdays Jews say “magdil” when we bless
God for the food that we have eaten, and not what
we say a little differently when choosing to express
our thanks to Him by blessing Him on Shabbat and fest-
ivals by saying not magdil but “migdol,” a variation that denotes a Tower,
to God most grateful on the days we do not work but rest,
dependent for salvation less on all our personal actions than His Power.
Expressing our thanks
to God quite differently
on festivals and Sabbaths
than on weekdays,
we demonstrate awareness
that without God’s help
Jews would be insecure not just
on secularly weak days.
Psalm 18:51 states:
מַגְדִּל֮ יְשׁוּע֢וֹת מַ֫לְכּ֥וֹ וְעֹ֤שֶׂה חֶ֨סֶד ׀ לִמְשִׁיח֗וֹ לְדָוִ֥ד וּלְזַרְע֗וֹ עַד־עוֹלָֽם׃ {פ}
Magdil, He magnifies, the salvation given to His king, And keeps faith with His anointed,
with David and his offspring forever.
2 Sam. 22:51:
(מגדיל) [מִגְדּ֖וֹל] יְשׁוּע֣וֹת מַלְכּ֑וֹ וְעֹֽשֶׂה־חֶ֧סֶד לִמְשִׁיח֛וֹ לְדָוִ֥ד וּלְזַרְע֖וֹ עַד־עוֹלָֽם׃ {פ}
Migdol, a Tower, of salvation, to His king, Who deals graciously with His anointed,
with David and his offspring evermore.
Qimhi’s comment to 2 Sam. 22:51:
Migdol. Magdil is the ketiv (“written” tradition of the Masoretic Text), and the qeri (“recited” tradition of the Masoretic Text) is with a vav, like in Psalms [18:51] in the qeri! So too, the qeri is migdol with a cholam [i.e., a vowel creating an ‘o’ sound like in the name “Jo”], and it is a descriptor, and the idea is [all] one.
Gershon Hepner is a poet who has written over 25,000 poems on subjects ranging from music to literature, politics to Torah. He grew up in England and moved to Los Angeles in 1976. Using his varied interests and experiences, he has authored dozens of papers in medical and academic journals, and authored “Legal Friction: Law, Narrative, and Identity Politics in Biblical Israel.” He can be reached at gershonhepner@gmail.com.
