Psalms from Rabbi (and Baker) Jade Sank Ross
To You I Call: Psalms Throughout Our Lives
Rabbi Jade Sank Ross's book, To You I Call: Psalms Throughout Our Lives, published in December 2024, is a touching and accessible exploration of the psalms. I know Rabbi Jade through her love of baking, having featured her in all three Jewish Food Hero community cookbooks, including the upcoming Jewish Sweets Community Cookbook, where she shares her family’s chocolate Swiss roll recipe for Passover.
Over winter break, I read To You I Call: Psalms Throughout Our Lives
The way that Rabbi Jade organizes the psalms around emotional experiences that resonate with our contemporary lives really works! This unique approach allowed me to connect deeply with these ancient texts, making them relevant and meaningful in responding to my daily emotions and life events. Her technique of bolding specific words in each psalm serves as a supportive and meditative focal point.
Psalms have long been integral to Jewish ritual and liturgy, expressing a range of human emotions, from praise and gratitude to sorrow and longing. In To You I Call, Rabbi Jade invites readers to integrate the psalms into their daily lives. The book pairs seventy-two psalms with various life moments, from birth to retirement, from grief to gratitude. Rabbi Jade's original framing, combined with Rabbi Richard N. Levy's beautiful, contemporary translations, helps readers forge a personal connection with the psalmist’s words.
In this beautiful collection, Rabbi Jade Sank Ross brings the ancient words of the psalmist to life for our modern lives. Her wise and thoughtful suggestions of psalms for different life moments remind us that we are never alone and encourage us to see God’s presence in our journey.
I am happy to share this interview with Rabbi Jade which feels like a cozy spiritual hug in these times.
Introduction: Rabbi Jade, can you tell us a bit about yourself—your background, your journey to becoming a rabbi, and the passions and hobbies that bring you joy in your daily life?
I grew up in Kinnelon, New Jersey, where I spent much of my time divided between the local stables, riding horses, and my Jewish home, Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. It was because of my involvement at Barnert Temple and the mentorship of Rabbi Elyse Frishman, Cantor Regina Lambert-Hayut, and Director of Lifelong Learning Sara Losch that I discovered my calling as a rabbi.
I received my BA in Anthropology and International and Global Studies from Brandeis University. I was ordained as a rabbi in 2018 by the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), where I studied first on the Jerusalem campus and later on the New York campus.
Having previously served as the Assistant Rabbi and Director of Education under my mentor, Rabbi Howard Goldsmith, at Congregation Emanu-El of Westchester in Rye, New York, I currently serve as Associate Rabbi at The Community Synagogue in Port Washington, New York.
I am married to Rabbi Dan Ross, and we live in Queens, NY, where we are raising our daughters, Adina and Bella. I am passionate about cooking and baking, which led me to contribute to three Jewish Food Hero cookbooks. Recently, with two young children who are often awake well before 7 AM, we’ve been doing a lot of baking together. Adina’s favorite is cream scones!
The Genesis of the Book: What inspired you to write this book of psalms? Was there a particular moment or experience that sparked the idea?
To You I Call grew out of my rabbinic capstone project, completed in 2018. What I love most about being a rabbi is making Judaism approachable for people who feel like they don’t know enough or don’t know where to begin. I want people to understand the richness of Jewish tradition, especially its texts, and to feel personally connected with it. I knew that this would be the work of my rabbinate, and if I had to complete a rabbinic thesis, spending more than a year on any project, I wanted that work to be central to it. I did not want to write a research paper that would sit on a shelf collecting dust.
As I began serving as a congregational rabbi, I was most often asked questions like:
“Is there something I can say when I light a yahrzeit (memorial) candle?”
“Is there something authentically Jewish I can say when I am sitting in the waiting room as my doctor reviews my test results?”
“It’s the Shabbat after a deeply divisive election. How can I express my relief or despair in a way that is deeply rooted in Jewish tradition but also responds to the events and emotions of my daily life?”
For me, the psalms provided the answers to these questions. They are music. They are part of our liturgy. They are familiar. There is already a well-established Jewish practice of reciting psalms, but many people don’t study them thematically. The Hebrew is approachable, but the book can be overwhelming. The psalms are authentic—their sentiments are timeless, yet their words are ancient.
About the Book: Could you share with us how the book is structured and how readers can best use it? What makes its design unique?
My vision was to make the psalms more accessible and easier to navigate so they could be seamlessly incorporated into moments of prayer and carried anywhere. To achieve this, I chose to narrow down the 150 psalms to 72 (four times 18, or quadruple chai) and divide them thematically into six broad categories: anticipation, commemoration, despair, gratitude, pain, and relief. Each category is further divided into specific moments and experiences.
Of course, by making these decisions, I made assumptions about the reader’s emotional responses to particular moments. In using this book, you might find these divisions inaccurate or one-dimensional. To help guide readers, I included suggestions in the footnotes of each psalm to at least one other psalm in the book. I invite you to explore what you are feeling at any moment—beyond the way I’ve divided the contents and beyond the specifics of the occasions identified, even among the remaining 78 psalms that are not included.
Additionally, when reading the psalms, I often find myself focusing on just one or a few verses. This approach alleviates tension and allows me to take what I need from the psalms while releasing problematic texts. To guide readers, I selected one verse from each psalm included in the book, which is featured in Hebrew and bolded in the English translation. I also wrote kavanot (prayerful intentions) to help connect moments from our lives with these ancient words. You are welcome to start with the kavanah, focus on the bolded verse, or read the full psalm and find others that resonate with you.
Psalms and Personal Prayer: Psalms have been a foundation for Jewish prayer for centuries. How can the words of the psalms help guide us to pray from our hearts and connect more personally with the Divine?
When I first began reciting psalms, I lived in Brooklyn and commuted to rabbinical school in Manhattan daily. I distinctly remember riding the subway with fellow passengers who appeared deeply engrossed in their pocket-sized psalters. I often wondered how they chose which psalms to turn to as they flipped through the pages. What did the words mean to them? Was it just the act of saying something in moments of anxiety?
For me, as I began exploring the book of psalms on a daily basis, the psalms started appearing everywhere. The psalms belong to American society as a whole: they are part of both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible. In the United States, they appear widely in both religious and secular culture, and their universal themes of fear, suffering, and rejoicing resonate with people of all backgrounds.
I find the words of the psalms particularly meaningful in situations where I feel speechless and am searching for words. Much like the poets I turn to, the psalms respond to human nature, and their language is vague enough to allow space for each of us to “come as we are” and take what we need. Unlike modern poetry, however, the psalms feel authentic, and their words and the practice of reciting them are deeply rooted in Jewish tradition.
Making the Psalms Accessible: For those who find the language of the psalms challenging—whether it’s the poetry, the translation, or the ancient context—but still want to connect with their meaning, what advice or strategies would you offer to help them engage more deeply?
The psalms sometimes contain problematic texts and metaphors that may not speak to us in the twenty-first century. These include, but are not limited to, descriptions of violence, vengeance against enemies, gendered language, and theologies that don’t resonate with our own (for example, Psalm 137:9: “Happy is the one who seizes your children and dashes them against the rock”).
When reading the psalms, I often focus on just one or a few verses. This approach alleviates tension and allows me to take what I need from the psalms while releasing the problematic texts.
Remember, too, that psalms are poetry, and almost all poetry is metaphor. The beauty of metaphors is that they can be redefined. Perhaps you could consider problematic texts as invitations to reinterpret and redefine the metaphors—or even to write your own psalms.
I see this book of psalms as an invitation and a starting point. I hope that it can be a resource and a space to see the psalms as poetry, prayer, and song to inspire your spiritual journey.
Personal Connection: Is there a particular psalm in the book that holds special meaning for you? Could you share why it resonates with you personally?
Psalm 126 that begins with
A song of ascents.
When the LORD restores the fortunes of Zion,
—we see it as in a dream—
our mouths shall be filled with laughter,
our tongues, with songs of joy.
Then shall they say among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them!”
The LORD will do great things for us,
and we shall rejoice.”
Read the rest of the Psalm here
This is the psalm for Shabbat. Many may be familiar with it, as it is added to Birkat Hamazon (the blessing after the meal) on Shabbat. For this reason, I learned it in song, and it was one of the first psalms I committed to memory. The words adorn both mine and Dan’s ketubah (Jewish wedding contract), brought to life by the wonderful artist Risa Aqua, as well as the kippah Cantor Lauren Goodlev custom-crocheted for this occasion.
I find so much hope in the deeply Jewish idea that we will, at times, “sow in tears” and we will also “reap in joy” as individuals, as members of our various communities, and as am Yisrael—as a people.
Exploring the Psalms: Could you select one psalm from your book to share with us? Explain/teach/share about the Hebrew text, bolded phrases or verses, and the kavanot at the top of the page. How do these elements work together to deepen the reader’s understanding and connection?
On p. 135, you will find Psalm 45, which I’ve assigned to the modern life-moment of “holding a child for the first time.” I particularly love Rabbi Richard N. Levy’s translation (used in my book) of this psalm. It starts as “a song of love” and continues, “a heart bubbling with good…you are more gorgeous than any son of Adam, grace is poured into your lips…gird yourself with glory and glitter…God has anointed you with oil of joy…”
God anointing with oil is familiar from Psalm 23, where the words that follow are, “my cup overflows.” We say Psalm 23 in times of mourning, and this psalm, with the same imagery of God, is so strikingly for the exact opposite moment, yet still one borne of overflowing love—here bubbling, glittering, and with the hope of new beginnings.
Engagement and Connection: For those who want to learn more about your book or perhaps invite you to present it, how can they best reach out to you?
Please reach out to the CCAR Press:
Raquel Fairweather-Gallie, rfairweather@ccarnet.org
As we wrap up our conversation with Rabbi Jade Sank Ross, I hope her thoughtful insights and profound connection to the psalms inspire you. In her book, Rabbi Jade has done all the work for us, crafting a modern exploration of the psalms that offers a world of wisdom, comfort, and guidance. And don't miss her Passover chocolate Swiss roll recipe in Jewish Sweets!
Kenden
How special - This is the first I have heard of this