Every day of the year, Jewish liturgy includes the Shir Shel Yom, a psalm recited to mark the day of the week. New Each Day by Rabbi Debra J. Robbins breathes new life into this ancient practice, inviting us to engage with psalms in a fresh, inspiring way. Daily “Reflections for Focus” offer unique insights on each psalm, with a structure for meditation and writing that encourages the reader to develop their own personal routine. Reflections for each month, based on the psalm for Rosh Chodesh, provide a full year of spiritual practice. Just as Rabbi Robbins did for the High Holy Day season in Opening Your Heart with Psalm 27, New Each Day guides us along the journey of the year with intention and meaning.
 

Rabbi Debra J. Robbins is a member of the clergy team at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, Texas, focusing on teaching, pastoral care, and spiritual practice. She was ordained in 1991 at the Hebrew Union College, and is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and the Institute for Jewish Spirituality Clergy Leadership Program. Rabbi Robbins has served the Central Conference of American Rabbis in a variety of leadership roles and is a member of the Women's Rabbinic Network. She was part of the City of Dallas Ethics Reform Task Force and served as president of Reading Village, a non-profit organization working in Guatemala to help teens become leaders through literacy. She is the cofounder of Common Table at the Fox and Crow, an organization founded in March 2020 to address food insecurity on the Outer Cape of Massachusetts. Rabbi Robbins is the current and founding chair of the Vaad HaMikvah of the Rabbinic Association of Greater Dallas in support of the Dallas Community Mikvah and is pursuing certification with the American Red Cross to do chaplaincy work in emergency situations. She has published essays in Prophetic Voices: Renewing and Reimagining Haftarah (CCAR Press, 2023), Ecology and the Jewish Spirit: Where Nature and the Sacred Meet (Jewish Lights, 2000), The Torah: A Women’s Commentary (CCAR Press, 2008), Lights in the Forest: Rabbis Respond to Twelve Essential Jewish Questions(CCAR Press, 2014), Gates of Shabbat, Revised Edition(CCAR Press), American Values, Religious Voices: Letters of Hope from People of Faith (University of Cincinnati Press, 2023), and in Reform Judaism Magazine. She is the author of Opening Your Heart with Psalm 27: A Spiritual Practice for the Jewish New Year (2019) and New Each Day: A Spiritual Practice for Reading Psalms (2023), both with CCAR Press.

Foreword by Rabbi Andrea L. Weiss, PhD 

Invitation and Introduction 

  Historical Background of Shir Shel Yom

  Historical Background of Psalm 104 for Rosh Chodesh 

Get Started 

Notes to Readers 

Composer’s Commentary by Cantor Richard Cohn 

Tools for the Practice 

Guide for the Month 

Daily Directions 

Shir Shel Yom Blessing 

Introductions to the Shir Shel Yom Psalms 

Shir Shel Yom Psalms 

  Psalm 24 for Sunday 

  Psalm 48 for Monday 

  Psalm 82 for Tuesday 

  Psalms 94:1–95:3 for Wednesday 

  Psalm 81 for Thursday 

  Psalm 93 for Friday 

  Psalm 92 for Shabbat/Saturday 

Reflections for Focus: Shir Shel Yom Psalms 

  Week 1 

  Week 2 

  Week 3 

  Week 4 

Rosh Chodesh 

  Psalm 104 for Rosh Chodesh

  Reflections for Focus: Rosh Chodesh 

    Tishrei 

    Cheshvan 

    Kislev  

    Tevet 

    Sh’vat 

    Adar 

    Nisan 

    Iyar 

    Sivan 

   Tammuz 

   Av 

   Elul 

Acknowledgments 

Notes 

Resources for Reading Psalms 

Appendix: Ten-Year Calendar for Rosh Chodesh 

Index 

About the Author