Psalm 91:6 in Rabbinic Interpretation and Jewish Pandemic Response

Abstract

In Psalm 91, the psalmist implores Jews not to become overwhelmed by fear, promising that God will protect and deliver the faithful from the troubles that threaten them. Foremost among these, as laid out in verse 6, are “pestilences” and “plagues.” Reciting or praying this psalm and this verse has been used for centuries as a way for Jews to remain hopeful in the face of challenges, especially during times of pandemic disease. This paper details how the rabbinic literature understood Psalm 91:6 as a description of a demonic force, and describes how Jews were told to protect themselves from this force, namely through faith and trust in God and through religious observance. The paper also discusses the Jewish experience with pestilential disease, from the 14th century plague pandemic to the 19th century cholera pandemics to the 1918 influenza pandemic and to the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the paper lays out how Jews have made use of Psalm 91:6 in responding to the threat of pandemics, especially during COVID-19, including through both prayer and more esoteric applications.

1. Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic which began at the start of 2020 elicited a myriad of responses to the unprecedented emergence and transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its subsequent morbidity and mortality (McNeil 2024). Many negative responses were the result of collective measures imposed by medical experts and political authorities—for example, governmental edicts regarding masking and quarantine (Hyman and Silver 2022). Other responses were more the result of frantic individuals anxious to find ways to ameliorate the uncertainty of the fast-moving events. As has been documented since then, so much of this response was faith-based or faith-directed and involved congregational networks and influential clergy directing their adherents to take certain precautions (or not), some of which contravened expert advice see (see Levin 2020). Some of these actions were ill-advised (e.g., violating social-distancing guidelines); others were more benign and indeed may have reinforced levels of faith and trust in God that were promotive of hope and optimism and, thus, the maintenance of emotional well-being during a very frightening time.

One of these actions was the use of prayer (Bentzen 2021) and, specifically, the recitation of psalms as God-given promises of protection and healing (Ayeh and Ossom-Batsa 2021). The Book of Psalms, known as Sefer Tehillim in Tanakh, or the Hebrew Bible, has been utilized in this fashion for centuries by Jews and Christians, both liturgically and in personal devotions. Recent scholarship has emphasized the polyvalent reception history of Psalm 91. Specifically, Psalm 91 has proven popular among both evangelicals and religious Jews in times of uncertainty, times of war, and, as we have just seen, times of pestilence (Jenkins 2023). This paper examines the place of this psalm within Judaism, especially how it has been applied during pandemic outbreaks of infectious disease over the past millennia, including, recently, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this paper, three tasks are undertaken. First, the text of Psalm 91 is unpacked, in particular certain pesuqim (verses) which have been most relied upon as sources and promises of divine protection. Second, rabbinic interpretations are summarized, referencing notable Talmudic and Midrashic commentaries. Third, some detail is provided as to how these verses have been invoked by religious Jews for purposes of protection, whether for preventing disease or for healing, both historically in earlier pandemics and more recently during COVID-19. This includes touching on issues related to halakhah (Jewish law) and ritual applications of the verses, such as through prayers and use of magickal objects. In a sense, this analysis could be described as Biblical and Talmudic exegesis meets infectious disease epidemiology.

An important note: this is not meant to be a philological or critical-text analysis. That is beyond the scope of this paper’s agenda. The present paper is simply a representative overview of how certain texts, scriptural and rabbinic, have been received historically and applied in a lived-religion context. The rabbinic texts are treated primarily as theological or cultural witnesses, rather than as strata in a strictly chronological reconstruction. It is argued here that Psalm 91:6 functions in Jewish tradition as a portable theological technology of protection, linking demonology, ritual practice, and pandemic meaning-making across historical periods culminating in its renewed use during COVID-19. Finally, Hebrew terms are transliterated in a simplified form based on SBL conventions, for readability.

2. The Text

In Judaism, Psalm 91 is sometimes referred to as “Yoshev be-seter ̒Elyon” (Hebrew for “O thou that dwellest in the covert of the Most High…”. [Psalm 91:1, JPS]), the first phrase of the first pasuq (verse) of the psalm. This is in keeping with the Jewish tradition of also naming parashiyyot (weekly Torah readings) and berakhot (blessings) after the first few words of a respective text. The pertinent verse of Psalm 91 for purposes of protection or healing is verse 6: “Mi-dever ba᾿ophel yahallokh; mi-qeṭev yashud ṣohorayim.” The key words here are dever, Hebrew for “pestilence” or “plague,” as in the fifth of the ten plagues in Sefer Shemot (the Book of Exodus); and qeṭev, Hebrew for “destruction” or “scourge,” but also sometimes translated as “plague” or “pestilence.” The full semantic range of dever and qeṭev in biblical Hebrew can be found in lexical summaries such as BDB (dever and qeṭev are Strong numbers 1698 and 6986, respectively; (see Brown et al. [1906] 2010)). Textual variants of Psalm 91:6 between the MT and Targum traditions are commented on below, contributing to its reception history among Jews, as examined in this paper.

Psalm 91:6 is translated in the 1917 JPS (a “literal” translation similar to the KJV) as “[Thou shalt not be afraid] of the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor of the destruction that wasteth at noonday.” In the NJPS (a more meaning-based translation produced in the 1980s), the verse is rendered similarly as “[You need not fear] the plague that stalks in the darkness, or the scourge that ravages at noon.” Christian translations run the gamut, producing variations of the above.

Since the emergence of COVID-19 in the West, in early 2020, internet and social media memes have featured the words of Psalm 91:6, or also along with surrounding verses, superimposed onto a wide variety of apocalyptic and/or hopeful religious imagery, of both Jewish and Christian origin. Hundreds of such images can be viewed, such as through a Google Images search. Numerous examples of such imagery are readily accessible in online image repositories. Verse 6 is taken alternately as a promise of the inevitability of End Times destruction (among Christians), the coming of ʾaḥarit ha-yamim or the End of Days (among Jews), or as a promise of personal or national deliverance so long as one clings to and affirms these words of scripture. Eschatological readings of this psalm are nothing new (Breed 2014), historically speaking, but the recent pandemic coupled with the availability of electronic channels of global communication have served to spread the message believed to be conveyed by verse 6 far and wide before receptive audiences, including reinforcement of various conspiracy theories (see Mueller 2020). Indeed, such memes became a staple of popular culture during the height of the pandemic, appearing on t-shirts, bumper stickers, coffee mugs, websites, religious bookstore sidelights, and more.

3. Rabbinic Interpretations

A helpful question to explore is how ḥazal (the rabbinic sages who authored the Talmud and Midrash) understood the text of Psalm 91:6. Does it resemble anything like how it was applied during the COVID-19 pandemic, or is it more nuanced? At times, as we shall see, it has been more colorfully read by these authorities than its readings during the pandemic. Such interpretation would seem to evidence belief in an eternal battle between the forces of good and evil, with the words of the psalmist taken as a warning, a premonition, and a promise of ultimate victory contingent upon the piety and miṣvah (commandment) observance of those seeking its protection (Vreugdenhil 2020). The following section excerpts and summarizes, in English translation, some of the most prominent examples of such commentaries from the rabbinic canon, both the Talmudic and Midrashic literature.

Talmudic and Midrashic Commentaries

Neither the Mishnah nor the Tosefta has much to say about Psalm 91:6. Nor does the Yerushalmi, or Jerusalem Talmud. However, other rabbinic texts reference the verse and, together, weave an interesting story that will now be unpacked. These sources span several centuries (late antiquity through medieval times), reflecting an evolving pattern of readings of this text. To be clear, the intent here is not to present a precise chronological listing of these commentaries, in historical order, but rather to narrate a thematic unfolding of a “demonological” reading of the text, akin to a homily on the subject.

In commenting upon the “pestilence” referenced in the verse, the Midrash Tehillim has this to say:

Of the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor of the destruction that wasteth at noonday (Ps. 91:6). The Rabbis said: The latter words refer to a demon. R. Judah said, in the name of R. Jose, that the demon brings destruction—that is, lays waste—brings destruction throughout the forenoon. R. Huna said in the name of R. Jose: The demon “Bitter Destruction” is covered with scale upon scale and with shaggy hair, and he glares with his one eye, and that eye is in the middle of his heart…. And every man who sees him falls upon his face. Hezekiah saw him and fell upon his face. R. Phinehas the Priest bar Ḥama said: I know of a man who saw him and fell flat upon his face and became an epileptic.

(Midrash Tehillim 91:3, Braude)

In other words, according to rabbinic imagination, the pestilence spoken of by the psalmist is a demon—literally, not just metaphorically. Moreover, it creates disease. A related rabbinic tradition in the Bavli, or Babylonian Talmud, expands on this point:

Keteb Meriri. there are two Ketebs, one before noon and one after noon; the one before noon is called Ketheb Meriri, and looks like a ladle turning in the jug of kamka. That of the afternoon is called Keteb Yashud Zaharaim [“Destruction that wasteth at noonday”]; it looks like a goat’s horn, and wings compass it about.

(b. Pesaḥim 111b, Soncino)

There is more here about what the sages described as being a literal demon or demons. Disagreement exists as to what it resembles, or whether there are two such demons. Another reference to the demonic nature of the “plague” is found in Rashi’s commentary on the Book of Psalms:

deber “PLAGUE”… qeteb “SCOURGE” are the names of [distinct] demons, one of which [deber “PLAGUE”] wreaks havoc during the night and one of which [qeteb “SCOURGE”] wreaks havoc at noon. yāšûd “RAVAGES” [i.e.,], yĕšōdēd “destroys”.

(Rashi on Psalm 91:6, Gruber)

In Bamidbar Rabbah, a Midrashic commentary on the Book of Numbers, the commentary expands on the idea of the pestilences-slash-demons. Specifically, it is suggested, they prey on impiety and they interfere with learning Torah.

Of the pestilence that walketh in darkness (Ps. XCI, 6) implies that if a man’s deeds are in the dark the pestilence gains mastery over him. In a like strain it says, Before Him goeth the pestilence, and fiery bolts go forth at his feet (Hab. III, 5). So here too it says, Of the pestilence that walketh in the darkness. Nor of the destruction (keteb) that wasteth at noonday (Ps. loc. cit.). Our Rabbis explain that ‘keteb’ is a demon. And why was he called keteb? R. Abba son of Kahana said: Because he breaks into the daily studies from the beginning of four hours of the day to the end of nine.

(Bamidbar Rabbah XII:3, Soncino)

The Targum Tehillim weighs in as well on these purportedly demonic entities, including their leadership:

Be not afraid of the terror of demons who walk at night, of the arrow of the angel of death that he looses during the day; Of the death that walks in darkness, of the band of demons that attacks at noon.

(Targum to Psalms 91, Cook)

According to this perspective, the pestilence or plague may be understood as involving a band of demonic forces associated with the angel of death, known as the mal᾿akh mota in the Aramaic of the Targum, and to contemporary Jews as the Hebrew mal᾿akh ha-mavet. There is more description of these entities in Eikhah Rabbah, a Midrashic work on the Book of Lamentations:

Of the pestilence (keteb) that walketh in darkness (Ps. XCI, 6). R. Abba b. Kahana and R. Levi make observations. R. Abba b. Kahana said: It [the demon Keteb] stalks through the greater part of the midday period, from the beginning of the sixth hour until the end of the ninth. R. Levi said: It spoils the course of the day from the end of the fourth hour until the beginning of the ninth; and it does not walk in the sun or shade but in the shadow near the sun.

(Eikhah Rabbah I:29, Soncino)

According to this last reference, the pestilence-demon is stealthy and intentional—it “stalks” and hides in “the shadow.” It can thus be characterized by malintentions, offering a hint as to its/his underlying identity. This is further suggested in a commentary on Psalm 91:6 in the Zohar, a principal kabbalistic commentary on the Torah:

… when the Israelites committed the sin of the Golden Calf there was no reason why they should have made a calf rather than anything else on the evil side…. But the Calf was the appropriate form… the Chieftain ruling under the force of the sun has the appearance of a calf, and is described as “the destruction (keteb) that wasteth at noonday” (Ps. XCI, 6)….[Its] red side, the defiled spirit, is the same as the Evil Serpent.

(Zohar II, 236b, Soncino)

This added note alludes not just to a garden-variety demon but to the snake—the Evil Serpent. In other words, according to the Jewish mystics, the demonic source of pestilence or plague is not merely a demon but the demon—in other words, ha-śaṭan, or the Adversary (Satan). Eikhah Rabbah elaborates on this being’s influence and strategy:

Of the pestilence (keteb) that walketh in darkness…. R. Johanan said: It is all over full of eyes, scales, and hair. R. Simeon b. Lakish said: It has one eye set over its heart and whoever looks at it falls down dead. Once a pious man looked at it and fell dead upon his face, and some say that it was R. Judah b. Rabbi. Samuel saw it but did not fall; for he said, It is the snake of the house.

(Eichah Rabbah I:29, Soncino)

This new piece of commentary suggests that gazing upon the demon creates mortality (death), not just morbidity (disease). As noted, it preys on the pious and observant, too. From an “epidemiologic” perspective, this would seem to imply that everyone is fair game, as in a lethal pandemic. If so, who then is safe? How can people protect themselves? A clue is provided according to the compilers of Midrash Tanḥuma, a later Midrashic commentary on the Torah:

OF THE PESTILENCE THAT WALKS IN THE DARKNESS, OF THE PLAGUE THAT LAYS WASTE NOONDAY. This is the plague demon, Meriri; for whoever sees him will not survive [in the world], whether he be human, cattle, or wild beast. How does it happen? His head resembles a calf with one horn coming out of the middle of his forehead, and he has dominion from the seventeenth of Tammuz (around July) to the month of Av (around August)…. [U]ntil the day that the Tabernacle was erected, the destructive demons (mazziqin) were common. On the day that the Tabernacle was erected they were annihilated.

(Midrash Tanḥuma (Buber), P. Naso 7:1ff, Part IX, Townsend)

The mishkan (tabernacle), then, a place of ritual observance and sacrifice, is held out as a means to destroy the demons. Another protection, found in the Talmud, involves reciting Psalm 91:1–9, like a sort of mantra, which is said to provide divine immunity against the pestilence-demon:

…the song against evil occurrences, and some call it the song against plagues. He who calls it [the song] against plagues [does so] because it is written: neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent; and he who calls it [the song] against evil occurrences [does so] because it is written: a thousand may fall at my side; [that is to say, this psalm] is intoned…. R. Joshua b. Levi recited these verses when retiring to sleep.

(b. Shevu̒ot 15b, Soncino)

In summary, within the theological worldview constructed by these texts taken together, some insight is provided into how the Rabbis interpreted the dever and qeṭev spoken of in Psalm 91:6. First, the “pestilence” or “plague” was understood by the Rabbis as a literal, not just metaphoric, demon or demons. Second, these demons are said to prey on both the sinful and the religiously pious or observant. Third, the demons, or pestilence(s), are believed to be defeated by the practice of the Jewish faith. In the second-Temple pre-exilic era, this meant temple ritual and sacrifice. In the post-Temple rabbinic era in which we currently live, this means observance of the commandments, including ̒avodah (worship of God) and tehillah (recitation of prayers of praise). Such observances may be undertaken individually or communally.

4. Applications to Pandemics and Disease

Considering these exegetical commentaries, which construe pestilence in theological and often demonological terms, the question arises: how then have Judaism and the Jewish people made use of Psalm 91:6 in the context of pestilential disease? Answering this requires us first to examine whether Jews have utilized Sefer Tehillim in general not just for the prevention of disease and death but for purposes of healing. Next, we explore how this has played out during pandemics of the past millennium, including during COVID-19. Finally, we elaborate on relevant halakhic issues and on rituals that draw on more esoteric themes.

4.1. Applications of Sefer Tehillim for Protection and Healing

Psalms appear throughout the Jewish liturgy (Hoffman 2003)—and in Christian liturgies, as well (Braulik 2003)—such as during the beginning of the Friday evening ̒Erev Shabbat service and on special occasions such as ḥaggim (Jewish holidays). Certain psalms are recited especially in times of personal or communal distress. They may be said for oneself or for others or for the benefit of kelal Yisra᾿el—the Jewish people as a whole. Recitation of psalms provides solace, guidance, catharsis, renewal, comfort, thanksgiving, and other psychologically or spiritually salutary functions (Weintraub 1994).

Functionally, psalms are utilized in diverse ways in a medical or health-related context. These include through ritual, formal or informal prayer, song, study, meditation, conversation, and general fellowship (Weintraub 2005). Reading or reciting psalms are akin, in some ways, to the Roman Catholic practice of offering up prayers for the poor souls in purgatory (Nageleisen 1895), the Kriya yoga practice of chanting the japa (meditative recitation) of “Om Sri Ram” to add to the akashic storehouse so that well-being may be drawn down as needed (Easwaran 2008, pp. 41–42), and many other such forms of mantra repetition (Bormann and Oman 2007).

For traditionally religious Jews, however, such ritual uses are not recognized as substitutes for the seeking of care from physicians or other qualified medical providers. Indeed, patients have an obligation to seek out such care (see Rosner 1986). For some halakhic authorities, an important distinction would be between psalms as means to uplift and protect against harm, which is acceptable (b. Shevuʿot 15b), and their use as means of curing an already pathological condition, which would be seen as invoking magickal forces and thus forbidden (see Tzitz Eliezer 17:30). Others would consider recitation of psalms acceptable as a means of healing but only if used to increase one’s zekhut (merit) to be worthy of divine intervention, not in the sense that the words themselves represent “some kind of magical incantation” (Enkin n.d.) that can cure disease. In contemporary terms, recitation of psalms and other scriptures would be seen as a “complementary” rather than “alternative” therapy. Finally, aside from recitation of psalms, prayers to God for healing are acceptable and meritorious, although again in tandem with medical care (see Bleich 1981).

In a preventive rather than purely therapeutic context, reciting psalms can be understood as spiritually efficacious, capable of invoking divine protection and elevating one’s state of qedushah (holiness). For example, Psalm 91 is referred to in the Babylonian Talmud as a shir shel pegaʿim (“song against afflictions”), whose recitation serves as a safeguard against harmful forces (b. Shevuʿot 15b). Moreover, the resulting merit of such prayers can also be applied or offered to others in need. The practice of reciting psalms during biqqur ḥolim (visiting the sick), for example, is well established in Jewish tradition, with halakhic sources emphasizing the obligation to pray on behalf of the sick (Shulḥan ʿArukh, YD 335:4). In devotional and pastoral settings, this has often included the recitation of selected psalms associated with protection and healing, among which Psalm 91 is prominently featured (see Weintraub 2005).

Affirming, praying, or otherwise invoking Psalm 91, such as reciting it as a psalm of protection, are how religious Jews have utilized it historically. Moreover, this protection is believed to be not solely psychological—to give hope or boost spirits in the face of a challenge—but an actual segullah (divine protection or remedy) against the forces of evil, not unlike Paul’s exhortation to Christians to “put on the whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:11, RSV). This includes, as noted, reciting the psalm for the specific purpose of preventing or healing illness in oneself or others. The psalm is also read as promising teshuvah (lit. a “return” to wholeness, or, more generally, referring to redemption). This may be both personal (soteriological) or communal (eschatological) redemption, both of which entail ge᾿ullah (deliverance) from galut (exile). So, making use of certain psalms in this way, especially Psalm 91 and specifically Psalm 91:6, contains a prophetic element, as well.

4.2. Applications During Historical Pandemics

Throughout history, during times of pandemic disease Jews often have been scapegoated for the origin and transmission of a respective pathogen, and, as well, have been accused of managing to escape its consequences (in terms of morbidity and mortality) (Brown 2023). These assertions are in the tradition of anti-Semitic blood libels (Berlin 2011, p. 147).

During the Black Death of the 14th century, the most famous and destructive pandemic of bubonic plague in history, Jews suffered both directly from the disease and, secondarily, through accusations of complicity (Cohn 2007). Some bare-bones epidemiology for those interested: its pathogenic agent was Y. pestis, transmitted via a vector of X. cheopis (rat flea) from its host R. rattus, the R₀ (an indicator of transmissibility) was possibly about 3.0 (that is, the average number of people infected by an active case), the CFR (a measure of case-fatality, or the likelihood of dying among cases) was possibly about 60%, total morbidity is unknown, and mortality, worldwide, may have exceeded 100 million, including, by some estimates, from one-fourth to three-fourths of the population of Europe and Asia (Kohn 2001, pp. 27–28; Hays 2005).

The pandemic was attributed to Jews, who were accused, among other crimes, of poisoning wells. This led throughout Europe to mass pogroms, confiscation of property, and torture and expulsion (Foa 2000). A myth of a much lower Jewish fatality rate was promulgated, whereas best estimates suggest that it was the same as for gentiles (Teplitsky 2022). Anti-Semitic screeds were perpetuated, with downstream examples and aftereffects for centuries, fueled in part by the writings of European Christians including Luther (Moellering 1948). Jews and Jewish communities struggled to survive—physically, due to the pandemic, and communally, due to the persecution. Remnant Jewish communities relied in part on recitation of psalms (Barkai 1998), both the entirety of Sefer Tehillim and individual psalms including and especially Psalm 91. This was done in the belief that this practice would prevent further exposure and transmission, mitigate pathogenicity and fatalities, and provide protection against further genocide.

During the 19th century cholera pandemics, a similar story played out (Markel 2022). Multiple such outbreaks occurred globally during this century, and thus accurate numbers and parameters are exceedingly difficult to come by, as they vary by outbreak and country. Again, some basic epidemiology: the pathogenic agents was V. cholerae, R₀ was perhaps between about 1.7 to about 2.6, CFR has been estimated as between about 54% and 68%, morbidity numbers are unknown, and mortality estimates vary considerably, including evidence that as much as 13% of the total population of Cairo died just during the 1831 epidemic (cited in McNeill 1976, p. 231).

Cholera devastated Jewish communities in Europe, exacerbated by ghetto conditions. It was so debilitating to everyone, including gentiles, that persecution of Jews while present was less prevalent and severe than during the Black Death (Evans 1988). Jews were more likely to attribute the disease among themselves to sin, moral failing, and divine punishment (Brown 2023, pp. 136–37), and rabbinic writings at the time equated these events with Psalm 91:6’s “plague that walks in darkness.” Special pandemic prayers and siddurim (prayerbooks), circulating independently, were created to help deal with the cholera pandemic, as well as for outbreaks of plague, smallpox, rubella, and other pestilences. An example which references Psalm 91, from 1831, is a “Hebrew Prayer for Averting a Cholera Epidemic” (Sutro 1831).

The devastating influenza pandemic of 1918 was the most impactful population-thinning example of a globally transmitted communicable disease since the Black Death (Barry 2021). The pathogenic agent was influenza A H1N1, R₀ was believed to be about 1.9 to 2.0, CFR is estimated to have been about 2.3%, morbidity estimates are between 500 million and one billion people sickened, and mortality ranged as high as 50 to 100 million, but this latter number is unknown due to incomplete reporting of deaths in Asia and unreliable reporting in Europe (see Iezzoni 1999).

Jewish life was impacted worldwide. This included the closing of synagogues, restrictions on funerals and weddings, perpetuation of the myth of “filthy Jews” with resultant immigration quotas, and reappearance of the 14th century myth of Jewish “pandemic exceptionalism” (Brown 2023). For Jews, the experience was so terrifying—due both to the disease and to its social and political repercussions—that the events of 1918 and the subsequent waves of disease were soon rendered out of sight and out of mind, hardly spoken of again. This maps onto the general responses of Americans and others worldwide, among whom the story of the influenza pandemic has remained underreported, rarely taught in school, and, until COVID-19, largely forgotten (Beiner 2022).

Because synagogues were closed during the pandemic, communal prayer was authorized to be conducted in private, with the requirements of a minyan (the presence of ten men or ten adults in order to recite certain prayers) modified or relaxed. This was in keeping with the rabbinic principle of piqquaḥ nefesh (“to save a life”) taking precedence over strict halakhic considerations. Private recitation of Psalm 91 appears to have formed part of this devotional response, as it was during the contemporaneous global crisis of the Great War, not just among Jews but among Christians worldwide (see Jenkins 2014). Minyan requirements were similarly relaxed again during COVID-19, in both Israel and the Jewish diaspora, although with some dissent depending upon the Jewish movement (i.e., denomination) and the rabbinic body issuing respective rulings (e.g., Heller 2021).

4.3. Applications During COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic most of the earlier accusations against Jews and most of the Jewish responses were recycled (Topor 2020). To review, the pathogenic agent was SARS-CoV-2, R₀ was about 1-ish globally (but varied widely geographically and at different stages of the pandemic), CFR was about 2.2% globally (again, with wide variation) and is now close to nil, morbidity (according to the World Health Organization) is approaching 800 million, and mortality (also from the World Health Organization) by now exceeds 7 million (WHO 2024). For many reasons, these numbers may be a mix of underestimation and overestimation by wave of disease and by nation, a problem that has existed since the onset of the pandemic (Ioannidis 2021).

The existence of the internet and social media enabled an explosion and reinforcement of conspiracy theories pointing to Jewish complicity (Gerstenfeld 2020), reminiscent of anti-Semitic responses to the Black Death (see Lurie and Halperin 2023) but with an immediate and global spread enabled by modern channels of communications. Especially popular themes included the involvement of Jewish scientists at the U.S. National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and in Israeli labs in creating the SARS-CoV-2 virus; assertion that the mRNA vaccine was a scheme by Jewish-run pharmaceutical companies, notably Moderna (whose Chief Medical Officer was Dr. Tal Zaks) and Pfizer (whose chairman and CEO is Dr. Albert Bourla), to genetically manipulate the population, and that vaccines were being promoted for personal gain by Jewish medical scientists (e.g., Dr. Drew Weissman and Dr. Peter Hotez); belief that Jewish “financiers” and elitists created the virus in order to destroy President Trump; and, as always, the stubborn fallacy of Jewish pandemic exceptionalism, notwithstanding large numbers of fatalities among Jews in both Israel and the diaspora. A couple of added points: anti-vaccine propaganda was widespread among ḥaredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jews (Jacobson et al. 2023), with resultant greater morbidity and mortality in this group in both the U.S. and Israel. It should be mentioned, though, that “Halachic views do not provide a deterrent for Jews to inoculate…. No posek [rabbinic decisor] has ever stated that vaccination is prohibited by the doctrine of any denomination of Judaism” (Muravsky et al. 2023, pp. 384–85).

As noted above, rabbinic authorities relaxed halakhic rules regarding prayer, but with certain nuances. Communal prayers, including formal worship services and recitation of psalms and Mi Sheberakh (a blessing for healing), were enabled but in virtual settings, such as through Live Stream and Zoom. These rulings were mostly made by non-Orthodox rabbis, but not unanimously. On the whole, the various branches of Orthodoxy, with exceptions, also countenanced some leniencies (see, e.g., Orthodox Union 2021). Research has shown, as well, considerable differences in beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors related to COVID-19 between Orthodox and non-Orthodox laypeople in the U.S. (Cherniak et al. 2023).

Interesting responses and adaptations—even promises of cures—originated in the traditionally religious Jewish community, in keeping with a historic tradition of creating and adapting prayers and Torah verses for challenging times (Ben-Lulu 2025). What distinguishes the COVID-19 context, however, is the unprecedented speed and scale with which these interpretations circulated globally through digital media. Psalm 91 was promoted specifically, in some quarters, as containing a remedy for COVID-19. For example, one notable Orthodox rabbi editorialized in The Jerusalem Post that “[t]he Jewish response to the coronavirus pandemic was largely traditional: fasting and repentance, prayer and Psalms, especially Psalm 91 (Yoshev B’Seter)” (Apple 2022). Multiple blessings, prayers, and liturgies were created for giving and receiving the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, and social media was flooded with memes showing Orthodox rabbis and laypeople being immunized. The Masorti (Conservative) rabbinate in Israel penned a “Prayer for People Being Vaccinated”:

God who answers in times of distress and saves, “Healer of broken hearts who binds their wounds” (Psalm 147), who shares divine wisdom with flesh and blood and has given us understanding, science and discernment to create this vaccine:

May it be Your will that through the power of this human effort aided by G-d who graciously grants humans knowledge and teaches mortals understanding, science and discernment that I merit health and resilience so that these verses may be fulfilled for us: “I have removed illness from your midst” “for I the ETERNAL am your healer” (Exodus 23:15). “Let them praise the ETERNAL for God’s steadfast love and wondrous deeds for humanity” (Psalm 107).

Praised are You who brings healing to all flesh and does wonders.

(Rabbinical Assembly 2020)

4.4. Halakhic Issues and Ritual Uses of Psalm 91 During COVID-19

Rabbinic authorities on medical halakhah and Jewish biomedical ethics have weighed in on issues, such as quarantine, related to pandemics of infectious disease in general (Rashi 2020), and to the COVID-19 pandemic specifically (e.g., Golinkin 2021). Long ago in the era of the rabbinic sages, the existence of vectors of epidemic transmission and their connection to subsequent illness was intuitively acknowledged, and efforts were made to track cases and mortality (Krautwirth 2022). The use of prayer, as well as the reading of Psalm 91, was especially recommended to protect against infection (Langer 2024). In the present day, contemporary poseqim (rabbinic decisors) have offered teshuvot (responsa) on obligations and responsibilities of medical care providers (Solnica et al. 2020) and laypeople (Rashi 2021) during the pandemic. These include the creation of special liturgies (Langer 2021) and use of prayers, both traditional and innovative (Ben-Lulu 2025), in response to the unprecedented circumstances of the pandemic. As earlier, praying to God and reciting Psalm 91 have been endorsed by both rabbis and Christian pastors as essential for coping with and, hopefully, overcoming the emotional challenges of a pestilential disease such as COVID-19 (Cobbe 2022).

Especially important for religious Jews during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Orthodox rabbinic guidance, was a reliance upon ᾿emunah (faith) and bitaḥon (trust) in God as central dispositions in confronting uncertainty and fear (see Orthodox Union 2021). Observant Jews were implored to “be safe” and “keep the faith,” which meant to attend to Torah ritual, to check the kosher status of their mezuzot, and to “stay positive” (see Exodus Magazine 2020, p. 14). For some, this was encouraged as a substitute for compliance with public health guidelines on immunization, masking, and social distancing. In ḥaredi communities in Israel, for example, such religiously-, ideologically-, and socially-driven responses are believed to account for the higher rates of infection in that population (Zalcberg and Block 2021). In ḥaredi communities in the U.S., challenges emerged in negotiating the conflict between normative religious observance as sanctioned by halakhah and public health edicts which placed constraints on cherished religious practices such as communal gatherings (Berger Lipsky and Gabbay 2023).

Other practices reflect apotropaic (evil-averting) traditions within Jewish culture. Such uses of Psalm 91 and related texts have deep historical roots, extending back to the Second Temple period, where psalms appear among incantatory texts from Qumran (e.g., 11Q11) designed to ward off demonic forces and illness. The psalm’s enduring role as a protective text in both elite and popular religious settings—including its incorporation into amulets, liturgies, and other ritual practices—has been widely noted (e.g., Dennis 2016).

Among some traditionally observant Jews, use of magickal objects was promoted. These included amulets, talismans, bracelets, and rings. Other esoterica were relied upon, such as promises of divine favor due to unusual numerological observations (e.g., the palindromic correspondence of “COVID 19” and the “91st Psalm”). As well, centuries-old apocryphally attributed magickal texts were recycled, such as the Havdalah de-Rabbi Akiva, a “guide to theurgic ritual” (Dennis 2016, p. 192) which includes a complete recitation of Psalm 91. These forms of magick promised protection, specifically, against pestilence-causing demons. Other forms of segullah included receiving the touch of a ṣaddiq (righteous or saintly person) or a wonder-working rabbi; and, for example, touching ḥefṣe ṣaddiqim (holy objects), such as the parashiyyot tefillin (the written text inside a pair of phylacteries) having belonged to a great rabbi. As noted earlier, these heterodox applications of psalms do not reflect more normative Jewish beliefs and practices according to halakhah.

Interestingly, during COVID-19 these sorts of imagery, memes, gematria (Kabbalistic numerology), and ritual items featuring Psalm 91 were found as much among certain Christians seeking a Hebrew-Jewish-Torah imprimatur for eschatological readings of the pandemic as among the ḥaredim. This resulted in paradoxical uses and motivations. For example, some evangelical authors (see Robinson 2024) asserted that reliance upon Psalm 91:6 (in whatever ways that was done) both protected believers from harm and staved off the end of the world, but at the same time prepared believers for the inevitable End Times and actually hastened what Jews would refer to as be-vi᾿at ha-Mashiaḥ (the coming of the Messiah). In other words, according to this perspective, the appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic—as during other historical pandemics—was a disaster for humankind and yet was welcomed as heralding the imminent parousia (second coming) of Jesus (Ukeachusim 2024).

5. Conclusions

In summary, this study has argued that among religious Jews, Psalm 91 and especially verse 6 have been read as a kind of protection or remedy that may be prophylactic (i.e., primary-preventive) or salutogenic (i.e., therapeutic) for pestilential disease, as well as redemptive for the Jewish people, both individually and collectively. This has been so over the past millennia, during various occurrences of pandemic disease.

The centrality of this psalm not just as a protector against pestilence but as divine gift through whose agency a redemptive force can be exerted for the Jewish people can be seen in the words of a prominent Orthodox rabbi:

The world had a primeval innocence that was lost at an early stage when Adam was not morally mature and Creation lost its glory. The original innocence will only be restored at the messianic redemption. Regaining the pristine innocence will require a moral struggle. Psalm 91 is a fundamental dimension of the story of the struggle.

(Apple 2022)

Through invoking Psalm 91, and by relying upon Psalm 91:6 as a kind of divinely guaranteed promissory note, for centuries observant Jews have received comfort and emotional support which has helped to provide context and meaning amid tremendous suffering during pandemics of infectious disease. By identifying lethal pathogens with the devil itself and by insinuating literally preventive and even therapeutic sequelae into recitation of this psalm, the rabbinic sages established and reinforced an ethic of trust and reliance on God both as a means of not succumbing to the pathogenic effects of pandemic infections and as a framework for viewing and making sense of calamitous events that would otherwise seem random, unexpected, and devastating.

The historical case study described here—reliance upon Psalm 91:6 among Jews during pandemics of infectious disease—exemplifies how scriptural authority can be invoked and relied upon during times of communal crisis. By providing an eschatological or other religious context for understanding what is happening, this type of reading shows how use of this psalm has served to ameliorate some of the uncertainty surrounding historic and contemporary pandemics, even if the concomitant fear and subsequent mortality was and is not mitigated. As well, these interpretations of Psalm 91:6 reveal how it has remained for centuries uniquely portable in pandemic imagination, functioning as something akin to a “theological epidemiology” and offering a means of primary prevention which promises protection against physical calamity.