Psalms for Special Days
The Siddur also contains biblical chapters and verses which, though not as central as those noted earlier, were placed there for more contextual reasons. On the Sabbath, an obvious choice was Ps. 92 (see v. 1 , “for the sabbath day”), on Hanukkah it was logical to opt for Ps. 30 (see v. 1 , “for the dedication of the House”), the sounding of the shofar could be introduced by Ps. 47 (see v. 6 ), and the themes of Pss. 24, 27, and 130 matched the mood of the days before and after New Year and the Day of Atonement. Since there was a rabbinic tradition that claimed that certain psalms (Pss. 24, 48, 82, 94–95, 81, and 93 ) had been recited in the Temple on particular days, it was natural to follow such an alleged precedent, although it is not clear that such a ritual had been adopted in the daily version of the earliest talmudic liturgy (m. Tamid 7:4). Some authorities, such as the early medieval Seder Rav Amram, recorded objections to the tendency to extend the use of these psalms beyond the morning services.