Hāḡâ: Growls of Satisfaction

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2)

Meditation can often be caricatured as stoic silence and stillness, near withdrawal from all emotion, sensuality, or desire.

Perhaps we picture the self-controlled monk, whose cognitive discipline is well-practiced in removing distraction, and contemplating ever deepening layers of truth and meaning.

These can be rich spaces and worthy endeavors and ways in which we wrestle with God and Torah and self.

But what if, in this particular passage, “meditate” was not the appropriate word?

Here we find the word Hāḡâ, which can be translated as: a growl, grown, murmur, or roar of satisfaction and pleasure.

It’s a word of delight and desire, of longing met with abundance as well as longing deferred into a plea of desperation.

It’s impassioned, whole-hearted, unwound, gratified.

The acts and sounds of Hāḡâ are what would come from the belly of a lion after devouring a gazelle.

It could possibly be categorized as an onomatopoeia.

You try…

Picture yourself, belly full, reclining on the couch after a big holiday feast.

Now inhale through your nose… and out loud, in your deepest, most rumbling voice, reach deep into your stomach, and with a long, decompressing exhale, let out a resounding: “haaa-gaaaaaaaah!”

Surely, those who consume Adonai’s holy words and mitzvahs and teachings and ways, and relish in them with tummy rumbles of contentment and pleasure, are greatly blessed.