Tehillim · The book of Tehillim
How is the Book of Psalms divided among several people?
When a group wants to say the entire Book of Psalms quickly, they form a chaburah (a fellowship gathered for a purpose), divide the 150 psalms among the members, and each person takes a portion — so the whole book is completed together in one sitting.
How the sharing works
The idea is simple and old: one hundred and fifty psalms are a great deal for a single person to say at once, but light when carried by many. The chaburah agrees on how to split the book — so many psalms to each person — and everyone recites their share. Put together, the whole of Tehillim (Psalms) has been said, and no one has been overwhelmed. It is the community turning a large act of prayer into something a mishpachah (an extended family or fellowship) can do shoulder to shoulder.
When a group turns to this
This is the custom reached for at the intense moments: when someone is seriously ill and the community wants the entire book said for their sake, or during shloshim, the thirty days of mourning after a burial. In those hours, gathering a chaburah to complete all one hundred fifty psalms in a single session is a way of saying: you are not carrying this alone, all of us are lifting the words with you.
What to do
Gather the people willing — in person or across phones — and divide the book so every psalm has someone assigned to it. Each person says their portion; when the last one finishes, the whole of Tehillim has been completed for the person you have in mind. Even taking only a handful of psalms as your share is a real part of a real whole, and to step in at all is a genuine kindness.
Source: The living custom of the chaburah — the fellowship that divides the 150 psalms so each member says a part.
When your chaburah divides the book for someone who is ill, let Kolí (the Tehillim for the moment you are living) hand each person their portion so the 150 come together as one.
Open Kolí