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• Psalm 22 is the psalm Jesus quotes from the Cross. It is not despair — it ends in praise and universal proclamation. The opening cry is the beginning of a prayer that resolves in confidence. (CCC 2605)
• Psalm 22 is appointed for Good Friday in Anglican liturgy — the psalm Jesus prayed from the Cross, prayed again by His people every Good Friday in solidarity with His suffering and His vindication. (BCP Good Friday)
• The Zohar (II, 105b) teaches that this psalm describes the Shechinah in Her deepest exile, seemingly abandoned by the upper Sefirot. The cry of forsakenness is not despair but a signal that activates the divine mercy of Keter — the cry itself is the mechanism of salvation. The Sitra Achra believes forsakenness is defeat, but in the Zohar's framework, it is the darkness before the dawn of redemption.
• "All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads" describes the psychological warfare of the Klipot, who attack the Tzaddik's dignity and identity (Zohar I, 199b). Mockery is the Sitra Achra's attempt to break the Tzaddik's Kavanah by making his devotion seem foolish. The counterweapon is Azut D'Kedushah — holy boldness that refuses to be shamed.
• "Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me" — the Zohar (III, 151a) identifies the bulls of Bashan as specific Klipot associated with physical indulgence and material excess. Bashan represents the fertile territory of the Sitra Achra, where the husks are fat with stolen vitality. These are among the most powerful Klipot because they draw strength from collective human materialism.
• "They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots" is the Zohar's image (II, 211a) of the Klipot stripping the soul's protective garments — the garments woven from mitzvot. The casting of lots represents the randomness of the Sitra Achra's distribution system, which is chaotic because it has no organizing principle. Each garment stolen is a mitzvah-protection lost.
• The Zohar (I, 238b) reads the psalm's triumphant conclusion — "the afflicted shall eat and be satisfied" — as the prophetic reversal in which every holy spark stolen by the Klipot is returned with interest. The Tzaddik who endures the total darkness of Psalm 22 emerges with greater spiritual wealth than before, because the Sitra Achra, in its overreach, has exposed and released its deepest hoarded sparks.
• Berakhot 5a teaches that suffering requires examination — "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?" (verse 1) is the Talmudic paradigm of the righteous sufferer who maintains his address to God even in total desolation, and the rabbis teach that this refusal to abandon the divine relationship even when it feels broken is itself the highest form of faith.
• Sanhedrin 98b records debates about the Messianic era — the description of the crucifixion scene in verses 14-18 ("they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots") is read in later rabbinic literature as prophetic, and the Talmud's treatment of the suffering righteous (Yoma 86b) provides the framework for understanding suffering as vicarious atonement within God's redemptive plan.
• Sotah 5a teaches that God's Shekhinah rests on the humble — "in you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them" (verse 4) is the Talmudic appeal to ancestral merit (zekhut avot), and the rabbis teach that invoking the faith of the patriarchs is an effective spiritual strategy because their covenant trust created a reservoir of merit that future generations can draw on.
• Berakhot 12b records that Moses prayed 515 prayers to be allowed to enter the land — the transition from lament to praise in verse 24 ("For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help") is the Talmudic model of answered prayer following sustained petition, where the very answer validates the suffering as purposeful rather than abandoned.
• Megillah 17b teaches that the full Hallel is recited on days of complete salvation — "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord" (verse 27) is the Talmudic universalist hope embedded in Israel's particular suffering, where the righteous sufferer's vindication becomes the event that brings the nations to divine recognition — the individual's trial becomes the world's turning point.