The recital of the whole Book of Psalms is widespread, whether as an act of piety by saintly individuals, or by groups of unlearned people. For this purpose "societies of reciters of psalms" (hevrot tehillim) were and continue to be formed, and in recent times a special society has been formed in Jerusalem whereby two separate groups recite the whole Book of Psalms daily at the Western Wall. The psalms are included in their entirety in all large prayer books.

Israel b. Abraham Bak (1797–1874) was born in Berdichev, Ukraine, into a family of printers. Later he owned a Jewish press in Berdichev, printing about 30 books between 1815 and 1821 when the press closed down. In 1831, after various unsuccessful efforts to reopen the works, he emigrated to Palestine and settled in Safed. There he renewed the tradition of printing Hebrew works, which had come to an end in the last third of the 17th century. During the peasant revolt against Muhammad Ali in 1834 his printing press was destroyed and he was wounded. Later he reopened his press, and also began to work the land on Mount Yarmak (Meron), overlooking Safed. His was the first Jewish farm in Erez Israel in modern times. After the Safed earthquake in 1837 and the Druze revolt in 1838, during which his farm and printing press were destroyed, he moved to Jerusalem. In 1841 he established the first - and for 22 years, the only - Jewish printing press in Jerusalem. One hundred and thirty books were printed on it, making it an important cultural factor in Jerusalem. Bak also published and edited the second Hebrew newspaper in Erez Israel, Havazzelet (1863). After a short time its publication stopped and was renewed only in 1870 by his son-in-law I. D. Frumkin and others. Israel Bak was a leader of the hasidic community; as a result of his efforts and those of his son Nisan, a central synagogue for the Hasidim, called Tiferet Israel (after R. Israel of Ruzhin), came into being. In Jerusalem it was also known as "Nisan Bak's synagogue." It was destroyed in 1948 during the War of Independence.

דף [1,ב]: הקדמת הרב המדפיס. דף [1,ב-4,א]: הקדמת המביא לדפוס, ר' גרשון ב"ר בן ציון מרגליות ז"ל, אב"ד סקאליט, תושב צפת. בהקדמתו דברי תורה, ובסופה: "ולמען תהיה מלאכת ה'... מוגה... מצאתי לי חבר... כמו"ה שלמה זלמן נפתלי הערץ... בירר פסולת וסיגים". בראש כל מזמור נדפסה "כוונת המשורר". עם תפילות קודם ואחר תהלים בחול, בשבת, ביום-טוב ולליל הושענה רבה, ותפלה בעד החולה, הפותחת: יי יי אל רחום וחנון. הספר תמים יחדיו הובא כאן בהשמטת הקדמת המחבר והמפתח. מראי המקומות לבאורי הזוהר, שצוינו בהוצאה הראשונה לפי זוהר דפוס קרימונה, צוינו כאן לפי דפוס מנטובה. במקביל נדפסה מהדורה של תהלים בלי פירושים.