This essay will present one final approach to pesukei d’zimra. Here is a brief reminder of where we have been – we started with R. Yose (Shabbat 118b) who presented pesukei d’zimra as a kind of Hallel for nature. We then saw several ways in which pesukei d’zimra may serve as preparation for the amida, built mostly around R. Simlai (Berachot 32a). Rav Saadia and the Rambam viewed pesukei d’zimra as more of a continuation of birkot ha-shachar and as a way to build an attitude of gratitude. Last week, we learned the Zohar which taught us that pesukei d’zimra is a fulfillment of divine awe.

Sha’arei Orah & Menorat ha-Maor

Today we will see two more mystical texts that build on the literary connection between the Hebrew word דזמרא (of praise), d’zimra and זמורות (branches, vines), z’morot. In this model pesukei d’zimra is meant to help trim away parts of ourselves that may serve as a distraction from God. This could be viewed as preparation for standing before God in the amida, but it also has its own spiritual function.

Rabbi Yosef Gikatilla¹ wrote:

שערי אורה – שער א

וכשבא דוד עליו השלום והתקין זמירות, בהיות האדם מסדר אותן הזמירות אזי מסתלקין והולכין להם אותם המשחיתים והמקלקלים והמעכבים. ונקראו זמירות מלשון מזמר: וכרת הזלזלים במזמרות (ישעיה יח:ה). ועל זה אמר הכתוב: זמירות היו לי חוקיך בבית מגורי (תהלים קיט:נד). כלומר, באותם המקומות שהייתי מתיירא מהן בדרך והיה לי פחד ומגור, באותן הזמירות פזרתים והכרתים. ולפי זה הדרך נאמר: ברון יחד כוכבי בוקר וגו’ (איוב לח:ו). ועניין רינה הם הזמירות הנאמרים בבוקר 

Sha’arei Orah – Sha’ar #1

When David, peace be with him, came and created the Psalms it was for man who arranges the Psalms in his prayers, thus dispersing the destructive, ruinous and disrupting forces². The Psalms were called ZeMiRot, from the root mZaMeR, as it is written, “He will turn away twigs with MaZMeRot (Isaiah 18:5). As it is also written ,”Your laws are a ‘source of strength (ZeMiRoth), to me wherever I may dwell (Psalm 119:54). This means that it was those ZeMiRoth, those Psalms, that scattered off the evil from those fearful places. Thus it is written, “When the morning stars sang together…(Job 38:7). The song of the morning stars consists of the ZeMiRot that are chanted in the morning service³.

The same word play appears in Rabbi Yitzchak Aboab’s⁴ Menorat ha-Maor:

מנורת המאור (מוסד הרב קוק, עמ׳ 212)

מצאתי כתוב כי לכן נקראו השירים מזמורים מלשון לֹא תִזְמֹר (ויקרא כה:ד) ולפי זה זמירות רוצה לומר זמורות שכשם שהמזמר בגפנים יקוץ כל הזמורות ויניח מה שראוי לרטב כך הזמירות שאנו אומרים קודם התפלה יסירו ויקוצו כל המכשולות והעונות שיש לנו לפני השם וכשתבוא תפלתנו שתהיה נשמעת ורצויה לפני השם. 

Menorat ha-Maor (pg. 212, Mosad ha-Rav Kook ed.)

I found it written that the songs [of the Psalms] are called mizmorim based on the language of the Biblical verse You shall not prune (Lo Tizmor, Vayikra 25:4, referring to the prohibitions of the Shemitta year). And according to this, the word zemirot refers to z’morot (prunnings). For just like one who prunes vines has to trim all the branches (z’morot) and leaven behind that which should become wet. So too, the zemirot that we recite before tefila are meant to remove and cut off all the stumbling blocks and sins that stand in the way of God. So that when our prayers reach God it they will be be heard and desired by God. 

In this approach pesukei d’zimra is a time to prune away extraneous or distracting thoughts. In the Sha’arei Orah the mystical overlay is much stronger. The Menorat ha-Maor offers nearly the same world-play without the direct connection to the demons of Psalm 91. Like for Rav Sa’adia and the Zohar, pesukei d’zimra is a moment for spiritual growth. While  it may not be about gratitude leading to awe, pesukei d’zimra provides us with an opportunity to look inwardly and focus our mind and heart on the task of tefila.

One of the greatest challenges to prayer today is our inability to truly focus on one task at a time (kavana). Even as I am writing this essay, I have ten other tabs open on my computer. Pruning away extraneous thoughts, ideas, and tabs is not simple. For these mystics pesukei d’zimra offers us a few moments of pruning every single day.

Learning to be in the moment and not pulled by our phones, our email or our next appointment is a life-long goal. This is true for counselors, teachers, parents and Rebbeim. We all know what it is like to truly listened to. To have someone give you their complete attention even if for only a few minutes. Practicing that skill with God helps us to be better listeners for our own friends, students and children. Developing the ability to be truly present for another does not happen on its own, it requires time and training. For the Sha’arie Orah and Menorat ha-Maor, pesukei d’zimra is a daily practice that helps cultivate this essential spiritual life-skill.

Summary

In my next and final installment I will try to bring all of this diverse material together. For now, here is a link to each approach of the essays:

1. Hallel – Shabbat 118b, R. Yosi (link)
2. Preparation for the Amida:
   1. Praise before Petition – Berachot 32a, R. Simlai (link)
   2. Solemnity, Settled Law, Joy – Berachot 30b to 31a (beraytot) (link)
   3. Pausing in anticipation – Berachot 30b (mishna) (link)
3. An Independent Unit (non preparatory and not Hallel)
   1. Gratitude (continuation of Birkot ha-Shachar) – Rav Saadia (Rambam) (link) 
   2. Fulfillment of Yirat Hashem, Zohar, Parashat Vayakhel, page 202b (link)
   3. Pruning, Sha’arei Orah (Sha’ar א) & Menorat ha-Maor (pg. 212, MSK)

The challenge that we now face is to bring all of this source material into conversation with a contemporary striving for spiritual thriving. Come back next week and let’s see where we land.

1. Late 13th in the early 14th century, Castile, Spain. Gikatilla’s work can be divided into two periods. The first, in the mid 1270’s, a very creative time for the Castile school. The later period, some 20 to 30 years later, represents a more complete theosofic kabalistic language. His Sha’ari Orah, from this latter period, is one of the most important introductions to the world of the sefirot as well as a guidebook for how to pray
2. The idea of “destructive forces” in this paragraph is building on the prior section which dealt with Psalm 91 sometimes known as the “Psalm of Demons – שיר של פגעים”. This Psalm, יושב בסתר עליון, is typically recited at burials and the nighttime Shema. See Yerushalmi Shabbat 6:2, Rashi and Ibn Ezra 91:6 where they name the demons.
3. This translation comes from Avi Weinstein’s masterful translation, pages 12-13, of the entire work published in 1994 by HarperCollins.
4. Also flourished in the early 1300’s in Castille, Spain. He was a Talmudist and Kabalist familiar with Greek philosophy.