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Category: Siddur

Introduction to Shema and its Berachot (2) – Foundational Texts (2) – Bavli 11a

Introduction to Shema and its Berachot (2) – Foundational Texts (2) – Bavli 11a

Last time we explored the Yerushalmi’s brief commentary on the Mishna, which offered two sources for the idea of berachot recited before and after the Shema. Let us now turn to the Bavli to see what its rabbis are thinking about in this regard.

בבלי ברכות י”א.

מַאי מְבָרֵךְ? 

אָמַר רַבִּי יַעֲקֹב אָמַר רַבִּי אוֹשַׁעְיָא יוֹצֵר אוֹר וּבוֹרֵא חֹשֶׁךְ. 

Bavli, Berachot 11a

What is the beracha? R. Yaakov said in the name of R. Yoshia, “Yotzer or u’vorei choshech – God creates light and fashioned darkness.”

The language of this beracha draws on a verse from the 45th chapter of Isaiah. Here is the opening of the chapter and the context of the verse:

ישעיהו מ”ה:א, ד-ז

(א) כֹּה אָמַר יְקֹוָק לִמְשִׁיחוֹ לְכוֹרֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר הֶחֱזַקְתִּי בִימִינוֹ לְרַד לְפָנָיו גּוֹיִם וּמָתְנֵי מְלָכִים אֲפַתֵּחַ לִפְתֹּחַ לְפָנָיו דְּלָתַיִם וּשְׁעָרִים לֹא יִסָּגֵרוּ: (ב) אֲנִי לְפָנֶיךָ אֵלֵךְ וַהֲדוּרִים אושר אֲיַשֵּׁר דַּלְתוֹת נְחוּשָׁה אֲשַׁבֵּר וּבְרִיחֵי בַרְזֶל אֲגַדֵּעַ: (ג) וְנָתַתִּי לְךָ אוֹצְרוֹת חֹשֶׁךְ וּמַטְמֻנֵי מִסְתָּרִים לְמַעַן תֵּדַע כִּי אֲנִי יְקֹוָק הַקּוֹרֵא בְשִׁמְךָ אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל: (ד) לְמַעַן עַבְדִּי יַעֲקֹב וְיִשְׂרָאֵל בְּחִירִי וָאֶקְרָא לְךָ בִּשְׁמֶךָ אֲכַנְּךָ וְלֹא יְדַעְתָּנִי: (ה) אֲנִי יְקֹוָק וְאֵין עוֹד זוּלָתִי אֵין אֱלֹהִים אֲאַזֶּרְךָ וְלֹא יְדַעְתָּנִי: (ו) לְמַעַן יֵדְעוּ מִמִּזְרַח שֶׁמֶשׁ וּמִמַּעֲרָבָה כִּי אֶפֶס בִּלְעָדָי אֲנִי יְקֹוָק וְאֵין עוֹד: (ז) יוֹצֵר אוֹר וּבוֹרֵא חֹשֶׁךְ עֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם וּבוֹרֵא רָע אֲנִי יְקֹוָק עֹשֶׂה כָל אֵלֶּה: 

Isaiah 45:1, 4-7

(1) Thus said the Lord to Cyrus, His anointed one…(4) For the sake of My servant Jacob, Israel My chosen one, I call you by name, I hail you by title, though you have not known Me. (5) I am the Lord and there is none else; beside Me, there is no god. I engird you, though you have not known Me, (6) So that they may know, from east to west, that there is none but Me. I am the Lord and there is none else, (7) I create light and fashion darkness, I make peace and fashion evil — I the Lord do all these things.

The gemara now notes that the beracha as it appears in the siddur is different from the language of the prophet. Here is the text as we have it as part of the liturgy:

יוֹצֵר אוֹר וּבוֹרֵא חֹשֶׁךְ עֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם וּבוֹרֵא אֶת הַכֹּל

I create light and fashion darkness, I make peace and fashion everything

This change is not insignificant, let’s see how the gemara addresses it (Berachot 12b):

לֵימָא יוֹצֵר אוֹר וּבוֹרֵא נוֹגַהּ [כינוי ללילה ע”פ פסחים ג.]? כְּדִכְתִיב קָאָמְרִינַן.

אֶלָּא מֵעַתָּה עֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם וּבוֹרֵא רָע מִי קָא אָמְרִינַן כְּדִכְתִיב אֶלָּא כְּתִיב רַע וְקָרֵינַן הַכֹּל לִישָּׁנָא מְעַלְּיָא, הָכָא נָמֵי לֵימָא נוֹגַהּ לִישָּׁנָא מְעַלְּיָא? 

Let him say, “[God] Who creates light and fashions brightness (noga1)”? We say the blessing as the verse is written in the Bible. But if so, do we say, “I make peace and fashion evil” as it is written [in the Navi]? Rather, it is written “[creator of] evil” and we euphemistically say “[creator of] everything?” Here, too, let us euphemistically say brightness (noga) instead of darkness.

The gemara seems to entertain and then reject the possibility that the siddur chose the language of the beracha in order to speak euphemistically about evil or night. In the end, the sugya rejects that idea and offers a different explanation for the change in language from the verse:

אֶלָּא אָמַר רָבָא כְּדַי לְהַזְכִּיר מִדַּת יוֹם בַּלַּיְלָה וּמִדַּת לַיְלָה בַּיּוֹם. 

Rather, Rava said: (The reason we recite: “Who creates darkness”) is in order to mention the attribute of day at night and the attribute of night during the day.

This idea – the obligation to make the day and the night be the same – is a key theme of this section. We saw that the commentaries on the Yerushalmi said something similar about both verses that they quoted as the source for the idea of the berachot themselves. Built into the structure of these blessings is a religious desire to show that God can be found both in the day and the night. God is present both in our moments of great joy as well as deep sorrow.

In the current pandemic environment, this is a painful concept. The rabbis understand the strong human impulse to disassociate the suffering of the world from God. Indeed, all of us want to find a “natural” explanation for pain that does not implicate Hashem. The problem of theodicy is as old as humanity, and I would not be so arrogant as to think that I could offer a sufficient response to those questions.

However, I believe that the rabbis are trying to help us to see the world in a different way. They want us to understand that, in fact, everything is from God. Just as we might recite a beracha over Hallel on Yom ha-Atzmaut, we also cry through Yom ha-Shoah with a keen awareness of divine absence.

A central message of prayer in general, and this section in particular, is to learn to see the light in the darkness and to always be aware of the darkness in the light, which enables us to resist the dualist or Deist notion that God is only available to us in one state or the other. I pray that we only need to celebrate smachot, but I am keenly aware that the reality of life is complex and  messy.

Introduction to Shema and its Berachot (1) – Foundational Texts (1) – Mishna (Berachot and Tamid) & Yerushalmi Berachot 1:5, 3c

Introduction to Shema and its Berachot (1) – Foundational Texts (1) – Mishna (Berachot and Tamid) & Yerushalmi Berachot 1:5, 3c

The next section of the siddur that I will analyze is the Shema and its blessings. As opposed to Pesukei d’Zimra, which had very few texts from chazal that overtly dealt with the topic, we now encounter a portion of the siddur with ample rabbinic material. These texts provide fertile ground for rishonim to struggle with the section’s deeper meaning and function.

These essays will proceed as follows. First, I present a few foundational texts that serve as the basis for subsequent deliberation. The remaining installments seek to answer the following three questions:

  1. What is the relationship of Shema and its blessings to the Amida? (סמיכת גאולה לתפילה)
  2. How do the berachot of Shema function relative to the Shema itself? (ברכת המצוה או ברכת שבח)
  3. How do the berachot function relative to each other (ברכות מעכבות)?

While these questions are somewhat technical in nature, they also provide a framework to help unpack some of the bigger themes of this section. Through a careful halakhic analysis, I hope to foreground some of the more spiritual messages that lie just beneath the surface of the Shema and its blessings. …

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Introduction to Pesukei d’Zimra (9) – Bringing it all together

Introduction to Pesukei d’Zimra (9) – Bringing it all together

“The siddur is the most important work of Jewish spirituality” – this was how I began these essays. A number of people reached out to me to clarify what I meant and to try to support this claim. While I do not think that I can prove such an idea, let me return to that point from a different perspective.

Let’s be honest about pesukei d’zimra for a moment. For most people, even those who are committed, regular daveners this is the section that most likely to get skipped or cut for one reason or another. It feels repetitive and it is hard to discern a clear through line that brings it all together. While it does contain some of the most majestic selections of Tehilim it is difficult (for me) to muster the energy and focus for each and every section.

However, when we step back from the details and look at pesukei d’zimra from a bit of a distance, some very powerful and beautiful ideas emerge. What this series strove to do was zoom out and evaluate the spiritual themes that are applied to pesukei d’zimra from the outside – both from the Gemara and rishonim. A careful analysis of those competing ideas and models leads to some important guidance for how to sit with pesukei d’zimra as well as what it means to be a prayerful human being. Let us begin with a brief review and then see if we can make meaning from all these data points. …

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Introduction to Pesukei d’Zimra (8) – Sha’arei Orah & Menorat ha-Maor

Introduction to Pesukei d’Zimra (8) – Sha’arei Orah & Menorat ha-Maor

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. …

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Introduction to Pesukei d’Zimra (7) – an Independent Unit – Zohar

Introduction to Pesukei d’Zimra (7) – an Independent Unit – Zohar

Gratitude bestows Reverence

The Zohar, like Rav Sa’adia and the Rambam, presents pesukei d’zimra as functioning outside of the parameters of the amida. In parashat Vayakhel (דף ר׳ ע״א – ר׳ ע״ב) the Zohar offers a kind of commentary on the siddur. In that section we learn that there are six mitzvot – not obviously related to tefila – that can be fulfilled through davening: Fear of God, Love of God, Blessing God, Unifying God, the Priestly Blessing, being ready to give up our lives for God1. After introducing these six Mitzvot, we are then told which section of the siddur is connected to which Mitzvah. Let’s see how the Zohar understands the role of pesukei d’zimra:

זוהר ב:ר”ב  ב 

לְיִרְאָה אֶת הַשֵּׁם, פִּקּוּדָא דָּא קַיְּימָא בְּאִלֵּין תּוּשְׁבְּחָן דְּקָאָמַר דָּוִד מַלְכָּא, וּבְאִינּוּן קָרְבָּנִין דְּאוֹרַיְיתָא, דְּתַמָּן בָּעֵי בַּר נָשׁ לְדַחֲלָא מִקַּמֵּי מָארֵיהּ, בְּגִין דְּאִינּוּן שִׁירִין קַיְּימִין בְּהַהוּא אֲתָר דְּאִקְרֵי יִרְאָה. וְכָל אִינּוּן הַלְלוּיָהּ, דְּאִינּוּן רָזָא דְּיִרְאָה דְּקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא. וּבָעֵי בַּר נָשׁ לְשַׁוָּאָה רְעוּתֵיהּ בְּאִינּוּן שִׁירִין בְּיִרְאָה…

Zohar 2:202b

To fear God: This commandment is fulfilled through the recitation of the praises of King David, as well as the Torah’s sacrifices. For in those areas a person must awaken one’s self in awe before the Creator. For these songs are grounded in malchut which is called fear. And all those chapters that have the word Halleluya, which are the secrets of the fear of the Holy Blessed One. A person is required to place his will into these songs with fear…

…

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Introduction to Pesukei d’Zimra (5) – Pausing in Anticipation (שוהים) Berachot 30b

Introduction to Pesukei d’Zimra (5) – Pausing in Anticipation (שוהים) Berachot 30b

We have seen two different approaches to the idea of pesukei d’zimra as preparation for the amida. First we reviewed R. Simlai’s ‘praise before petition.’ Then we saw the three ways in which we are meant to “rise to prayer” – solemnity, settled law and joy. We now turn to the third and concluding way in which pesukei d’zimra can be seen as helping to prepare for the amida. 

Last time we analyzed the first half of the first Mishna of the fifth chapter of Berachot. We now turn to the second half of that very same Mishna which offers a different way to prepare for Prayer.

חֲסִידִים הָרִאשׁוֹנִים הָיוּ שׁוֹהִים שָׁעָה אַחַת וּמִתְפַּלְּלִים, כְּדֵי שֶׁיְּכַוְּנוּ אֶת לִבָּם לַמָּקוֹם.

The ancient pious one used to wait in anticipation for an hour and then pray in order to intend their hearts to the Omnipresent One.

These chasidim used to prepare for their recitation of the amida by meditating for an hour. Again, in its context, this Mishna is outlining how we are meant to prepare for the moment of standing before God in the amida. The gemara adds the following instruction, extending the requirement to after Prayer as well:

בבלי ברכות ל״ב ע״ב

וְאָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי הַמִּתְפַּלֵּל צָרִיךְ לִשְׁהוֹת שָׁעָה אַחַת אַחַר תְּפִלָּתוֹ

Bavli Berachot 32b

Yehoshua b. Levi said, “One who prays must meditate for an hour after their Prayer.”

…

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Introduction to Pesukei d’Zimra (1)

Introduction to Pesukei d’Zimra (1)

Introduction

The siddur is the most important work of Jewish spirituality. Developing an internal prayer-life for people of all ages is not easy. What sometimes helps me engage in the discipline of regular davening is a deeper understanding of the inner workings of the siddur. The more that I can appreciate what each section, prayer, paragraph, sentence and even word is doing, the more that I appreciate the hard spiritual work daily tefila.

Working to cultivate a prayerful personality and struggling to engage in the mitzvah of davening may or may not be the same process. For some, developing a personal relationship with the Creator of the World is a private matter that does not overlap with the hard work of regular daily tefila. I have found that for me, the more attuned I am to the meaning provided by the siddur the more I am able to develop that personal relationship with God. 

These essays will develop some broad introductory concepts about the nature of pesukei d’zimra with an eye toward a wider conversation about how these ideas can help us grow spiritually. There are three very different ways to conceptualize the role of pesukei d’zimra. 

  1. There is only one direct reference to this section of the siddur in the gemara. This text, the starting point for our analysis, refers to pesukei d’zimra as Hallel. 
  2. For a prominent group of rishonim, pesukei d’zimra serves as preparation for the recitation of the amida. 
  3. And finally, there is a smaller group that understands pesukei d’zimra functioning on its own track, apart from the amida and not exclusively as a kind of Hallel. 

My hope is that with a wider angle lens we might better appreciate broader messages embedded in pesukei d’zimra. We will then summarize the various approaches and harness each idea to help build more prayerful personalities.

First Beracha of the Amida (אבות) – Part 2 of 5 – Humility

First Beracha of the Amida (אבות) – Part 2 of 5 – Humility

The next slice of the first beracha of the Amida I would like to look at is also a citation of a Biblical verse. However, the phrase is so commonplace that we don’t always realize that it first appeared in the Torah. The opening beracha describes God as:

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob
אֱ-לֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם אֱ-לֹהֵי יִצְחָק וֵא-לֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב

This exact phrase appears twice in the third chapter of Shemot (verses 6 and 15) and then once in the fourth chapter (verse 5).1 When God first speaks from the burning bush and calls Moshe’s name, Moshe’s immediate response is “הנני – here I am” (3:4). However, in the next two verses God tells Moshe to remove his sandals because he is standing on holy ground and then introduces God’s-self and says: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Shmot 3:6). …

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A Journey to Prayer – Introduction

A Journey to Prayer – Introduction

An Approach to the עמידה, Amida:

I would like to invite you to join me on a journey to prayer. Over the next several months, I hope to share one essay every two weeks. Each installment will analyze one or two texts that serve as an introduction to a life of davening.

We will begin with the first berakha of the Amida and then move slowly through the nineteen blessings of the daily tefilah. The experience of standing before God can be uplifting, boring, enlivening, repetitive, fun and tedious. The essays on the first berakha offer a broad introduction to a way of thinking about prayer.

I see five core ideas emerging from the first berakha that lie at the heart of the prayer experience: 1) honesty and integrity, 2) humility, 3) spiritual diversity, 4) silence, and 5) divine love. These five key concepts will help drive my approach throughout this journey to prayer. As we travel together on this path, we will begin to notice the ways in which how we approach prayer echoes many broader question about Jewish life and Jewish law.

First Beracha of the Amida (אבות) – Part 1 of 5

First Beracha of the Amida (אבות) – Part 1 of 5

The text that serves as the grounding for my understanding of tefilah is a Gemara in Masechet Yoma about the four words at the center of the first beracha of the עמידה (Amida). In chapter ten of Devarim, Moshe Rabbeinu outlines what he thinks God asks of each of us. Moshe then presents some basic ideas about how God interacts with our world1.The first beracha of the Amida quotes a small portion of this section and refers to God with the following four words:

The Lord who is great, mighty and awesome (Deut. 10:17)

The rabbis attend to this phrase and note that a similar version appears in other places in Tanakh. Jeremiah and Daniel each use three of these four words, which leads to a fascinating debate. …

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