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Simanim 14-15 - Psalms of Praise and Holy Utterances

21.09.2014
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In Memory of Arye ben Yosef haLevi Rothstein

SIMAN 14 - PESUKEI DE-ZIMRA (Psalms opening the prayer service)

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1. INTRODUCTION TO PESUKEI DE-ZIMRA (PDZ)

 

We will learn later on (siman 18) that the order of benedictions of the Shemoneh Esreh is based on the analogy of a servant who first arrays the praises of his master (first three blessings), then makes a request of his master (middle blessings), and then when his request has been granted, gives thanks to his master (final three blessings) (1).  And the difference between praise and thanks is that praise refers to the master's goodness in general, whereas thanks relates to good that has been bestowed on the servant in particular.

 

This structure of "praise, request, thanks" also characterizes the prayer service as a whole.  PDZ is referred to in the gemara as "Hallel" (2) - praise - and the chapters of Tehillim which we recite in PDZ relate primarily to the praises of God as master of ALL mankind, and indeed of all creation. We can learn from se'if 7 that the most important psalm of PDZ is "Ashrei (3), which does not refer to the Jewish people at all, emphasizing instead that all mankind recognize His sovereignty.  And from se'if 2 we see that the centerpiece of "Ashrei" is the verse, "You open Your hand and satisfy the wants of all living creatures" (4).

 

Compare this emphasis on the universal with the two sections which CLOSE the prayer service: first, "kedusha de-sidra," which begins with a reminder that the Torah is the unique possession of the Jewish people - "you and your offspring and your offspring's offspring forever;" and then "Aleinu," in which we thank God that he did not make us like the other nations.

 

2. BARUKH SHE-AMAR (se'if 2)

 

Barukh She-amar praises HaShem as ORIGINATOR of the world ("He spoke, and the world became"), CREATOR of the world ("He formed in the beginning"), the MASTER of the world ("He says and performs ... decrees and fulfills"), and the benevolent SUPERVISOR of the world ("He has mercy on the land, He has mercy on the creatures").  This affirms our faith that God is not merely some abstract "first cause" ("originator of matter"), nor did he create the world and neglect it, as if it were merely wound up like a clock ("creator in the beginning"), rather He is our master ("decrees and fulfills") and through His providence concerns Himself with our needs ("mercy on land and creatures").

 

These are both chronological stages (matter was created first, then form, afterwards an intricate universe, and finally living creatures) and simultaneous LEVELS of divine providence.  At the most basic level, God is (at ALL times) the fundamental "principle" of the universe, but at all times His will also sustains the structure of our world, and ultimately He is involved with human concerns.

 

The Kitzur mentions that one should grasp the front tzitzit as we say "Barukh She-amar" and kiss them afterwards.  Perhaps this is connected to the theme of extension which we discussed in regards to tzitzit in siman 9.  The body is in some sense merely the "garment" of the soul, since the soul persists after death, but even so my body is "me" - it is part of my identity.  Likewise, the garment itself (the talit) is separate from me, and even so it is assimilated to my identity and in particular to my image.  The fringes are separate from the talit (if they are not tied properly one may not wear them outside the eiruv on Shabbat, since this is considered carrying) (5) and yet by virtue of the mitzva of tzitzit - God's decree - are fused with it and make it a kosher garment.

 

A garment conceals me, but paradoxically also reveals me, since one who sees "me" sees primarily my garments, and also because my garments project an image of my inner self which my body can not.  The tzitzit express this idea.  Similarly, the levels of creation are in a sense "garments," which simultaneously conceal and reveal the divine Presence which enrobes itself in the world.  "Barukh she-amar" expresses this idea.

 

3. MIZMOR LE-TODA (se'ifim 4-5)

 

The Midrash explains that in the future all offerings will cease except for the thanks-offering, and all prayers will cease except for prayers of thanks (6).  We can explain this based on the explanation we just gave for the difference between praise and thanks.  In the Messianic age we will have nothing to request from HaShem, so no petitions will be required.  In addition, all of mankind, and all of creation, will be unified in the service of HaShem, so that all of God's praises will be personally relevant to each person - and therefore a fitting object of personal thanks.

 

Therefore, even though PDZ is devoted to "praise" and not to "thanks," the Messianic promise of Mizmor Le-toda merges these two aspects.  This is indeed the highest kind of praise, where all of God's greatness is personally experienced.  Hence it is natural that the Kitzur grants a special status to this psalm - requiring us to stand for it - just as Ashrei and the verse "You open your hand" have special halakhic status.

 

Whereas the "Toda" offering is an expression of PERSONAL gratitude, Shabbat and Yom Tov are occasions for gratitude on a NATIONAL scale.  For this reason no Toda offering is brought on these days.  Likewise, Mizmor Le-toda which hints at the future bridge between the personal and the universal, conflicts with the message of Yom Tov, which expresses the CURRENT importance of Am Yisrael's uniqueness (7).

 

The MB does not mention the requirement to stand for PDZ; on the other hand, Arukh HaShulchan considers it second only to Ashrei in the order of skipping (8).

 

 

SIMAN 15- DEVARIM SHE-BIKEDUSHA

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1. THE NEED FOR A MINYAN AND A PRAYER LEADER (SHALIACH TZIBUR) 

 

Judaism does not place the emphasis on the individual as the instrument for carrying out God's will, nor even on the community, but rather on the whole nation, which is charged with carrying out God's mission and fulfilling the Torah.  Prior to the giving of the Torah and even before the covenant with the Patriarchs, individuals and communities were responsible for obeying God.  The significance of the covenant was not simply that many individuals were joined together in their obedience, but rather that a whole new entity was created, a nation or congregation which as an organic whole is connected to HaShem and fulfills His will - "The nation which I have created for myself, they will tell My praise" (9).

 

The requirement that the most sacred parts of the liturgy be recited only communally reminds the individual that he belongs not only to himself but also to the community, and ultimately to the entire Congregation of Israel (Knesset Yisrael).  In siman 12 we connected the seeming EXclusiveness of limiting a quorum to grown men to this exact aspect of Inclusiveness.  Ten or a hundred or a thousand men are only a collection of individuals, but once we view those present as REPRESENTATIVES of others who are not part of the quorum, it is easy by extension to view them as representatives of the people as a whole (10).

 

2. COUNTING PEOPLE (se'if 3)

 

A popular joke relates that a salesman offered a computer system to a merchant with the promise, "This system will do half your work for you."  The merchant replied, "Fine, I'll take two."

 

The joke points up that not everything can be reduced to arithmetic.  If a human being does half the work of a shop and a machine the other half, that doesn't make the two comparable.  A human being's unique qualities can never be reduced to some numerical quantity; two human beings are not in any meaningful sense "twice as much" as one.  Reuven plus Shimon do not "sum together" to equal two, rather they remain the same Reuven and Shimon as before.

 

Of course, sometimes we are interested in human attributes which are not unique - it takes four people to man a tank and with any less vital tasks cannot be accomplished.  But even when we DO need to simply enumerate people, we do so in a way which reminds us that each one is unique. 

 

Two alternatives to counting people are referred to in the Kitzur.  The first is to count some object BELONGING to people, as Shaul did when he counted the people according the their sheep.  If I want to know if I have a minyan, I may count hats.  This is acceptable because material objects do not have the same uniqueness as human beings. 

 

The second alternative is to count according to the words in a Scriptural verse.  This is a very beautiful way to count, because each word in a sentence is unique and without it the sentence would lose its meaning.

 

3. KADDISH (se'ifim 5-6)

 

The Kaddish is perhaps the most important communal prayer in the entire service.  Responding to Kaddish is more important than responding to "barkhu", or even to "kedusha" (11).  Our sages have said that one who responds to Kaddish, affirming "May His great Name be blessed forever," is guaranteed a place in the World to Come (12), and one who answers with all his might annuls harsh decrees (13).

 

A careful look at the Kaddish reveals that despite its effusive praises of God, it is not at root a prayer of praise.  The heart of the kaddish is a simple request said to and on behalf of the congregation: May He speedily impose His sovereignty - in your lives and in your days, and in the lives of all of the people of Israel.

 

The beauty of this prayer is that all we ask of HaShem is that He should be our king, and that we request this in a way that emphasizes that this is the longing of the entire congregation and the entire nation.  It is a perfect demonstration of our devotion and loyalty to God - "love which is not dependent on any extraneous cause" (14).

 

Kaddish is said at the end of each section of the prayer service.  We thereby remind ourselves that the most fundamental element of our relationship with God is not His praises, which we retell in PDZ; not His fulfillment of our needs, as we request in SE; and not even his special lovingkindness to us, as we emphasize in Kedusha de-Sidra.  Rather, it is the simple longing for God's reign in the world.

 

Mourners are especially careful - and in some cases especially entitled - to say this prayer, as we will learn in siman 26.  Its simple message clearly expresses complete reconciliation with God's will.

 

4. A FITTING PRAYER LEADER (se'ifim 11-13)

 

The Kitzur Shulchan Arukh teaches us that a prayer leader should ideally be a completely righteous person, someone learned and with a pleasant voice and intonation.  Since he represents the congregation, the congregation must choose him and be satisfied with him.  Finally, he should have "a full beard."

 

The Shulchan Arukh (15) explains that the shaliach tzibur does not actually need a beard; rather, it is important that he be at least eighteen years of age.  This is the age when it is appropriate to start a family (16), so this fits in well with our explanation above that the minyan is meant to represent the entire community and especially the families (17).

 

Still, there is significance to expressing this age requirement in terms of a beard (18).  One who has a beard not only has reached a certain age - in addition, everyone can SEE that he has reached this age.  This hints that a prayer leader should be someone whose external appearance does not belie his inner character (19).

 

 

 

Endnotes:

 

(1)  Berakhot 34a.

(2)  Shabbat 118b.

(3)  Since if we have time to say only one psalm, this is the one we say.

(4)  Since this verse must be said with intention.  It is very interesting that of all the psalms in PDZ, it is specifically to this one that tradition appends additional verses, verses which hint at, but do not make explicit, the unique status of the Jewish people: "Happy is the nation whose God is HaShem."  This seems to hint that our special status is an expression of humanity as a whole.  So that on the one hand our status is not so "special" since it is the epitome of human-ness as a whole; but on the other hand it is even more special, since "humanity" as a whole finds its highest expression specifically in the Jewish people.

(5)  Shulchan Arukh Orach Chaim 301:38.

(6)  Vayikra Rabba 9:7, mentioned in Beit Yosef 51:9 as the reason for the special importance of Mizmor Le-toda.

(7)  More precisely, it is exactly Jewish nationhood which constitutes the bridge between the personal and the universal, as Rav Kook emphasized.  But in the future this bridge will be manifest at the level of the individual.

(8)  Orach Chaim siman 51.

(9)  Yeshayahu 43:21.

(10)  We would then further view the Jewish people as the representatives of mankind as a whole.  Rav Ami Sternberg once referred to the Jewish people as "the shaliach tzibbur of mankind."

(11)  Mishna Berura siman 109, Bi'ur Halakha s.v. Li-kedusha. See also MB siman 56 s.k. 6.

(12)  Berakhot 57a.

(13)  Shabbat 119b.

(14)  Avot 5:16.

(15)  Orach Chaim 53:8.

(16)  Avot 5:21.

(17)  In fact, at the High Holy Days we are supposed to seek a shaliach tzibur who ACTUALLY has a family - Shulchan Arukh Orach Chaim 581:1 in the Rema.  These days have a higher degree of "representativeness" than other days, as explained in the gemara Rosh HaShana 34a that the Shaliach Tzibbur can fulfill the obligation even of those who are capable of praying for themselves.

(18)  It is very common that the WAY in which a measure is expressed is meant to teach a lesson, and not only to measure a quantity.  We gave one example in siman 10 se'if 2, regarding the time for tefillin and shema.  A famous example is the first mishna in Berakhot.

(19)  See Berakhot 28a, Yoma 72b for the importance of this quality.

 

 

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