Epistemology of Tefila(Class 26) - 10/15/2020 —— Pesukei D’Zimrah - Verses of Singing - Just Sing, Sing a Song - Part 1

Recap - /Morning service has the following parts:

1. Birchot Hashchar - Morning Blessings (RCA Artscroll pg 12 - 28, pg 48 - 52, THE KOREN pg 21 - 39, pg 55)

2. Introduction and link to Pesukei D’Zimrah (RCA Artscroll pg 54-56, THE KOREN pg 59 - 61)

3. Pesukei D’Zimrah - Verses of Praise/Singing (RCA Artscroll pg 58 - 82, THE KOREN pg 63 - 85)

4. Kriyat Shema U’Brachot- Reading the Shema and its Blessings (RCA Artscroll pg 84 - 96, THE KOREN 89 - 107)

5. (Standing Prayer) - Shemoneh Esrei(weekdays 18 blessings) - (RCA Artscroll pg 98 - 118, THE KOREN 109 - 135)

6. /Supplication - (RCA Artscroll pg 124 - 136, THE KOREN 145 - 157)

7. Hotziat Sefer Torah -- Monday and Thursday (RCA Artscroll pg 138 - 148, THE KOREN 159 - 169)

8. Concluding tefilot/prayers - , Lamnatzeiach, , , ,(LeDavid-Elul through Shemini Atzeret, Barchaim Nafshi - Rosh Chodesh) - (RCA Artscroll pg 150 - 172, THE KOREN 171 - 195)

Today we will look at the Pesukei D’Zimrah of weekday shacharit :

Class Strategy

This section is called Pesukei D’Zimrah/Verses of Praise(Singing) as the Chazal/Sages taught that before making requests of HaShem we should praise him(RCA Artscroll siddur page 58). This section(Rabbis Barclay & Jaeger page 144) begins with the Bracha “Baruch She’amar/Blessed is He Who spoke” (RCA Artscroll pg 58 - 60, THE KOREN pg 63 - 65) and ends with the B’racha “ Shimecha/May Your Name be praised”(RCA

Page 1 of 5 Artscroll pg 82, THE KOREN pg 85). In this way this section is separated into for the pupose of praise like which too begins and ends with a Bracha(RCA Artscroll siddur page 58)

The tefilot for this section mainly come from the TANACH, including many Tehillim/Psalms as a whole 100, 145 - 150, or in parts for prayers like Vehu Rachum/He, the Merciful One, Hoshiah Et Ameche/Save your people, Yehi Kavod/May the Glory, and Baruch HaShem Leolam/Blessed is HaShem forever. There are parts from Divrei Hayamim Aleph/1Chronicles 16:8 - 36, 29:10 - 13, Nechemiah 9:6 -11, and Shemot/Exodus 14:30 - 15:19.

The theme of these prayers is to praise of Hashem for His glorious creations, control of the universe, and kindness to mankind(Rabbi’s Barclay & Jaeger page 144). Rabbi Sacks(page 62-63) summarizes that these are shown in the way the Tefilot/Prayers for this section are constructed in 3 movements

1. Creation:HaShem as He is in nature 2. Revelation: HaShem as He is in Torah and prayer 3. Redemption: HaShem as He is in history and our current lives The core of the prayer(Rabbi Sacks page 62 -64) are the Baruch She’amar/ Blessed is he who spoke, Ashrei/Happy(), Halelukah’s(Psalms 146 -150), and ending with Yishtabach Shimcha/May Your Name be praised. The 6 psalms 145 -150 are the end and crescendo of the book of Psalms itself and represent the six days of creation hence are for weekdays. As we will see in a future class on and Festivals we add additional Psalms(Rabbi Sacks page 65).

Rav Schwab(page 115 -116)says that the recurring words in Pesukei D’zimrah are Shirah and Zimrah which are both ways of praising HaShem with singing. The first word Shirah comes from the Hebrew word Shir which means a connection so this type of “song” we express our attachment to HaShem. The word Zimrah comes from the Hebrew word Zamor which means to prune or cut so with this type of singing we instead show how we cut out the distractions that would take us away from HaShem. Therefore the combination of Shirah and Zimrah becomes an appropriate preparation for the main part of Tefila by using the singing that brings us close to

Page 2 of 5 HaShem and help us prune/cut out the sinful temptations that might draw us away.

Most the commentators agree if it is difficult to say all the Pesukei D’Zimra its better to say only a small piece properly than to stumble through it. this does not mean you should skip parts but rather you should choose one or two to really say with Kavana/Concentration and correct and careful pronunciation. Finally note in shul the Chazan/Cantor(Ba’al Tefila/Prayer Leader) will always say the first then last line so the Kahal/congregation can remain in sync with him.

Page 3 of 5 Prayers in Pesukei D’Zimra of Weekdays

PAGE NUMBERS Daily (RCA ARTSCROLL) Shacharit

Baruch She’amar/Blessed is He Who spoke 58 Hodu LaHaShem/Give Thanks to HaShem 60 - 62 Vehu Rachum/he, the Merciful One 62 Hoshiah Et Amecha/Save your people 64 Mizmor Letodah/A Psalm of Thanksgiving 64 Yehi Kavod/May the glory 64 - 66 Ashrei/Praiseworthy(Happy) 66 - 68

Hallelukah Halleli Nafshi/Praise HaShem, O my Soul 71 Hallelukah Ki Tov/Praise HaShem, For it is good 70 - 72 Hallelukah Hallelu Et HaShem/Praise HaShem 72 Hallelukah Shiru LaHaShem/Praise HaShem, Sing to HaShem 72 - 74 Hallelukah Hallelu Kel BeKadsho/Praise HaShem in his Sanctuary 74 Baruch HaShem Laolam/Blessed is HaShem Forever 74 Vayevarech David/And David Blessed 74 - 76 Vekarot Imo habrit/And You established the covenant 76 - 78 Vayosha HaShem/And HaShem saved 78 Az Yashir Moshe U’venei Yisrael/Then Moses and the Children of 78 - 80 Israel sang Yishtabach Shimcha/May Your Name be praised 82

Page 4 of 5 Prayers in Pesukei D’Zimra of Weekdays

PAGE NUMBERS Daily (THE KOREN) Shacharit

Baruch She’amar/Blessed is He Who spoke 63 - 65 Hodu LaHaShem/Give Thanks to HaShem 65 - 69 Vehu Rachum/he, the Merciful One 69 Hoshiah Et Amecha/Save your people 69 Mizmor Letodah/A Psalm of Thanksgiving 71 Yehi Kavod/May the glory 71 Ashrei/Praiseworthy(Happy) 73

Hallelukah Halleli Nafshi/Praise HaShem, O my Soul 75 Hallelukah Ki Tov/Praise HaShem, For it is good 75 Hallelukah Hallelu Et HaShem/Praise HaShem 77 Hallelukah Shiru LaHaShem/Praise HaShem, Sing to HaShem 77 Hallelukah Hallelu Kel BeKadsho/Praise HaShem in his Sanctuary 77 Baruch HaShem Laolam/Blessed is HaShem Forever 79 Vayevarech David/And David Blessed 79 Vekarot Imo habrit/And You established the covenant 79 - 81 Vayosha HaShem/And HaShem saved 81 Az Yashir Moshe U’venei Yisrael/Then Moses and the Children of 81 - 85 Israel sang Yishtabach Shimcha/May Your Name be praised 85

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