Hallel

הלל

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Omit on Rosh Hodesh (except on Hanukka) and the last six days of Pesah:

Ps. 116

Hebrew

אָהַבְתִּי, כִּי־יִשְׁמַע יְהוָה, אֶת־קוֹלִי תַּחֲנוּנָי: כִּי־הִטָּה אָזְנוֹ לִי, וּבְיָמַי
אֶקְרָא: אֲפָפוּנִי חֶבְלֵי־מָוֶת, וּמְצָרֵי שְׁאוֹל מְצָאוּנִי, צָרָה וְיָגוֹן אֶמְצָא:
וּבְשֵׁם־יְהוָה אֶקְרָא, אָנָּה יְהוָה מַלְּטָה נַפְשִׁי: חַנּוּן יְהוָה וְצַדִּיק, וֵאלֹהֵינוּ
מְרַחֵם: שֹׁמֵר פְּתָאיִם יְהוָה, דַּלּוֹתִי וְלִי יְהוֹשִׁיעַ: שׁוּבִי נַפְשִׁי לִמְנוּחָיְכִי,
כִּי־יְהוָה גָּמַל עָלָיְכִי: כִּי חִלַּצְתָּ נַפְשִׁי מִמָּוֶת, אֶת־עֵינִי מִן־דִּמְעָה,
אֶת־רַגְלִי מִדֶּחִי: ◂ אֶתְהַלֵּךְ לִפְנֵי יְהוָה, בְּאַרְצוֹת הַחַיִּים: הֶאֱמַנְתִּי כִּי
אֲדַבֵּר, אֲנִי עָנִיתִי מְאֹד: אֲנִי אָמַרְתִּי בְחָפְזִי, כָּל־הָאָדָם כֹּזֵב:

Sephardi

Ahavti, ki-yishma Adonai, et-koli tachanunai: ki-hitah azno li, uveyamai
Ekra: afafuni chevlei-mavet, umetzarei Sheol metza'uni, tzarah veyagon emtza:
Uveshem-Adonai ekra, annah Adonai maltah nafshi: chanun Adonai vetzaddik, ve'Eloheinu
merachem: shomer peta'im Adonai, daloti veli yehoshia: shuvi nafshi limnuchaychi,
ki-Adonai gamal alaychi: ki-chilatzta nafshi mimavet, et-eini min-dimah,
et-ragli middechi: ethalech lifnei Adonai, be'artzot hachayim: he'emanti ki
adaber, ani aniti me'od: ani amarti bechafzi, kol-ha'adam kozev:

English

I love the LORD, for He hears my voice, my pleas. He turns His ear to me whenever I call. The bonds of death encompassed me, the anguish of the grave came upon me, I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the LORD: “LORD, I pray, save my life.” Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The LORD protects the simple-hearted. When I was brought low, He saved me. My soul, be at peace once more, for the LORD has been good to you. For You have rescued me from death, my eyes from weeping, my feet from stumbling. ▸ I shall walk in the presence of the LORD in the land of the living. I had faith, even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted,” even when I said rashly, “All men are liars.”

Hebrew

מָה־אָשִׁיב לַיהוָה, כָּל־תַּגְמוּלוֹהִי עָלָי: כּוֹס־יְשׁוּעוֹת אֶשָּׂא, וּבְשֵׁם
יְהוָה אֶקְרָא: נְדָרַי לַיהוָה אֲשַׁלֵּם, נֶגְדָה־נָּא לְכָל־עַמּוֹ: יָקָר בְּעֵינֵי
יְהוָה, הַמָּוְתָה לַחֲסִידָיו: אָנָּה יְהוָה כִּי־אֲנִי עַבְדֶּךָ, אֲנִי־עַבְדְּךָ
בֶּן־אֲמָתֶךָ פִּתַּחְתָּ לְמוֹסֵרָי: ◂ לְךָ־אֶזְבַּח זֶבַח תּוֹדָה, וּבְשֵׁם יְהוָה
אֶקְרָא: נְדָרַי לַיהוָה אֲשַׁלֵּם, נֶגְדָה־נָּא לְכָל־עַמּוֹ: בְּחַצְרוֹת בֵּית
יְהוָה, בְּתוֹכֵכִי יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, הַלְלוּיָהּ:

Sephardi

Mah-ashiv laadonai, kol-tagmulohi alai: kos-yeshuot essa, uveshem
Adonai ekra: nedarai laadonai ashalem, negdah-na lechol-amo: yakar be'einei
Adonai, hamavtah lachasidav: annah Adonai ki-ani avdecha, ani-avdecha
ben-amatecha pitachta lemoserai: lecha-ezbach zevach todah, uveshem Adonai
Ekra: nedarai laadonai ashalem, negdah-na lechol-amo: bechatzrot beit
Adonai, betochechi Yerushalayim, haleluyah:

English

How can I repay the LORD for all His goodness to me? I will lift the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD. I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people. Grievous in the LORD’s sight is the death of His devoted ones. Truly, LORD, I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant. You set me free from my chains. ▸ To You I shall bring a thanksgiving-offering and call on the LORD by name. I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the House of the LORD, in your midst, Jerusalem. Halleluya.

Commentary

מָה־אָשִׁיב How can I repay? A rhetorical question: we can never repay God’s kindnesses to us. All that we have is His. The very fact that we exist is due to His creative love. All we can do is express our thanks.

כּוֹס־יְשׁוּעוֹת אֶשָּׂא I will lift the cup of salvation: A reference to the wine-libation accompanying a thanksgiving-offering (Rashi). Alternatively, I will hold a feast of thanksgiving at which I will raise a glass of wine in thanks to God.

יָקָר בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה, הַמָּוְתָה לַחֲסִידָיו Grievous in the LORD’s sight is the death of His devoted ones: this is Rashi’s understanding of the text; others translate it as “Precious in the LORD’s sight.” God does not wish His devoted ones to die. As the previous two paragraphs have made clear, God is the God of life; only idolatrous cultures worship death.

בֶּן־אֲמָתֶךָ The son of Your maidservant: Serving You comes naturally because my mother did likewise (Radak). A father teaches us “the discipline of the earth; we hold it in trust from God and there are conditions to that trust, namely that we respect the earth’s integrity and the dignity of the human person; in short, that we honor God’s laws.”

אָהַבְתִּי I love the LORD: This and the next paragraph form a single psalm. The psalmist turns from the collective to the individual. God has saved him from crisis and he gives public voice to his thanks. This prayer was included in Hallel because it spoke to the many among the pilgrims to Jerusalem who had vowed to bring thanksgiving-offerings, as is clear from the next paragraph. The juxtaposition of the individual and the collective is a significant feature of biblical texts generally. The Hebrew prophets and poets never saw the nation as an abstraction and the people an amorphous mass. The individual never loses his or her significance even in the presence of vast gatherings.

אֲנִי אָמַרְתִּי בְחָפְזִי, כָּל־הָאָדָם כֹּזֵב Even when I said rashly, “All men are liars”: the commentators relate this to King David who, when forced to flee from Saul, felt betrayed by everyone. Alternatively: “Even when I was fleeing for my life, I knew that those [who preached despair] were false” (Radak).