Verses of Song

p'sukei d'zimra

פסוקי דזמרא

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Israeli: ' marks a reduced vowel that Israeli speech drops (b'rachah); when the vowel is pronounced it is written e (lefanecha). - separates syllables that would otherwise run together.

How to read the transliterations

Closing B’rakhah

Hebrew

יִשְׁתַּבַּח שִׁמְךָ לָעַד מַלְכֵּנוּ, הָאֵל הַמֶּלֶךְ הַגָּדוֹל וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ
בַּשָּׁמַיִם וּבָאָרֶץ. כִּי לְךָ נָאֶה, יהוה אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי
אֲבוֹתֵינוּ [וְאִמּוֹתֵינוּ],
שִׁיר וּשְׁבָחָה, הַלֵּל וְזִמְרָה, עֹז וּמֶמְשָׁלָה, נֶצַח,
גְּדֻלָּה וּגְבוּרָה, תְּהִלָּה וְתִפְאֶרֶת, קְדֻשָּׁה וּמַלְכוּת.
בְּרָכוֹת וְהוֹדָאוֹת מֵעַתָּה וְעַד עוֹלָם. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה,
אֵל מֶלֶךְ גָּדוֹל בַּתִּשְׁבָּחוֹת, אֵל הַהוֹדָאוֹת, אֲדוֹן הַנִּפְלָאוֹת,
הַבּוֹחֵר בְּשִׁירֵי זִמְרָה, מֶלֶךְ, אֵל חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים.

Israeli

yishtabach shimcha la-ad malkenu, ha-El hamelech hagadol vehakadosh
bashamayim uva-aretz. ki lecha na-eh, Adonai Eloheinu veilohei
avoteinu [ve-imoteinu],
shir ushvachah, halel vezimrah, oz umemshalah, netzach,
g'dulah ugvurah, tehilah vetiferet, k'dushah umalchut.
b'rachot vehoda-ot me-atah ve-ad olam. baruch atah Adonai,
El melech gadol batishbachot, El hahoda-ot, adon hanifla-ot,
habocher b'shirei zimrah, melech, El chei ha-olamim.

English

Always and everywhere may Your name be praised, our sovereign, God, great and holy. Fitting it is, Adonai our God and God of our ancestors, to raise songs of praise toward You, to ascribe to You strength and sovereignty, holiness and eternity, to exalt and praise You, to bless and thank You, now and forever. Barukh atah Adonai, Sovereign God, to whom thanks are offered and wonders ascribed, who takes delight in the chorus of song—the sovereign God, giving life to all worlds.

חֲצִי קַדִּישׁ

Ḥatzi Kaddish

Leader:

Hebrew

יִתְגַּדַּל וְיִתְקַדַּשׁ שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא, בְּעָלְמָא דִּי בְרָא, כִּרְעוּתֵהּ,
וְיַמְלִיךְ מַלְכוּתֵהּ בְּחַיֵּיכוֹן וּבְיוֹמֵיכוֹן וּבְחַיֵּי דְכָל־בֵּית
יִשְׂרָאֵל, בַּעֲגָלָא וּבִזְמַן קָרִיב, וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן.

Israeli

yitgadal veyitkadash sh'meh raba, be-alma di v'ra, kiruteh,
veyamlich malchuteh b'chayeichon uvyomeichon uvechayei d'chol-beit
Yisra-el, ba-agala uvizman kariv, ve-imru Amen.

English

Throughout the created world may God’s great name be exalted and hallowed, according to God’s wish. May God’s sovereignty be established soon, in your lifetime and in your days, and amid the days of the entire house of Israel. And we say: Amen.

Congregation and the Leader:

Hebrew

יְהֵא שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא מְבָרַךְ לְעָלַם וּלְעָלְמֵי עָלְמַיָּא.

Israeli

yehei sh'meh raba mevarach le-alam ule-almei almaya.

English

May God’s great name be acknowledged ever and forever!

Leader:

Hebrew

יִתְבָּרַךְ וְיִשְׁתַּבַּח וְיִתְפָּאַר וְיִתְרוֹמַם וְיִתְנַשֵּׂא
וְיִתְהַדָּר וְיִתְעַלֶּה וְיִתְהַלָּל שְׁמֵהּ דְּקֻדְשָׁא, בְּרִיךְ הוּא,
לְעֵלָּא מִן כָּל [לְעֵלָּא לְעֵלָּא מִכָּל]
בִּרְכָתָא וְשִׁירָתָא תֻּשְׁבְּחָתָא וְנֶחֱמָתָא דַּאֲמִירָן בְּעָלְמָא,
וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן.

Israeli

yitbarach veyishtabach veyitpa-ar veyitromam veyitnasei
veyithadar veyitaleh veyithalal sh'meh d'kudsha, b'rich hu,
le-ela min kol [le-ela le-ela mikol]
birchata veshirata tushbechata venechemata da-amiran be-alma,
ve-imru Amen.

English

Let the name of the Holy One be acknowledged and celebrated, worshipped and lauded, honored and exalted, acclaimed and extolled—though God, who is blessed, b’rikh hu, is truly [on Shabbat Shuvah we add: far] beyond all praise and acknowledgment, or any expressions of gratitude or consolation ever spoken in the world. And we say: Amen.

Commentary

MAY YOUR NAME BE PRAISED יִשְׁתַּבַּח. This b’rakhah marks the completion of P’sukei D’zimra, which began with Barukh She-amar on page 122. The two b’rakhot are considered complementary and one is not recited without the other; the psalms and biblical passages of P’sukei D’zimra are preceded and followed by these formal blessings, just as the Torah reading itself is surrounded by blessings.

ḤATZI KADDISH. In Jewish liturgical usage, the Ḥatzi (or “partial”) Kaddish, calling us to praise the name of God, marks the end of a section of the service.

Chorus of Song The Ḥasidic master Simḥah Bunam once offered a play on the phrase shirei zimrah, “chorus of song.” He vocalized the letters differently—Hebrew written without vowels readily allows for this—and read it as shayarei zimrah, “that which is left over after the singing,” and suggested that God most delights in the inexpressible feelings that remain in the heart after the singing has ended.

The Duty to Praise Maimonides, the great medieval Jewish philosopher and codifier, asserts that there is an obligation to pray. He enumerates this obligation in his list of 613 mitzvot. Other medieval authorities disagree and find no warrant for the obligation in the Torah. So why does Maimonides turn prayer into an obligation, when our common-sense view is that prayer is an offering of the heart which we choose to give? Maimonides understands the entire system of mitzvot as fashioning human beings who are moral and who come to know God in deeper ways. Prayer inculcates a sense of appreciation and humility before the wonders of life—essential aspects of a religious path. Thus he sees prayer as an essential part of the process of religious formation.