Verses of Song

p'sukei d'zimra

פסוקי דזמרא

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

Concluding 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

May Your name be praised, always and everywhere, our sovereign, God, great and holy. For it is fitting, Adonai our God and God of our ancestors, to sing songs of praise to You, to ascribe strength and sovereignty, holiness and eternity to You, to praise and exalt You, to thank and bless You, now and forever. Barukh atah Adonai, Sovereign God, to whom we offer thanks and ascribe wonders, who delights 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

May God’s great name be exalted and hallowed throughout the created world, as is God’s wish. May God’s sovereignty soon be established, in your lifetime and in your days, and in the days of all the house of Israel. And we say: Amen.

Congregation and 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 forever and ever!

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

May the name of the Holy One be acknowledged and celebrated, lauded and worshipped, exalted and honored, extolled and acclaimed—though God, who is blessed, b’rikh hu, is truly [on Shabbat Shuvah we add: far] beyond all acknowledgment and praise, 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.