ברכה לפני קריאת תהלים | Blessing before the Recitation of Psalms (nusaḥ Erets Yisrael)

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12 August 2024 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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blessings, Cairo Geniza, Nusaḥ Erets Yisrael, תהלים Psalms

A blessing before the recitation of psalms, used in the old Erets Yisrael rite as found in the Cairo Geniza. Since its structure is similar to the blessing before the haftara which is often cantillated, I have taken the liberty of adding psalmodic cantillation to the text.

Note: “The CAUSE” is used to translate the Divine Name YHVH, based on the philosophical idea of God as the Prime Mover and on the interpretation of the Name as a causative form of the copula – “causes to be.” This translation also uses the plural pronoun They to refer to God as a pluralis majestatis, and to avoid the implications of God being assigned a gender. (Find Ibn Ezra’s commentary on Genesis 1:1 for a discussion of the pluralis majestatis when referring to God.) All divine referents (pronouns, epithets, names) are rendered in unicase.

Source (Hebrew)

Translation (English)

בָּר֣וּךְ אַתָּ֑ה
יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱ֝לֹהֵ֗ינוּ
מֶ֣לֶךְ הָעוֹלָֽם׃
אֲשֶׁר־בָּחַ֣ר בְּדָוִ֬ד עַבְדּ֗וֹ
וְרָצָ֨ה בִּתְהִלָּתוֹ֮ וּבְשִׁירֵ֪י קׇ֫דְשׁ֥וֹ
לְהַלְּל֣וֹ וּלְשַׁבְּח֣וֹ וּלְפָאֲר֑וֹ
עַל־רֹ֥ב גְּ֝בוּרֹתָ֗יו
כׇּל־הַיָּמִֽים׃

Blessed are You,
Cause our God,
Sovereign of Existence,
who chose David Their servant
and desired in his praises and in his holy songs
to praise Them and laud Them and glorify Them
for Their many great deeds
all days.

בָּר֨וּךְ אַתָּ֤ה ׀ יְ֘הֹוָ֤ה
מַצְמִ֬יחַ יְשׁוּעָ֗ה שְׁלֵ֣מָה קְ֭רוֹבָֽה
לְעַמּ֣וֹ יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל
מְנַחֵ֥ם צִ֝יּ֗וֹן
וּבֹנֶ֥ה יְרוּשָׁלָֽיִם׃

Blessed are You, Cause,
who makes complete salvation flower soon
to Their people Israel,
comforting Ẓion
and building Jerusalem.

Source(s)

Cairo Geniza fragment t-s-ns-155-1-1r

Unknown

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Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut)

From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. (He also translates and authors his own original works.) Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. (He also authors his own original works and transcribes Hebrew and Aramaic text, adding niqqud and t'amim as needed.) Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.

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Cairo Geniza fragment t-s-ns-155-1-1r

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Additional Notes:

The views expressed in this work represent the views of their creator(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Siddur Project's developers, its diverse community of volunteer contributors, or its institutional partners.
We strongly advise against printing sacred texts and art containing divine names as these copies must be regarded with reverence, complicating their casual treatment and disposal.
If you must dispose of a printed sacred text (one containing Divine Names), please locate the closest genizah (often established by a synagogue) and contact its custodians for further instructions. We also recommend using Morah Yehudis Fishman's Prayer for Adding a Work to the Genizah.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." (Psalms 90:17)

ברכה לפני קריאת תהלים | Blessing before the Recitation of Psalms (nusaḥ Erets Yisrael)

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