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In the period following the second destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, rabbinic Jewish liturgy re-established a form of the Temple service in which all the established offerings were transformed into prayer services. To make the connection clear, verses dictating which Temple offerings were made during the various services were referred to directly in the body of relevant prayers. This formula is evident in the the blessing meqadesh hashabbat, the central blessing of the musaf Shabbat Amidah. There the musaf offering is invoked directly with the inclusion of the verse, Numbers 28:9. Before the Amidah, my ḥavrutah Jonathan Schachter would remind those davvening musaf with him that they could follow the recitation of that verse with Hosea 14:3, our oldest scriptural witness to a counter-tradition of prayer as a surrogate for animal sacrifice. We offer this amendment to the Shabbat musaf Amidah as a corrective to the notion that the return of the Temple cult must necessarily bring a return of animal sacrifice and to bolster long extant Jewish traditions that regard with love and dignify with inclusion all those tame animals (behemot) within our shabbat boundaries as respected members of our community (find Deuteronomy 5:14).
| Source (Hebrew) | Translation (English) |
|---|---|
תִּכַּנְתָּ שַׁבָּת רָצִיתָ קָרְבְּנוֹתֶיהָ צִוִּיתָ פֵּרוּשֶׁיהָ עִם סִדּוּרֵי נְסָכֶיהָ׃ |
You instituted the Shabbat and took pleasure in its offerings. You commanded its explanatory laws together with the sequential order of its wine libations.[1] or Shew-bread offerings (Ets Yosef). |
מְעַנְּגֶיהָ לְעוֹלָם כָּבוֹד יִנְחָלוּ טוֹעֲמֶיהָ חַיִּים זָכוּ וְגַם הָאוֹהֲבִים דְּבָרֶיהָ גְּדֻלָּה בָּחָרוּ׃ |
Those who make it delightful will in this world, inherit kavod, those who savor it merit life; and also those who love its dictates have chosen greatness. |
אָז מִסִּינַי נִצְטַוּוּ (עָלֶיהָ) צִוּוּי פָּעֳלֶיהָ כָּרָאוּי. וַתְּצַוֵּנוּ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ לְהַקְרִיב בָּהּ קָרְבַּן מוּסַף שַׁבָּת כָּרָאוּי׃ |
Then from Sinai they were commanded with the precepts concerning its proper observance and you commanded us, Hashem our Èlōăhʰ to offer on it the musaf sacrifice of the Shabbat, according to its laws. |
יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ שֶׁתַּעֲלֵנוּ בְשִׂמְחָה לְאַרְצֵנוּ וְתִטָּעֵנוּ בִּגְבוּלֵנוּ וְשָׁם נַעֲשֶׂה לְפָנֶיךָ אֶת קָרְבְּנוֹת חוֹבוֹתֵינוּ תְּמִידִים כְּסִדְרָם וּמוּסָפִים כְּהִלְכָתָם וְאֶת מוּסַף יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת (הַמָּנוֹחַ) הַזֶּה נַעֲשֶׂה וְנַקְרִיב לְפָנֶיךָ בְּאַהֲבָה כְּמִצְוַת רְצוֹנֶךָ כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתַבְתָּ עָלֵינוּ בְּתוֹרָתֶךָ עַל יְדֵי משֶׁה עַבְדֶּךָ מִפִּי כְבוֹדֶךָ כָּאָמוּר: |
May it be your will Hashem, our Èlōăhʰ and Èlōăhʰ of our ancestors, to bring us up in joy to our land, and to plant us within our borders. There we will offer before you our mandatory sacrifices— the daily-offerings in their sequence, and the musaf-offerings according to their laws. And the musaf of this (restful) day of Shabbat, we will offer and bring near before you with love, according to the command of your will; as you wrote for us in your Torah, through the hands of Mosheh, your servant, from the mouth of your kavod, as it is said: |
וּבְיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת שְׁנֵי כְבָשִׂים בְּנֵי שָׁנָה תְּמִימִם וּשְׁנֵי עֶשְׂרֹנִים סֹלֶת מִנְחָה בְּלוּלָה בַשֶּׁמֶן וְנִסְכּוֹ עֹלַת שַׁבַּת בְּשַׁבַּתּוֹ עַל עֹלַת הַתָּמִיד וְנִסְכָּהּ׃ |
“On the day of Shabbat [the offering is]: two male yearling lambs without blemish; together with two-tenths of a measure of choice flour with oil mixed in as a grain offering, and its libation. This is the burnt-offering for every Shabbat, in addition to the daily burnt-offering and its libation.” (Numbers 28:9) |
וְעַל יְדֵי עֲבָדֶיךָ הַנְּבִיאִים כָּתוּב לֵאמר: קְח֤וּ עִמָּכֶם֙ דְּבָרִ֔ים וְשׁ֖וּבוּ אֶל־יְהֹוָ֑ה אִמְר֣וּ אֵלָ֗יו כׇּל־תִּשָּׂ֤א עָוֺן֙ וְקַח־ט֔וֹב וּֽנְשַׁלְּמָ֥ה פָרִ֖ים שְׂפָתֵֽינוּ׃ |
And by the means of your servants, the Neviïm it is written: “Take words with you And return to Hashem. Say to Them: ‘Forgive all guilt and accept what is good; instead of bulls we will pay [the offering of] our lips.’” (Hosea 14:3) |
יִשְׂמְחוּ בְמַלְכוּתְךָ שׁוֹמְרֵי שַׁבָּת וְקוֹרְאֵי עֹנֶג עַם מְקַדְּשֵׁי שְׁבִיעִי כֻּלָּם יִשְׂבְּעוּ וְיִתְעַנְּגוּ מִטּוּבֶךָ וּבַשְּׁבִיעִי רָצִיתָ בּוֹ וְקִדַּשְׁתּוֹ חֶמְדַּת יָמִים אוֹתוֹ קָרָאתָ זֵכֶר לְמַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית׃ |
They shall rejoice in your kingship— those who preserve Shabbat and call it a delight. The people who sanctify the 7th day will all be satisfied and delighted from your goodness. And in the 7th day— You took pleasure and you hallowed it. “Most desirable of days,”[2] Targum Yerushalmi on Genesis 2:2 (Abu Dirham). you called it— a commemoration of the story of creation. |
אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ רְצֵה נָא בִמְנוּחָתֵנוּ קַדְּשֵׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתֶיךָ וְתֵן חֶלְקֵנוּ בְּתוֹרָתֶךָ שַׂבְּעֵנוּ מִטּוּבֶךָ וְשַׂמַּח נַפְשֵׁנוּ בִּישׁוּעָתֶךָ וְטַהֵר לִבֵּנוּ לְעָבְדְּךָ בֶּאֱמֶת וְהַנְחִילֵנוּ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ בְּאַהֲבָה וּבְרָצוֹן שַׁבַּת קָדְשֶׁךָ וְיָנוּחוּ בוֹ כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל מְקַדְּשֵׁי שְׁמֶךָ׃ בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה מְקַדֵּשׁ הַשַּׁבָּת׃ |
our Èlōăhʰ, and Èlōăhʰ of our ancestors, be pleased with our rest, sanctify us with your commandments and give us our share in your Torah; satisfy us from your goodness and gladden us with your deliverance, and purify our hearts to serve you in truth. And give us as our inheritance, Hashem our Èlōăhʰ: in love and in pleasure your holy Shabbat; and may all Yisrael rest thereon— the sanctifiers of your Name— Blessed are you Hashem, hallower of the Shabbat. |
This is the blessing, meqadesh ha-shabbat for the musaf Amidah, with the inclusion of Hosea 14:3 after the traditional invocation of Numbers 28:9. The English translation by Aharon Varady is adapted from the translation offered by the Metsudah Siddur (nusaḥ Sefarad).
“ברבת מקדש השבת למוסף | Birkat Meqadesh ha-Shabbat for the Shabbat Musaf Amidah amended with Hosea 14:3” is shared through the Open Siddur Project under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license.
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