Pirkei T'fillah: Barukh she-Amar

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‫פּ�סוּ ק�י �ﬢזִמ�ר� א‬   bARUKH sHE-aMAR

  P’sukei d’Zimra means “Sentences of Praise.”

It is mainly a collection of psalms and other prayers of praise. The first part of the morning service,   Birkhot ha-Shahar, was a home ritual, so originally   started the service. The Talmud explains it this way: The daily service was constructed using this pattern: first praise, then petition (asking for what we want or need). Making this clear the next page of the Talmud tells us, “Those who were serious would meditate for an hour before their prayers, or pray in order to get into the proper state of mind.”

This, too, is  .   Barukh she-Amar, “Blessed be the One Who said,” is the beginning of  . It is made up of seven blessings that Rabbi Elie Munk connects to seven names of God. The traditional pattern is to stand, gather the  tzitziyot (fringes) in front of you, and to begin a period of complete silence (other than the prayers) that goes until the end of the  Amidah.

As the first prayer in the “real” service, these seven blessings are “dialing the phone number” and establishing contact with God.

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      .1

Praised be the One Who spoke and the world was

  .2

Praised be God

,   .3

Praised be the One Who does creation

,   .4

Praised be the One Who speaks and does Praised be the One Who orders and establishes

,   .5

Praised be the One Who has mercy on the Earth

,    .6 ,    .7

Praised be the One Who has mercy on the creatures Praised be the One Who gives good reward to those who believe

,     .8 ,     .9

Praised be the One Who lives forever and lasts always

,   .10

Praised be the One Who rescues and saves

.  .11

Praised be God.

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Can you see the three letters  in these words?







say =  it was said =  and let us say = 

ROOT ANALYSIS

 

Practice these phrases and circle all the words that contain the root .

   

   

.1

    

   

.2

       

.3

Can you see the three letters  in these words? Sometimes the  drops out.







make = 

he will make = 

your makings = 

 

Practice these phrases and circle all the words that contain the root .

  

  

.4

   

  

.5

  

   

.6

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TRANSLATION Review the vocabulary and make your best guess at the meaning of this .

Take your best guess at the meaning of this text.

Your teacher will help you with your translation.

words was = 









He = 

   

creation/beginning = 

. 

word parts who/that/which = 

,  

and = 

  

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Practice these words.

 

.1

  

.2

   

.3

Practice these phrases.

   

   

.4

  

   

.5

   

  

.6

  

  

.7

     

.8

     

.9

      

.10

        

.11

.  ,       

.12

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Can you see the three letters  in these words?

Sometimes the final  drops out.





 our lives =  to life =  live = 

ROOT ANALYSIS



Recite these words and circle all the words that contain the root .

     

    .1

    

     .2

    

    .3

Can you see the three letters  in these words?





  

keeps going = and kept us going =

keeps us going =





Practice these phrases and circle all the words that contain the root .

    

   .4

        .5      .6 6

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TRANSLATION Review the vocabulary and make your best guess at the meaning of this .

Take your best guess at the meaning of this text.

Your teacher will help you with your translation.

words rescues = 

eternally = 

forever = 

name = 

saves = 

keeps going = 

word parts His = 

and = 





,     ,   . 

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The Prayer that Fell from Heaven

The angels’ job is to sing praises to God. In heaven, the angels’ praise can always be heard.

They are a choir who are always singing the  Barekhu and its response. When Moses went up to heaven and heard the angels singing the  Shema, he stole the second sentence and brought it down to earth. The angels sing in shifts, just like in the Temple.

The morning shift was the most import. It was so important that the angel who was wrestling with Jacob gave up the fight so that he could get back to heaven in time to sing his praises to God. The angels often sang specific songs when something important happened to Israel.

Many of these turned into prayers. Perhaps the most famous story about the angels singing is that God stopped them from joining Israel in song when the Reed Sea divided.

God said, “No heavenly praise when My own soldiers (the Egyptians) are drowning.”

It is remembered that in the time of the Second Temple a tablet fell from the heaven. On it they discovered the text of the  . A second memory says that the Men of the Great Assembly (a group older than the Rabbis) wrote them down and added them to the service.

(Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, 4, Genesis Rabbah 78:1, Sefer Heikhelot, Midrash Rabbah 2, 36, Rashi on Genesis 32.27, Megillah 10b, Mishnah Brurah—section 51, The Mordekhai at the end of his commentary on Pesahim.)

Questions

1. What can we from the stories that tell of angels spend a lot of time singing praised to God? 2. What are the two stories about the origin of  ?

3. How do these stories help us point our heart when we say or sing  ?

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