Barukh she'amar ( or other variant English spellings), is the opening blessing to

pesukei dezimra ''Pesukei dezimra'' (; Rabbinic Hebrew: ''pasuqẽ hazzǝmiroṯ'' "Verses of songs"), or ''zemirot'' as they are called by the Spanish and Portuguese Jews, are a group of prayers that may be recited during Shacharit (the morning set of prayers ...

, a recitation in the

morning prayer Morning Prayer may refer to: Religion *Prayers in various traditions said during the morning * Morning Prayer (Anglican), one of the two main Daily Offices in the churches of the Anglican Communion * In Roman Catholicism and Lutheranism: ** Mornin ...

Rabbinic Judaism Rabbinic Judaism (), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, Rabbanite Judaism, or Talmudic Judaism, is rooted in the many forms of Judaism that coexisted and together formed Second Temple Judaism in the land of Israel, giving birth to classical rabb ...

. As with many texts in Judaism, it takes its name from the opening words of the prayer. According to authorities beginning with

Jacob ben Asher Jacob ben Asher (c. 1270–1340), also known as Ba'al ha-Turim as well as Yaakov ben haRosh, was an influential Medieval rabbinic authority. He is often referred to as the Ba'al ha-Turim ("Author of the ''Turim''"), after his main work, the ''A ...

, the prayer must be sung to a melody; according to authorities beginning with , it should be said standing. According to ''Or Zarua II'', the ''Barukh she'amar'' contains 87 words, which number is the

gematria In numerology, gematria (; or , plural or ) is the practice of assigning a numerical value to a name, word, or phrase by reading it as a number, or sometimes by using an alphanumeric cipher. The letters of the alphabets involved have standar ...

of the Hebrew word ''paz'' () meaning "refined gold.". An alternative text is printed in some Sephardic prayer books, often alongside the more common version.

Purpose

the ''Barukh she'amar'' acts as a ''transition'' in the prayer service. In the Syrian tradition, the common melody for the prayer is derived from that of

Hatikvah Hatikvah (, ; ) is the national anthem of the Israel, State of Israel. Part of 19th-century Jewish literature, Jewish poetry, the theme of the Romantic poetry, Romantic composition reflects the 2,000-year-old desire of the Jews, Jewish people ...

Origin

According to Jacob ben Asher and Isaac Aboab I, Barukh she-Amar is described by the Sefer Hekhalot. However, no extant manuscript contains this reference.

Moses ben Jacob of Coucy Rabbi Moses ben Jacob of Coucy, also known as Moses Mikkotsi (; ), was a French Tosafist and authority on Halakha (Jewish law). He is best known as the author of one of the earliest codifications of Halakha, the '' Sefer Mitzvot Gadol''. Biogr ...

Amram ben Sheshna Amram bar Sheshna or Amram Gaon ( or ; died 875) was a gaon or head of the Academy of Sura in Lower Mesopotamia in the ninth century. He authored many responsa, but his chief work was liturgical. He was the first to arrange a complete liturgy f ...

Natronai ben Hilai Natronai ben Hilai ( or Natronai the Gaon, ; Full name: Natronai ben Hilai ben Mari) was Gaon "head rabbi" of the Sura Academy of Rabbinic Judaism in Lower Mesopotamia from 857 until 865. He held this post for ten years. He is responsible for mo ...

, and

Saadia Gaon Saʿadia ben Yosef Gaon (892–942) was a prominent rabbi, Geonim, gaon, Jews, Jewish philosopher, and exegesis, exegete who was active in the Abbasid Caliphate. Saadia is the first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Judeo-Arabic ...

attest to its popular use by the

9th century The 9th century was a period from 801 (represented by the Roman numerals DCCCI) through 900 (CM) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The Carolingian Renaissance and the Viking raids occurred within this period. In the Middle East, the H ...

. According to the ''

Mishneh Torah The ''Mishneh Torah'' (), also known as ''Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka'' (), is a code of Rabbinic Jewish religious law (''halakha'') authored by Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon/Rambam). The ''Mishneh Torah'' was compiled between 1170 and 1180 CE ( ...

'' (), this prayer was instituted by the

Great Assembly According to Jewish tradition the Great Assembly (, also translated as Great Synagogue or ''Synod'') was an assembly of possibly 120 scribes, sages, and prophets, which existed from the early Second Temple period (around 516 BCE) to the early He ...

; () claims "this is the best of the praises, because the Great Assembly did not establish it but rather was given to the wise tradents by way of a note from heaven." In the Sephardic and Mizrahi liturgies, as well as

Nusach Sefard Nusach Sefard, Nusach Sepharad, or Nusach Sfard, is the name for various forms of the Jewish '' siddurim'' designed to reconcile Ashkenazi customs with the kabbalistic customs of Isaac Luria (more commonly known as the Arizal). To this end, it ...

, the custom is to recite most of the additional psalms of Shabbat (except for Psalms 92 and 93) prior to Barukh she-Amar on Shabbat.

Aspects of God

There are seven aspects of

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

mentioned in Barukh she'amar. These are: # God spoke and the world came to be. # God speaks, does, decrees, and fulfills. # God is merciful. # God rewards those who fear Him. # God is eternal. # God rescues and redeems people. # Blessed is God's name.

Halakhah

Barukh she'amar becomes the initial part of the daily Jewish morning prayer, in "history-periods" of serious difficulty for the whole Jewish people; when there are not persecutions, ongoing

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

s or anything else serious for the Jews,

Shacharit ''Shacharit'' ( ''šaḥăriṯ''), or ''Shacharis'' in Ashkenazi Hebrew, is the morning '' tefillah'' (prayer) of Judaism, one of the three daily prayers. Different traditions identify different primary components of ''Shacharit''. E ...

begins as always.Compendio dello "SHULCHAN 'ARUKH". Meqor Chajim (-VOLUME PRIMO- et -VOLUME SECONDO-) Kefar Chasidim/Rekhasim, Israel 1992

References

External links

A nonliteral translation of the prayer
Pesukei dezimra Jewish blessings Siddurim of Orthodox Judaism Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish prayers and blessings {{Judaism-stub