PESACHIM - 117a – ערבי פסחים – פרק עשירי – פסחים, קיז ע”א

Rav Chisda said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: Halleluyah, Kesyah and Yedidyah — each is one word.^[1]

Rav said: Kesyah and Merchavyah are each one word.

Rabbah said: only Merchavyah.

They asked: according to Rav Chisda, what is the status of merchav yah?

Let it stand unresolved.

They asked: according to Rav, what is the status of Yedidyah?

Come and hear, for Rav said: Yedidyah is divided into two; therefore yedid is mundane and Yah is holy.^[2]

They asked: according to Rav, what is the status of Halleluyah?

Come and hear, for Rav said: I saw the Tehillim scrolls of the house of Chaviva, in which hallelu was written on one side and Yah on the other side.^[3]

And this differs with Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, for Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: What is Halleluyah? Praise Him with many praises.

And his own statements differ with each other, for Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: The book of Tehillim was said with ten expressions of praise: with nitzuach, with niggun, with maskil, with mizmor, with shir, with ashrei, with tehillah, with tefillah, with hoda’ah, with Halleluyah.^[4]

The greatest of them all is Halleluyah, for it includes the Name and praise at once.

Rav Yehudah said in the name of Shmuel: The song in the Torah — Moshe and Israel said it when they came up from the Sea.^[5]

And this Hallel — who said it?^[6]

The prophets among them instituted for Israel that they should say it at every season and over every trouble — may it not come upon them — and when they are redeemed they say it over their redemption.^[7]

It was taught: Rabbi Meir used to say: All the praises said in the book of Tehillim, David said them all, as it says (Tehillim 72:20): “The prayers of David son of Yishai are ended (kalu)” — do not read kalu but kol eilu, “all these.”^[8]

This Hallel — who said it?

Rabbi Yosi says: Elazar my son says: Moshe and Israel said it when they came up from the Sea; and his colleagues disagree with him, saying that David said it.

And his words appear more correct than theirs.

Is it possible that Israel slaughtered their Pesach offerings and took their lulavim and did not say song?!^[9]

Another explanation: Michah’s idol stood at Bochim, and Israel was saying the Hallel!^[10]

The Rabbis taught: All the songs and praises that David said in the book of Tehillim — Rabbi Eliezer says: he said them about himself.

Rabbi Yehoshua says: he said them about the community.

And the Sages say: some of them are about the community and some of them about himself; those said in the singular are about himself, those said in the plural are about the community.

Nitzuach and niggun — refer to the future to come.^[11]

Maskil — through an interpreter.^[12]

Le-David mizmor — teaches that the Shechinah rested on him and afterwards he said song.^[13]

Mizmor le-David — teaches that he said song and afterwards the Shechinah rested on him.

This teaches you that the Shechinah does not rest amid laziness, nor amid sadness, nor amid laughter, nor amid lightheadedness, nor amid idle talk, but only amid the joy of a mitzvah, as it says (Melachim II 3:15): “And now, bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, as the minstrel played, that the hand of Hashem came upon him.”^[14]

Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: And so too for a matter of halachah.

Rav Nachman said: And so too for a good dream.

Is that so? But Rav Giddel said in the name of Rav: Any Torah scholar who sits before his teacher and whose lips do not drip bitterness — they shall be scorched, as it says (Shir HaShirim 5:13): “His lips are like lilies (shoshanim), dripping flowing myrrh (mor over)” — do not read shoshanim but she-shonim, “who study”; do not read mor over but mar over, “flowing bitterness”!^[15]

It is no difficulty: this is said of the teacher, that of the student.

And if you wish, say: both are said of the teacher, and it is no difficulty: this is before he begins, and that is after he has begun.

Like Rabbah: before he began his lecture for the Rabbis he would say something humorous, and the Rabbis would be cheered; and afterwards he sat in awe and began the lesson.

The Rabbis taught: This Hallel — who said it?

Rabbi Eliezer says: Moshe and Israel said it when they stood at the Sea. They said (Tehillim 115:1): “Not for us, Hashem, not for us,” and the Divine Spirit answered them (Yeshayahu 48:11): “For My sake, for My sake, I will do it.”

Rabbi Yehudah says: Yehoshua and Israel said it when the kings of Canaan rose against them. They said “Not for us,” and it answered, etc.

Rabbi Elazar HaModa’i says: Devorah and Barak said it when Sisera rose against them. They said “Not for us,” and the Divine Spirit answered and said to them, “For My sake, for My sake, I will do it.”

Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah says: Chizkiyah and his company said it when Sancheiriv rose against them. They said “Not for us,” and it answered, etc.

Rabbi Akiva says: Chananyah, Mishael and Azaryah said it when the wicked Nevuchadnetzar rose against them. They said “Not for us,” and it answered, etc.

Rabbi Yosi HaGelili says: Mordechai and Esther said it when the wicked Haman rose against them. They said “Not for us,” and it answered, etc.

And the Sages say: The prophets among them instituted for Israel that they should say it at every season and over every trouble — may it not come upon Israel — and when they are redeemed they say it over their redemption.

Rav Chisda said: Halleluyah is the end of a psalm.^[16]

Rabbah bar Rav Huna said: Halleluyah is the beginning of a psalm.

Rav Chisda said: I saw the Tehillim scrolls of the house of Rav Chanin bar Rav, in which Halleluyah was written in the middle of the section; evidently he was in doubt.

Rav Chanin bar Rava said: All agree that after (Tehillim 145:21) “My mouth shall speak the praise of Hashem, and all flesh shall bless His holy Name forever and ever,” the Halleluyah that follows it is the beginning of a psalm.

After (Tehillim 112:10) “The wicked man shall see and be vexed; he shall gnash his teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked shall perish,” the Halleluyah that follows it is the beginning of a psalm.

After (Tehillim 135:2) “And who stand in the House of Hashem,” the Halleluyah that follows it is the beginning of a psalm.

The Scripture experts add these as well: after (Tehillim 110:7) “He shall drink from the brook on the way; therefore he shall lift up his head,” the Halleluyah that follows it is the beginning of a psalm.^[17]

After (Tehillim 111:10) “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of Hashem; good understanding have all who practise them,” the Halleluyah that follows it is the beginning of a psalm.

Shall we say this is like a dispute of Tannaim? How far does one say it? Beis Shammai say: until (Tehillim 113:9) “a joyful mother of children,” and Beis Hillel say: until (Tehillim 114:8) “the flint into a fountain of water.”^[18]

And another beraisa taught: How far does one say it? Beis Shammai say: until (Tehillim 114:1) “When Israel went out of Egypt,” and Beis Hillel say: until (Tehillim 115:1) “Not for us, Hashem, not for us.”

שעומדים בבית ה' בחצרות בית אלהינו הללויה דבתריה ריש פירקא - And we do not read “who stand in the House of Hashem in the nights” (Tehillim 134:1), for if so the Gemara should have cited “Hashem will bless you from Zion,” which is the verse just before the Halleluyah, and should not have cited a verse three verses above it. So it seems we read as I explained (Tehillim 135:2). On this reading we must say that this psalm begins with “Halleluyah, praise the Name of Hashem, praise, servants of Hashem, who stand in the House of Hashem…”, and what stands above it (134) is not the opening of this psalm — for a psalm of two verses is unlikely, and moreover the Midrash says there are 147 psalms in the book of Tehillim, matching the years of Yaakov^[19] — but rather the end of the Song of Ascents “Behold, bless…”. And this fits well with what we say below, that Rav Acha bar Yaakov begins the Great Hallel from “For Yah chose Yaakov for Himself,” for that is the beginning of the psalm; for otherwise it would be unlikely that he began Hallel from the middle of a psalm.

Notes

1. 1. Rashi: each is a single word, not to be divided into two. The question is whether the letters יה at the end form a Divine Name of their own, which would carry the sanctity of a Name (it may not be erased) and would mean the word is written as two.
2. 2. Yedidyah was the name Hashem gave Shlomo through Nasan the prophet (Shmuel II 12:25). On Rav's view it is two words: yedid, “beloved,” is an ordinary word, while Yah is a holy Name.
3. 3. Rashi: hallelu stood at the end of one line and Yah at the start of the next. A single word is not divided across lines, so this showed that the scribe treated Halleluyah as two words, with Yah a Name.
4. 4. Each of these ten words heads psalms of Tehillim: la-menatze’ach, bi-neginos, maskil, mizmor, shir, ashrei, tehillah, tefillah, hoda’ah (thanksgiving) and Halleluyah. Counting Halleluyah as one of them, and as one that includes the Name, treats it as a single word.
5. 5. Rashi: the Song at the Sea, אז ישיר משה (Shemos 15).
6. 6. Hallel is Tehillim 113–118, said on the festivals, on Chanukah, and in two parts at the Pesach Seder, on either side of the meal. The question is who first said it.
7. 7. Rashi: “may it not come” is a delicate turn of phrase. If, Heaven forbid, a trouble comes upon them and they are saved from it, they say Hallel over their deliverance — for example, Chanukah.
8. 8. Tehillim 72 closes with כלו תפלות דוד בן ישי. Read as כל אלו, it says that all these are the prayers of David: the whole book is his, including the psalms that bear other names.
9. 9. Rashi: if David first said Hallel, then from the Exodus until David Israel never said Hallel — which cannot be, since they brought the Pesach and took the lulav all those years.
10. 10. Michah’s idol (Shoftim 17–18) stood in the days of the Judges, long before David. Rashi: in David’s days Israel was saying Hallel, which mocks idols (“those who make them shall be like them”), while the idol still stood at Bochim; so Hallel must have been said first at the Sea and never stopped. Bochim (Shoftim 2:1–5) is the place named for Israel’s weeping.
11. 11. Rashi: a psalm headed למנצח בנגינות speaks of the future to come.
12. 12. Rashi: David said it, and another person explained it.
13. 13. The order of the words tells the order of events: where le-David comes first, the Shechinah came upon him first and the song followed; where mizmor comes first, the song came first and brought on the Shechinah.
14. 14. Elisha had been angered by Yehoram king of Israel, and his anger drove off prophecy; he asked for a minstrel, and through the joy of the music the spirit of prophecy returned to him.
15. 15. “Bitterness” is the awe a student must feel before his teacher. This seems to contradict the rule just given, that Torah (“a matter of halachah”) must be learnt in joy.
16. 16. Where Halleluyah stands between two psalms, the question is whether it closes the psalm before it or opens the one after it. This matters for the counting of the psalms and, below, for where Hallel stops.
17. 17. Rashi: the experts in Scripture. In these cases all agree that the Halleluyah after the verse opens the next psalm.
18. 18. At the Seder, Hallel is split: part is said before the meal and the rest after it. Our Mishnah (116b) brings the dispute of Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel over how far to say before the meal. The second beraisa names different stopping points, and the Gemara suggests that the two Tanna’im differ over whether Halleluyah ends a psalm or begins one. The discussion goes on to the next amud.
19. 19. Our Tehillim has 150 psalms; the Midrash counts 147, as many as the years of Yaakov’s life, so some psalms that we divide are counted as one. Tosfos uses this count to support his view of where these psalms divide.