Boruch Sheomar is the opening brochoh of the
Pesukei Dezimroh section of davening, which
concludes with the brochoh of Yishtabach. In
order to better comprehend this opening brochoh of
Boruch Sheomar, it helps to analyze it from three
different perspectives.
First is the place that this brochoh occurs with
respect to the rest of davening. Second is the fact
that, as the opening brochoh it has a sister
brochoh of Yishtabach that forms the closing
brochoh of Pesukei Dezimroh. Third, we need to
take a closer look at the actual words that compose this
brochoh.
Rabbi Shamshon Rafael Hirsch explains that this opening
brochoh of Boruch Sheomar is intended to
provide us with the proper approach that we must adopt in all
our praises of Hashem. At the first communal song of praise
that the Jewish Nation sang at the Red Sea, they employed an
expression, Noro Tehillos — Fearful in praise.
True praise of Hashem is that which produced a G-d-fearing
obedience that will promote our active service of Hashem in
our daily lives and thereby enhance a further commitment to
all of His commandments.
It was the brothers of Joseph, after they realized their
grave error in having sold their brother and all the anguish
that they had caused to their father, who bowed down to
Joseph and were committed to become his obedient slaves. They
expressed this with the words (Bereishis 50:18),
"Hinnenu lecho le'avodim — We are ready to be
your slaves. It is the acronym of these three words (hei,
lamed, lamed) that spells out the word Hallel.
As only successful praises that emanate from a commitment to
enhance our service to Hashem can be incorporated into
something described by the word Hallel, it is therefore
appropriate that Hallel itself begins with the words of
Hallelu avdei Hashem — Give praise, you servants
of Hashem.
The Menoras Hamo'or (chapter 93) traces back the actual text
of Boruch Sheomar that we use today, to the Anshei
Knesses Hagedoloh who formulated it into our daily prayers
using a text that appeared from Heaven. This text has a total
of eighty-seven words in both Nusach Ashkenaz and
Sefard. Davening in general is termed, "avodoh
shebelev — the service of the heart. It is
therefore, appropriate to begin our formal prayers with a
Blessing containing eighty-seven words, the same as the
numerical value of the word avodoh.
This number also corresponds to the phrase in Shir
Hashirim (5:11): Rosho kesem poz — His
beginnings are of the finest gold. The word poz has a
numerical value of eighty-seven. Boruch Sheomar forms
the beginning of our general avodoh of davening,
and of the Pesukei Dezimroh section in particular,
which is appropriately described by the phrase, Rosho
kesem poz - - His beginnings (meaning also the beginning
of davening) are of fine gold.
Boruch Sheomar, therefore, incorporates important
lessons that are an appropriate way to begin our daily
avodoh of tefilloh, and to create a correct
approach that enables us to sing His praises in the
Pesukei Dezimroh that follow.
It was the difficult work that the Jewish people had to
perform as slaves in Egypt that is referred to by the Torah
as avodas porech. The word porech used as an
acronym (Phei + Reish + Chaf) spells out the phrase,
Rosho kesem poz. The result of this hard slave labor
was that the Yidden turned to Hashem in sincere
tefilloh — Vata'al shav'osom el
HoElokim.
Both the Ramban and the Seforno, at the end of the second
chapter of Shemos, state that it was only through
sincere tefilloh that the Jewish Nation merited
redemption. Having experienced, at Yetzias Mitzrayim,
the salvation that can only be achieved through sincere
tefilloh, we remind ourselves of this at the start of
our daily tefilloh. However difficult a situation we
may find ourselves in on a communal or personal level —
our present equivalent of our forefathers' avodas
porech — it is only sincere tefilloh that
will help.
This vital lesson is incorporated in the rosh kesem
poz that is Boruch Sheomar, as the opening
brochoh of the main part of our davening.
The Avudraham, however, appears to have no fixed stipulation
as to the maximum number of words that are contained in this
blessing. He quotes an ancient custom that included the
addition of some extra appropriate phrases on Shabbos and Yom
Tov, and therefore extra words would be added on these days.
It may be that the Avudraham stipulates that Boruch
Sheomar must contain a minimum of eighty-seven words but
no maximum, and therefore extra words can be added on special
occasions. This custom, however, has not been adopted in the
majority of siddurim that follow the opinion of the
Menoras Hamo'or. The Arizal, in his siddur,
specifically writes that one should not add extra words
on Shabbos and Yom Tov as quoted by the Avudraham. He also
attaches great importance and significance to these specific
eighty-seven words.
Boruch Sheomar contains the word boruch a total
of thirteen times. The Rokei'ach points out that in Nusach
Ashkenaz this chapter follows the beraissa of
Rabbi Yishmoel at the end of Korbonos that expounds
the Thirteen Principal Rules by which the Torah can be
elucidated. By mentioning the word boruch a total of
thirteen times — the same as the numerical value as the
word echod, one — we confirm our belief that
Hashem is the Only Source of all our brochos which are
only obtainable by a deep study of the Torah. The thirteen
boruchs in Boruch Sheomar correspond to these
thirteen principles which are used to correctly understand
the depth contained in the Torah.
The Arizal also lists the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy as
corresponding to these thirteen times that the word boruch
appears in this brochoh.
In Nusach Sefard, after Korbonos we first say
the twenty-nine pesukim from Divrei Hayomim
that begin with, Hodu Lashem kir'u bishemo. These
first twenty-nine pesukim of Hodu are also
found in Tehillim 105-106 with some slight
modifications. In Nusach Ashkenaz, Hodu is said after
Boruch Sheomar.
Each Nusach has a very good reason for its order of
tefilloh. Nusach Ashkenaz maintains that since these
pesukim were taught by Dovid Hamelech to the musician
Assaf, they should be included into the brochoh of
Shirei Dovid Avdecho, meaning Boruch Sheomar
Therefore they say Hodu after Boruch Sheomar.
Nusach Sefard follows the opinion of the Seder Olam
that states that of these twenty-nine pesukim of
Hodu, the first fifteen were said every morning during
the daily Korbon Tomid, whilst the final fourteen
pesukim were said during the daily evening Tomid
sacrifice. Therefore these pesukim of Hodu
belong together with those of the previous section of
Korbonos and they are said immediately after the
Korbonos and thus act as both a conclusion to the
Korbonos section and a bridge to the rest of the
Shirei Dovid Avdecho.
The Rokei'ach points out that the fourth posuk of
Hodu reads, Dirshu Hashem ve'uzo, bakshu Fonov
tomid. This posuk begins and ends with the letter
daled, which has a numerical value of four. It also
ends with the word tomid. This posuk is also
unique in Tanach as it contains six words, each of
which is composed of four letters. It is, therefore, an
appropriate posuk to be used when offering up the
morning Korbon Tomid, as it had to be offered up
within the first four hours of the day.
