Ashrei ( he, אַשְׁרֵי) is a prayer that is recited at least three times daily in
Jewish prayers
Listed below are some Hebrew language, Hebrew Jewish services, prayers and Berakhah, blessings that are part of Judaism that are recited by many Jews. Most prayers and blessings can be found in the Siddur, or prayer book. This article addresses J ...
, twice during
Shacharit
''Shacharit'' ( he, שַחֲרִית ''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 ...
(morning service) and once during
Mincha
Mincha ( he, מִנחַה, pronounced as ; sometimes spelled ''Minchah'' or ''Minḥa'') is the afternoon prayer service in Judaism.
Etymology
The name ''Mincha'', meaning "present", is derived from the meal offering that accompanied each sacri ...
(afternoon service). The prayer is composed primarily of
Psalm 145
Psalm 145 is the 145th psalm of the Book of Psalms, generally known in English by its first verse, in the King James Version, "I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever". In Latin, it is known as "Exaltabo ...
in its entirety, with and added to the beginning, and added to the end. The first two verses that are added both start with the
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
word (translating to 'happy', 'praiseworthy' or 'fortunate'), hence the prayer's name.
Times of recitation
Ashrei is recited three times daily during the full course of Jewish prayers, in accordance with the
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
ic statement that one who recites Ashrei three times daily is guaranteed a place in the
World to Come
The world to come, age to come, heaven on Earth, and the Kingdom of God are eschatological phrases reflecting the belief that the current world or current age is flawed or cursed and will be replaced in the future by a better world, age, or par ...
.
Talmud Bavli
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
, Tractate Berachot
Berakhot ( he, בְּרָכוֹת, Brakhot, lit. "Blessings") is the first tractate of ''Seder Zeraim'' ("Order of Seeds") of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. The tractate discusses the rules of prayers, particularly the Shema and the Amidah, and ...
4b For this reason, not only is Ashrei recited these three times, but many of its verses occur throughout liturgy.
Ashrei is recited twice during
Shacharit
''Shacharit'' ( he, שַחֲרִית ''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 ...
(once during
Pesukei D'Zimrah and once between
Tachanun
''Tachanun'' or ''Taḥanun'' ( he, תחנון "Supplication"), also called ''nefilat apayim'' ( he, נפילת אפיים "falling on the face"), is part of Judaism's morning (''Shacharit'') and afternoon (''Mincha'') services, after the recitati ...
/
Torah reading
Torah reading (; ') is a Judaism, Jewish religion, religious tradition that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Sefer Torah, Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the scroll (or scrolls) fro ...
and
Psalm 20
Psalm 20 is the 20th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a book of the Christian Old T ...
/
Uva Letzion or in this place when any of these are omitted), and once as the introduction to
Mincha
Mincha ( he, מִנחַה, pronounced as ; sometimes spelled ''Minchah'' or ''Minḥa'') is the afternoon prayer service in Judaism.
Etymology
The name ''Mincha'', meaning "present", is derived from the meal offering that accompanied each sacri ...
; it is also recited in many customs at the commencement of
Selichot
Selichot ( he, סְלִיחוֹת, səlīḥōt, singular: , ''səlīḥā'') are Jewish penitential poems and prayers, especially those said in the period leading up to the High Holidays, and on fast days. The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy ar ...
services. On
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day's ...
, Ashkenazim recite it during
Ne'ila
Ne'ila ( he, נעילה, lit=locking), the ''concluding service'', is a special Jewish prayer service that is held only on Yom Kippur. It is the time when final prayers of repentance are recited at the closing of Yom Kippur. Neilah marks the fifth ...
instead of during Mincha, whereas Sephardim and Italians recite it during both Mincha and Ne'ila.
Text
:; see als
An English translation of Ashrei prayer
The majority of ''Ashrei'' is
Psalm 145
Psalm 145 is the 145th psalm of the Book of Psalms, generally known in English by its first verse, in the King James Version, "I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever". In Latin, it is known as "Exaltabo ...
in full. Psalm 145 is an alphabetic acrostic of 21 verses, each starting with a different letter of the
Hebrew alphabet
The Hebrew alphabet ( he, wikt:אלפבית, אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew languag ...
arranged alphabetically. This makes Ashrei easy to memorize.
[Every person's guide to Jewish prayer By Ronald H. Isaacs, page 114] The only Hebrew letter that does not begin a verse of Psalm 145 is ''
nun
A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...
'' (נ). This omission is discussed at greater length in the Wikipedia article on
Psalm 145
Psalm 145 is the 145th psalm of the Book of Psalms, generally known in English by its first verse, in the King James Version, "I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever". In Latin, it is known as "Exaltabo ...
. Although the Septuagint and some other non-Massoretic versions of the Bible have such a line, no Jewish prayerbook inserts a line beginning with ''nun''.
The first two verses are from
Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...
84:4-5 and Psalms 144:15 respectively. The final verse is Psalm 115:18. The Rome liturgy adds to this Psalm 119:1 and
Machzor Vitry
Simhah ben Samuel of Vitry ( he, שמחה בן שמואל מויטרי; died 1105) was a French Talmudist of the 11th and 12th centuries, pupil of Rashi, and the compiler of ''Machzor Vitry''. He lived in Vitry-le-François.
''Machzor Vitry''
' ...
(12th century) adds four (possibly five) other verses beginning with the same word ("Ashrei") (namely Psalms 119:1-2, 84:6, 112:1, and 89:16), and it appears that originally the general practice was to have more introductory verses than the two now used by Ashkenazic and Sefardic Jews.
It is customary for the congregants to be seated while reciting Ashrei, as the introductory verse, "Happy are the people ''who dwell'' in Your house", describes the congregants as part of the household, not strangers or mere visitors, so they sit to demonstrate that connection. The word ישב, here translated as "dwell", also means "sit down" (as in Exodus 17:12, I Kings 2:12, and Psalm 122:5).
Verse 7 (ז): It has been noticed that, while the majority of Hebrew Bibles spell the first word of this verse with a long vowel - זֵכֶר (''zaykher''), many prayerbooks print this word with a short vowel - זֶכֶר (''zekher'') -- the two variants being described as "five dots" and "six dots" respectively. There is no difference in meaning, both variants mean the same thing, a "remembrance" or a "reminder", and both occur elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, although the long vowel form occurs more often.
The short vowel (six dots) reading does appear in this verse in several important early editions of the Hebrew Bible, such as the first four editions of the complete Hebrew Bible, and the Complutensian Polyglot and the First Rabbinic Bible (by Pratensis). But the long vowel (five dots) reading is found in virtually all the more recent and more authoritative editions, including the Aleppo Codex, the Leningrad Codex, the Second Rabbinic Bible (by Ben-Hayyim), the Letteris edition, the Ginsburg editions, the Koren edition, the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, etc. Siddurim that carry the short vowel reading include, among others, the widely used ArtScroll Siddur (although the ArtScroll editions of the Bible and of the Psalms have here the long vowel reading). It would appear that prayerbook quotations of the Bible are sometimes copied as they appeared in earlier prayerbooks, without doublechecking the Bible itself (a similar effect has been noticed in the 19th and 20th century editions of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, which perpetuated quotations from the Bishops' Bible instead of using the wording of the King James Version).
Verse 16 (פ). "You open Your hand ..." This is a most important verse and the universal practice is that it must be said with much concentration on its meaning and with sincerity. In the weekday morning services, especially among Ashkenazim, when the worshippers are wearing their
tefillin
Tefillin (; Modern Hebrew language, Israeli Hebrew: / ; Ashkenazim, Ashkenazic pronunciation: ), or phylacteries, are a set of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah. Te ...
, it is common reverently to touch the arm tefillin during the first half of the verse ("Your hand") and then the head tefillin during the second half ("its desire"). At other times, when tefillin are not worn, in addition to the concentration on the meaning of the verse, it is a custom (primarily Mizrahi but also practiced by others) to lift up one's upturned hands as if to receive God's gifts.
The final verse of the prayer is . From as early as the time of Seder Rav
Amram Gaon
Amram Gaon ( he, עמרם גאון, or Amram bar Sheshna, Hebrew: עמרם בר רב ששנא, or sometimes: Amram ben Sheshna or Amram b. Sheshna; died 875) was a '' gaon'', head of the Jewish Talmud Academy of Sura during the 9th century.
H ...
, this was explained as instituted in order to provide a concluding "Halleluyah" for the psalm, in line with the pattern of Psalms 146-150. Additionally, the addendum broadens the psalm by saying “we” and not just “I”.
Concepts
Ashrei is about three concepts. These are:
#People are happy when they are close to
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
.
#God cares about the poor and oppressed.
#God rewards good behavior and punishes evil.
The Psalm praises God whose justice and mercy applies to all peoples. In verse 9 (ט) we are told "The L
ORD is good to ''all'' and His mercy extends to ''all'' He has created." By verse 21 (ת) - "All flesh shall praise Your name ...." - all mankind expresses its gratitude.
Also significantly, this prayer is entirely praise of God, without asking for anything.
Also emphasized in Ashrei is God's kingship over all the universe; in particular, Psalm 145:1 is the Bible's only use of the phrase "God ''the'' King" (as distinguished from many occurrences of "my king" or "our king").
[Kimelman, Reuven, Psalm 145: Theme, Structure, and Impact, ''Journal of Biblical Literature'', vol. 113, nr. 1 (Spring 1994) pages 40-41 (this unique occurrence was noticed by Abraham ibn-Ezra in the 12th century).]
See also
*
Psalm 145
Psalm 145 is the 145th psalm of the Book of Psalms, generally known in English by its first verse, in the King James Version, "I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever". In Latin, it is known as "Exaltabo ...
Ashrei. Structure of the Psalm 145 myjewishlearning.com
References
{{Jewish prayers
Pesukei dezimra
Shacharit
Mincha
Ne'ila
Siddur of Orthodox Judaism
Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish prayers and blessings