{"id":50490,"date":"2020-12-04T13:39:07","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T13:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/?p=50490"},"modified":"2020-12-04T13:39:07","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T13:39:07","slug":"chanukah-special-mizmor-shir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/chanukah-special-mizmor-shir\/","title":{"rendered":"Chanukah Special: Mizmor Shir"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span dir=\"RTL\">\u05de\u05d6\u05de\u05d5\u05e8 \u05e9\u05d9\u05e8 \u05d7\u05e0\u05d5\u05db\u05ea \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea \u05dc\u05d3\u05d5\u05d3<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>A psalm \u2013 a song for the inauguration of the Temple \u2013 by David.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This <em>mizmor<\/em>, which we recite (sing) throughout the days of Chanukah, is also how <em>nusach Ashkenaz<\/em>\u00a0begins\u00a0<em>P\u2019sukei D\u2019Zimrah<\/em>\u00a0of every\u00a0<em>Shacharis<\/em>\u00a0throughout the year.\u00a0 It is chapter 30 in\u00a0<em>T\u2019hilim<\/em>.\u00a0 Many say that we recite it again after\u00a0<em>Shacharis<\/em>\u00a0during Chanukah because it is a song for the dedication of the\u00a0<em>Beis HaMikdash<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>There are two fundamental questions that we must address.\u00a0 The first question is glaring.\u00a0 If we look past the first\u00a0<em>pasuk<\/em>, there is not one other\u00a0<em>pasuk<\/em>\u00a0that has anything to do with the\u00a0<em>Beis HaMikdash<\/em>.\u00a0 How is this chapter then a song for its dedication, and how is it so connected with Chanukah that it was selected to represent the essence of Chanukah? \u00a0The second question is, simply: Why was this chapter in\u00a0<em>T\u2019hilim<\/em>\u00a0chosen to precede and introduce\u00a0<em>P\u2019sukei D\u2019Zimrah<\/em>\u00a0every day?<\/p>\n<p>HaRav Avigdor Miller\u00a0<em>zt\u201dl<\/em>, in his\u00a0<em>Siddur Tefilas Avigdor<\/em>, writes that this\u00a0<em>mizmor<\/em>\u00a0teaches us the foundation of all service to Hashem.\u00a0 Aside from the first\u00a0<em>pasuk<\/em>, for the rest of this\u00a0<em>mizmor<\/em>, David HaMelech expresses his recognition of and thanks for Hashem\u2019s goodness and lovingkindness.\u00a0 Recognizing Hashem\u2019s\u00a0<em>chesed<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 and thanking and praising Him \u2013 is our purpose in life and leads us to the fear, to the awe, and to the love of Hashem, and ultimately to\u00a0<em>d\u2019veikus<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<em>mizmor<\/em>\u00a0ends with \u201c<em>Hashem Elokai l\u2019olam odeka<\/em>\u2013Hashem, my G-d, I will thank You forever.\u201d\u00a0 HaRav Miller explains that we should be constantly thanking and praising Hashem through our contemplation, speech, and actions, and\u00a0<em>b\u2019ezras Hashem<\/em>, we will then merit to continue doing so in\u00a0<em>Olam HaBa<\/em>\u00a0for eternity.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<em>Chovos HaL\u2019vavos<\/em>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<em>Duties of the Mind (Heart)<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 was written around 1040 CE by a\u00a0<em>Rishon<\/em>, Rabbeinu Bachya, who preceded Rashi and Rambam chronologically.\u00a0\u00a0<em>Chovos HaL\u2019vavos<\/em>\u00a0was studied by the likes of the author of the\u00a0<em>Shulchan Aruch<\/em>\u00a0(HaRav Yosef Karo) and the Vilna Gaon, and has been accepted in all parts of\u00a0<em>klal Yisrael<\/em>.\u00a0 The\u00a0<em>sefer<\/em>\u00a0is divided into \u201cgates.\u201d\u00a0 The first gate is \u201cOneness of Hashem.\u201d\u00a0 The second gate delves, in depth, into the examination of Hashem\u2019s lovingkindness, while the third gate discusses \u201c<em>Avodas Hashem<\/em>\u201d \u2013 the common sense and obligatory response of one who is the recipient of an abundance of pure, selfless kindness from Hashem.<\/p>\n<p>HaRav Miller, who completed\u00a0<em>Shas<\/em>\u00a0annually and who was a pioneer in spreading Torah to thousands through books and tapes, was once asked how he became who he was.\u00a0 While, in his humility, he denied that he was a \u201c<em>gadol,<\/em>\u201d he responded that, from the day he left Slabodka, he never missed a day of learning\u00a0<em>Chovos HaL\u2019vavos<\/em>.\u00a0 He brought the examination and contemplation of Hashem\u2019s awesome creations and\u00a0<em>chesed<\/em>\u00a0to the forefront in vivid living color in a way that perhaps nobody before him and nobody since him has.<\/p>\n<p>With that in mind, perhaps HaRav Miller\u2019s explanation of our\u00a0<em>mizmor<\/em>\u00a0is an extension of the principles set forth by the\u00a0<em>Chovos HaL\u2019vavos<\/em>.\u00a0 The\u00a0<em>avodah<\/em>\u00a0performed in the\u00a0<em>Beis HaMikdash<\/em>\u00a0was an expression of our debt of gratitude to Hashem, which is why the gate of \u201c<em>Avodas Hashem<\/em>\u201d follows immediately after the gate of reflection of Hashem\u2019s kindness.\u00a0 We have no other way to \u201cgive back\u201d other than to recognize Hashem\u2019s kindness and express our thanks through praise and\u00a0<em>avodah<\/em>, service.<\/p>\n<p>We can now suggest an answer to our initial two questions.\u00a0\u00a0<em>P\u2019sukei D\u2019Zimrah<\/em>\u00a0is a general description of Hashem\u2019s awesome kindness and greatness; accordingly,\u00a0<em>b\u2019nei Ashkenaz<\/em>\u00a0thought it natural to start that part of our\u00a0<em><span class=\"markl3t38xo4a\" data-markjs=\"true\" data-ogac=\"\" data-ogab=\"\" data-ogsc=\"\" data-ogsb=\"\">tefilah<\/span><\/em>\u00a0with David HaMelech\u2019s recognition of and thanks for Hashem\u2019s goodness and lovingkindness, giving us a proper context to our\u00a0<em><span class=\"markl3t38xo4a\" data-markjs=\"true\" data-ogac=\"\" data-ogab=\"\" data-ogsc=\"\" data-ogsb=\"\">tefilah<\/span><\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>avodas Hashem<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Chanukah was instituted\u00a0<em>l\u2019hodos<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>l\u2019hallel<\/em>; as we close our\u00a0<em>Tefilas Shacharis<\/em>, we repeat this message through this\u00a0<em>mizmor<\/em>\u00a0in order to take it into our day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u05de\u05d6\u05de\u05d5\u05e8 \u05e9\u05d9\u05e8 \u05d7\u05e0\u05d5\u05db\u05ea \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea \u05dc\u05d3\u05d5\u05d3 A psalm \u2013 a song for the inauguration of the Temple \u2013 by David. This mizmor, which we recite (sing) throughout the days of Chanukah, is also how nusach Ashkenaz\u00a0begins\u00a0P\u2019sukei D\u2019Zimrah\u00a0of every\u00a0Shacharis\u00a0throughout the year.\u00a0 It is chapter 30 in\u00a0T\u2019hilim.\u00a0 Many say that we recite it again after\u00a0Shacharis\u00a0during Chanukah because it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133662,"featured_media":50491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[344],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chanukah"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chanukah Special: Mizmor Shir - Jewish Holidays<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/chanukah-special-mizmor-shir\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chanukah Special: Mizmor Shir - Jewish Holidays\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u05de\u05d6\u05de\u05d5\u05e8 \u05e9\u05d9\u05e8 \u05d7\u05e0\u05d5\u05db\u05ea \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea \u05dc\u05d3\u05d5\u05d3 A psalm \u2013 a song for the inauguration of the Temple \u2013 by David. 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