Ashrei: You Open Your Hand

Yehi Chevod is not one psalm. It is eighteen lines gathered from all over Tanach, set one after another, and every one of them speaks of Hashem’s glory and kingship. I looked up each one (the list is under the text, in section 3). Most come from Tehillim; one from Divrei HaYamim, one from Mishlei. Lines 2 to 4 are three verses in a row from Tehillim 113, and the Alter Rebbe counts “the three verses beginning Yehi Shem A‑donai, MiMizrach, and Ram” as one unit (Shulchan Aruch HaRav 51:5); the translator notes that “they are included in the series of verses beginning Yehi Chevod”.

Line 8, יְיָ מֶלֶךְ, יְיָ מָלָךְ, יְיָ יִמְלוֹךְ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד, “Hashem is King, Hashem was King, Hashem will be King forever and ever”, is not a verse at all. It joins three pieces: “Hashem is King forever” (Tehillim 10:16), “Hashem reigns” (93:1) and “Hashem will reign forever and ever” (Shemos 15:18). Chabad.org’s commentary says the three phrases are already joined “in Tractate Sofrim 14:8 and in the Beraisa of Maaseh Merkavah” (as cited).

The Beis Yosef, from Orchos Chaim (as cited by him), gives a reason for the collection: “they have twenty-one mentions [of the Name], corresponding to the twenty-one verses of Tehillah l’David.”

A few lines, with Chabad.org’s commentary. On line 7, יִשְׂמְחוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וְתָגֵל הָאָרֶץ: “the first letters of the words of the phrase ישמחו השמים ותגל הארץ form an acronym for G‑d’s name Havayah (Or HaTorah, Siddur).” On line 6, “Hashem has set His throne in the heavens”: ““His throne” refers to the Torah, for the Torah is the medium that enables transcendent G‑dliness to relate to the realities of our material world” (Torah Or). On line 16, “Hashem will not abandon His people”: “This assurance comes as a natural consequence of His choice of the Jewish people” (Peirush HaMilos), the line just before it. On line 17: “The thirteen words in this verse refer to G‑d’s Thirteen Attributes of Mercy.” And on the last line, “May the King answer us on the day we call”: “This verse requests that G‑d respond immediately after the Jews petition Him” (Peirush HaMilos).

Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Avina: “Whoever says Tehillah l’David every day three times is assured that he is a son of the World to Come.” The Gemara asks why this psalm. “If you say because it goes in aleph-beis order”, then let one say “Ashrei temimei derech” (Tehillim 119), “which goes in eight times” over. “Rather, because it has Poseach es yodecho”, then let one say the Great Hallel (Tehillim 136, Lesson 12), where it is written, “He gives bread to all flesh”. The answer: “rather, because it has both.” The order of the aleph-beis and the praise of the One Who feeds every creature, together, in one psalm.

Why no nun? Count the verses: twenty-one, not twenty-two. After מַלְכוּתְךָ, the verse of מ, comes סוֹמֵךְ, the verse of ס; there is no verse for נ. Rabbi Yochanan explains: “Why is there no nun in Ashrei? Because it contains the fall of the enemies of Israel”, the Sages’ careful way of speaking of a fall of Israel itself, “as it is written: ‘She has fallen, she will not rise again, the maiden of Israel’” (Amos 5:2). In Eretz Yisrael, says the Gemara, they read the same verse differently: “She has fallen, and will not fall again; rise, maiden of Israel!” And Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak adds: “Even so, David went back and supported them by the holy spirit, as it says: ‘Hashem supports all who fall’”, the verse of ס, the very next letter. Rashi on the psalm says the same: “nun is missing from the aleph-beis, because David saw in it a hard fall… and he went back and supported it by the holy spirit.”

Before the psalm we say two verses that begin אַשְׁרֵי, from Tehillim 84:5 and 144:15; that is why the whole passage is called Ashrei. Why these? The Gemara (Berachos 32b): “The early pious ones used to wait one hour” before they prayed. From where? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: the verse says, “Fortunate are those who sit in Your House.” And a Baraisa: “one who prays must wait one hour before his prayer”, and one hour after it, as it says, “the upright will sit before You.” The Tur (Orach Chaim 51) writes it plainly: “and they were accustomed to say before it Ashrei yoshvei veisecho, because we learn from it that a person must sit one hour before he prays.” Rashi on 84:5: “whoever will yet merit to sit in Your House, and will yet praise You within it.” And on 144:15, “fortunate is the people for whom it is so”: “that all this good is his.”

Chabad.org’s commentary (Peirush HaMilos) says that “the Men of the Great Assembly ordained that the two verses that begin with Ashrei be recited at this place in the prayer service”; in the Hebrew of the note: “these two verses, the Men of the Great Assembly arranged them as an opening and preparation for all of Pesukei D’zimrah.”

And one verse after. At the end we add וַאֲנַחְנוּ נְבָרֵךְ יָהּ (Tehillim 115:18). The Alter Rebbe (Shulchan Aruch HaRav 51:9) gives two reasons. The psalms that follow all begin and end with Halleluyah, so we end here “with the term Halleluya-h, and in that way … create a chain with one Halleluya-h after another.” And since whoever says Tehillah l’David is assured of the World to Come, we add a verse that says “we will merit to bless Hashem in the World to Come as well”; “we recite this [verse after Tehillah LeDavid] in the Afternoon Service as well.”

“You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” The Tur (51) already writes: “and one should concentrate more on the verse Poseach es yodecho”, because it is the main reason the psalm was fixed for every day, since it mentions the praise of the Holy One, blessed be He, “Who watches over His creatures and sustains them.”

The Alter Rebbe rules (Shulchan Aruch HaRav 51:8): “One must concentrate on the meaning of the words he utters [when reciting the verse], “You open Your hand....” If he did not do so, he must go back and repeat [the phrase] with focused intent.” The reason: the main reason for saying Tehillah l’David every day is the praise in this verse, “that the Holy One, blessed be He, watches over His creatures to provide for them.” He adds that in our times we do not usually repeat a prayer said without concentration, because the second time may be no better; but here, “since we are speaking about only one verse, it should be repeated, for one will easily be able to concentrate on it if he so desires.” The translator adds: “Needless to say, one should preferably concentrate on the meaning of all the words of prayer.” Chabad.org’s siddur prints a reminder before the verse: “The following verse should be recited with concentration. If this was lacking, the verse should be repeated.”

A custom. The notes to the Chabad.org translation bring a letter of the Rebbe (Igros Kodesh, vol. 18, p. 265, as cited): “one should touch his arm-tefillin when reciting the phrase Poseiach Es Yadecha, and his head-tefillin when reciting the phrase U’Masbia LeChol Chai Ratzon”, and “The Rebbe’s custom was to touch both tefillin with his fingers. (See Kovetz Minhagei Melech, p. 16.)” This is on weekdays, when we wear tefillin.

How to say this verse, when and how to repeat it, and how to keep the custom, ask your rav.