The Kedushah of Yotzer and Ahavas Olam

In the repetition of the Amidah, the Kedushah needs a minyan, because there we ourselves sanctify Hashem. The Kedushah inside Yotzer is different. The Alter Rebbe (59:2): “In the Kedushah recited in the blessing Yotzer Or, by contrast, we are not sanctifying Him. We are merely recalling the words of sanctification expressed to Him by His ministering angels. An individual has license to recite this [Kedushah], for it is merely descriptive.” Other authorities hold that one praying alone should not say it; the Alter Rebbe writes that it is good to take their view into account, and that one alone should say it “with a tune and with cantillation, like one reading the Torah”, and then: “The custom, however, is to follow the first view.”

Two more details in the same paragraph. With a congregation, the answers are said “in a loud voice”. And: “[This Kedushah] may be recited while seated. [The intent is] not that one should sit if he was standing, but rather that if he was seated, he should not rise to recite this Kedushah as he would for the Kedushah in [the repetition of] Shemoneh Esreh.” The translator adds: “According to the Kabbalah (see the Siddur of R. Yaakov Emden), this Kedushah should be recited while seated.” (as cited). How to do it in practice, ask your rav.

The words themselves come from two prophets. Yeshayahu saw the seraphim standing, and one called to the other and said: “Holy, holy, holy is Hashem of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory” (Yeshayahu 6:2-3). Yechezkel heard behind him “the sound of a great noise: Blessed is the glory of Hashem from His place”, and “the sound of the ofanim facing them” (Yechezkel 3:12-13). Our blessing takes its words from both verses: the great noise, the ofanim, and לְעֻמָּתָם, “facing them”.

The Talmud (Chullin 91b) speaks of “three groups of ministering angels” that “say song every day”, and adds: “the ministering angels do not say song above until Israel says it below.” Then it asks about the second verse, and answers: “‘Blessed’: it is the ofanim who say it” (92a). That is the picture of our blessing: first Kadosh, and then the ofanim and the holy chayos answer Baruch.

For one law, the Alter Rebbe divides this part of Yotzer into pieces. If the chazzan erred and someone else must take his place, the new chazzan does not always go back to the start, “because answering Kadosh is counted, for this matter, like the end of a blessing, and from וְהָאוֹפַנִּים it is like the start of another blessing”; “and so too answering ‘Baruch kevod’ is like the end of a blessing for this matter, and לָאֵל בָּרוּךְ is like the start of another blessing” (59:5). That is why the Text section gives each of them its own paragraph.

A word about the six verbs of praise, וּמְבָרְכִים to וּמַמְלִיכִים. The Alter Rebbe (59:3): one should say them “all with mem”, “for the whole wording of the blessing is the language of Scripture”, “and the language of Scripture is with mem and not with nun”; he adds that some say them with nun, for a reason known to them. Our siddur ends all six with ־ים (§G75).

Then LaKel Baruch, ten praises of Hashem, and a verse: “To the One Who makes the great lights, for His kindness is forever” (Tehillim 136:7). Other siddurim, like the Siddur Sefard, add here a line that begins אוֹר חָדָשׁ, “a new light over Tziyon”. The Alter Rebbe brings both views (59:6). Some say it should not be said: “For our Sages ordained this blessing [in thankful acknowledgment for] the light which is renewed every day, not for the new light that will shine in the future.” Others defend it, because the light of creation was stored away for the future. Our siddur does not have the line; it goes straight from the verse to the closing words, יוֹצֵר הַמְּאוֹרוֹת.

Many call the second blessing “Ahavah Rabbah”, “with great love”. In our siddur it begins אַהֲבַת עוֹלָם, “with an everlasting love”, morning and evening. The two names are old.

In the Beis HaMikdash, the Mishnah (Tamid 5:1) tells, the appointed one said to the kohanim: “Bless one blessing; and they blessed. They read the Ten Commandments, Shema, Vehayah im shamoa, Vayomer.” The Talmud (Berachos 11b) asks which blessing that was, and answers: “Thus said Shmuel: Ahavah Rabbah.” Then: “It was taught so too: one does not say Ahavas Olam, but Ahavah Rabbah. And the Rabbis say Ahavas Olam, and so it says: ‘And with an everlasting love I have loved you, therefore I have drawn you with kindness’” (Yirmeyahu 31:3).

The Alter Rebbe (60:1): “the Sages differed about how it opens”; some say Ahavah Rabbah and some say Ahavas Olam Ahavtanu. “The Geonim decided the issue: Ahavah Rabbah should be said in the morning and Ahavas Olam in the evening. This is the custom in these countries.” The Hebrew note there adds: but in the Siddur the wording is Ahavas Olam both in the morning and in the evening, also on Shabbos and Yom Tov, following the Pri Etz Chaim (as cited). And the translator: “I.e., in the Ashkenazic community. In the Sephardic community — similarly, among chassidim who have adopted the customs of the AriZal, and this includes those using the Siddur of the Alter Rebbe — Ahavas Olam is said both in the morning and in the evening.” The Chabad commentary says the same: “According to the Nusach of the AriZal, this blessing begins Ahavas Olam, “With everlasting love.” According to Nusach Ashkenaz, it begins Ahavah Rabbah, “With great love.””

Why does Ahavas Olam not open with Baruch? The Alter Rebbe (60:1): “Why does this blessing not begin with Baruch? Because it follows in direct sequence to the blessing Yotzer Or, and the phrase Baruch... [which begins that blessing] is sufficient for it.”

At the words וַהֲבִיאֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם, “and bring us in peace from the four corners of the earth”, we gather the four tzitzis. HaYom Yom, 22 Sivan, gives the order; I translate the Hebrew: “For saying והביאנו לשלום etc., one first joins the two tzitzis in front, then adds the tzitzis of the left corner behind, then the tzitzis of the right corner, and holds them between the ring finger and the little finger of the left hand.” And, for the Shema that follows: “one kisses the tzitzis six times, that is, at saying the words: tzitzis, tzitzis, l’tzitzis, emes, kayemes, la’ad.” The kisses belong to Lesson 20.

The Chabad commentary: “It is Lubavitch custom to gather our tzitzis together at this point in the blessing. … The allusion is obvious; our fulfillment of the mitzvah of tzitzis will hasten the Divine counterpart to the observance of this mitzvah: G‑d’s ingathering of the Jewish people from the four corners of the earth (Likkutei Sichos).” (Likkutei Sichos as cited). The Torah commands tzitzis “on the corners of their garments”, עַל כַּנְפֵי בִגְדֵיהֶם (Bamidbar 15:38); the prayer asks for the ingathering from כַּנְפוֹת הָאָרֶץ, “the corners of the earth”. The same word, כָּנָף, a wing, a corner; that link of words is my own remark.

The Siddur Sefard prints a similar instruction earlier in the sentence, right after מַהֵר (it does not have the words וַהֲבִיאֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם): to hold the four tzitzis in the left hand between the ring finger and the little finger, opposite the heart. Our siddur follows HaYom Yom. When and how exactly to gather them, ask your rav or watch how it is done in your shul.

The end of Ahavas Olam carries remembrances. The Alter Rebbe (60:4) lists commandments of remembering, and writes: “It is desirable that these [events] be recalled in proximity to the Shema; [hence they are alluded to in the blessing that precedes it.]” Then he shows where: “When one says U’Vanu Vacharta (“and You chose us”), he should recall the Giving of the Torah; VeKeiravtanu (“and You drew us close”) alludes to Mount Sinai; LeShimcha HaGadol (“to Your great name”) — this alludes to the attack by Amalek, for the Divine name will not be complete until the seed [of Amalek] is obliterated; LeHodos Lecha (“to thankfully acknowledge You”) — this alludes to the incident involving Miriam, for the mouth was created to give thanks [to G‑d] and not to gossip.” And: “There is an authority who says that one should recall the Golden Calf while saying (LeYachedcha) BeAhavah (“to proclaim Your unity with love”) … i.e., in contrast to those who made the Golden Calf at that time who did not [act] with love towards the Holy One, blessed be He.” The translator notes how the count of remembrances grew: “the Siddur of the Shelah lists four remembrances and the Siddur of R. Yaakov Emden lists ten, while the Alter Rebbe’s Siddur is evidently the first to list six.” (as cited). The remembrance of Shabbos, in the Shema itself, is for Lesson 20.

Two laws about the end of the blessing, only so you know what happens around you. Because the blessings are long, the Alter Rebbe (59:4) writes: “One should therefore recite the entire blessing in an undertone, together with the sheliach tzibbur.” And after הַבּוֹחֵר בְּעַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּאַהֲבָה, some say one does not answer Amen, “so as not to interrupt between the Shema and the blessing before it”; others say one does answer, “and so is the plain custom in these countries”. The translator adds: “In Lubavitch practice, the sheliach tzibbur concludes this blessing inaudibly so that Amen need not be said (Sefer HaMinhagim: The Book of Chabad-Lubavitch Customs, p. 25).” (as cited). The Chabad commentary: “No interruption should be made between this blessing and the recitation of the Shema that follows. According to Chabad custom, the sheliach tzibbur says the last words of this blessing in an undertone.” What you yourself should do, ask your rav.