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Mishna Berura -
Lesson 75

Simanim 133-134: Shir Shel Yom

20.01.2016
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This topic belongs in siman 132, but I am discussing it here because last week's shiur was so gigantic that I couldn't add any more, and also because in the Tur, SSY is discussed in siman 133.

 

Throughout the Mishna and Gemara, we find mention of the fact that the Levi'im used to sing during the bringing of sacrifices, but from these sources we don't learn WHAT they sung.  From a famous mishna in Rosh HaShana (30b) we learn that on holidays a song different from the regular weekday song was said.  The mishna describes a case when witnesses testified about the new moon heralding Rosh HaShana so late that the wrong song had already been sung.  (This is what happened according to one opinion - another opinion maintains that because of the confusion they sang no song, which also proves that the RH song is different).

 

The weekday psalms are enumerated in the mishna at the very end of Tamid (we have the custom to recite this mishna on Shabbat and Yom Tov after musaf), but the holiday ones are not mentioned.

 

The Magen Avraham 132:4 raises a variety of questions regarding the shir shel yom.  Among them:

1. Why don't we say "shir shel yom" at mincha?  After all, the mincha prayer is parallel to the afternoon tamid which had its own song.  One answer is based on our custom to say the psalms AFTER the prayer.  Since no more sacrifices are brought, and no more songs are sung after the afternoon tamid, there is no time to sing a song after mincha.  And even though when we say the shir shel yom in the morning it is already past the time for THAT shir, since the tamid has already been brought (that is, we have already said the Amida), nevertheless SOME singing is still going on in the Temple.

2. Why don't we say different psalms on holidays, as was done in the Temple?  And why do we say the daily psalm after musaf, when the musaf sacrifice had its own song?  The Magen Avraham explains that today saying these psalms is a mere commemoration.  He points out that even the psalms designated for the holidays in Sofrim (chapter 18) are not always those which were said in the Temple.

 

We do see from this that the Sefaradi custom of saying shir shel yom before musaf bears a closer relation to the Temple service.  Ideally, we would say the musaf song after musaf as well.

 

Most congregations say the regular shir shel yom on holidays; a few congregation (especially those who go by the customs of the Gra) say those mentioned in Sofrim.

 

In most siddurim, the shir shel yom starts with an introductory phrase from the mishna in Tamid: "The song which the Leviim used to sing in the Mikdash: On Tuesday [or whatever day it is] they would say ..."  We just pointed out that on Yom Tov the Leviim would NOT say the regular Tuesday psalm, consequently, though it is technically correct to say that on Tuesdays they would GENERALLY say "Mizmor leAsaf," saying this introduction on Yom Tov gives the false impression that we are really saying the appropriate song for this day.

 

Rav Menachem Azaria (siman 25) suggests eliminating this introductory phrase altogether.  If the psalm we say is the one we would be saying in the Temple, so much the better; if it is different, well there's nothing wrong with reciting psalms!  At any rate we avoid giving a false impression.

 

 

SIMAN 134

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LONG TACHANUN ON MONDAYS AND THURSDAYS

 

WHY THESE DAYS

 

What's special about Mondays and Thursdays?  Since the Jews in the desert were unable to bear three days without water (Shemot 16), and since Torah is likened to water, we read the Torah on two weekdays in such a way that three days would not pass without a public Torah reading.  These days were fixed by Ezra as Mondays and Thursdays.  And since village people would come to the town on these days to hear the Torah, these days were also made the days when Beit Din convenes (BK 82a).

 

Because these are the days of the earthly court, the Heavenly Court also convenes on these days, making them days when the element of "din" - Divine judgment - is dominant (Shabbat 129b).

 

As days of judgment, Monday and Thursday were, naturally, chosen for more extensive penitential prayers, and this is indeed the reason given in the Kol Bo (siman 18).

 

But the Tur gives a different reason, and his reason is mentioned in the MB (s.k. 6).

 

The Tur also employs this reasoning to explain the custom that these are days designated for extra fasts, both for the community and for the individual (first chapter of Ta'anit).

 

A GREAT MIRACLE

 

We have explained why specifically Monday and Thursday were chosen, but not why we have days of long tachanun in the first place.  The MB (s.k. 2) refers to a "great miracle" related in the Kol Bo.

 

The Kol Bo (siman 18) explains that at the time when the Jews were exiled from Yerushalayim (it seems that the reference is to the second destruction) some fled on a ship.  At a certain port, the local ruler decided that because they were Jews it would be appropriate to give them a trial by ordeal like that given to Mishael, Azaria and Chanania, and graciously offered to cast them into a fiery pit.

 

The governor agreed to give them thirty days prior to this ordeal, and they spent these days fasting.  Each day, anyone who had a dream would relate it to the others.  At the end of the thirty days, a pious, simple, old man described a verse he had seen in his dream.  Since he was barely literate, he could only make out a few two-letter words, but one of the more learned among the group was able to reconstruct the verse.  The verse was (Yeshayahu 43:2) "Even if you pass through the water, I am with you, and in the rivers you will not be washed away; if you go in the midst of fire you will not be singed, and the flame will not burn you."

 

The company concluded that this was a sign that the old man who merited this vision would be saved from the fiery pit.  When the governor prepared the fire, this same old man entered and the flames separated into three parts, and from them appeared three saints who greeted the old man.  Each of the three elders [I gather this refers to the saints] uttered a praise, these praises being the three prayers comprising the long tachanun.

 

The story is a bit surprising since the tachanun prayers are not praises at all.  As their name suggests, they are heartfelt petitions for salvation.  Perhaps the idea was to explain to the Jews at the very beginning of the exile how we should pray to HaShem in the future in order to be saved and bring an end to the exile.  This would parallel the Thirteen Attributes, also a part of tachanun according to some customs (MB s.k. 1), in which HaShem explained to Moshe how we should ask for His mercy from then on.

 

According to this story, the long tachanun which we know is nearly two thousand years old.  It is demonstrably over a thousand years old, as it appears in the siddur of Rav Amram Gaon.  Some of the pleas are particularly pertinent in our day - I won't expand on this subject for fear of politicizing the shiur.

 

The placement of this siman in the SA accords with the Sefaradi custom in which "nefilat apayim" (prostration - siman 131) precedes the long tachanun (siman 134).  In the Ashkenazi custom the long tachanun precedes "nefilat apayim", which is the custom which appears in the Machzor Vitry.  Interestingly, it is also the custom cited by Rav Amram Gaon.

 

"HAGBAHA" - RAISING THE SEFER TORAH

 

The custom of raising the Sefer Torah is mentioned in masekhet Sofrim 14:14 (in the Vilna Shas version).  "Then he rolls the Sefer Torah out to three columns, and raises it and shows the writing to the congregation standing to his right and his left, and he turns it forwards and back, since it is a mitzva for all the men and women to see the writing and bow, saying (Devarim 4) 'And this is the Torah which Moshe placed before the children of Israel.'"

 

It seems from this source, the hagbaha should precede the Torah reading, as is the custom of the Sefaradim.  As the Rema and MB mention, the Ashkenazi custom is different.

 

The Bach infers from the fact that RAISING the sefer and SHOWING the writing are two separate things that the Sefer Torah should be raised with the writing away from the "magbiah" - as is the custom of the Sefaradim in general and as the Ashkenazim do on Simchat Torah.  (I'm not exactly sure how he infers this.)  He then points out that this is NOT our regular custom, and concludes that we should in any case continue our custom.

 

The MB (s.k. 9, 11) seems to imply that the magbiah carries the raised Sefer Torah among the congregation, and I have seen Sefaradim do this.  I have never seen this in an Ashkenazi shul; instead, the magbiah merely turns around without moving from his place.  I haven't found a source which describes exactly how the sefer should be displayed.  If we were to take the Masekhet Sofrim literally, we would turn the writing right, then left, then forward, then back, pausing each time.  From the MB s.k. 9, it appears that the magbiah would rotate in a clockwise direction.

 

BERIKH SHEMEI

 

R. Shimon said: When they take out the Sefer Torah to read from it, the gates of the skies of mercy are opened, and they awaken love above. And a person should say: "Blessed be the name of the Master of the world. Blessed be Your crown and Your place. ..."  And it is forbidden for more than one person to read from the Sefer Torah, and all must listen and be quiet so that they may hear the words from his mouth as if they were receiving them at that moment from Mount Sinai (Zohar Vayakhel II:206a).

 

            This is the source of the custom to say Berikh Shemei, as mentioned in the MB s.k. 13.

 

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