Efrayim Clair Ashrei

Ideas from: http://www.beureihatefila.com; Every person's guide to Jewish prayer

By Ronald H. Isaacs; Reuven Kimelman, Psalm 145: Theme, Structure, and Impact;
Israel Abrahams Companion to the Authorized Daily Prayer Book

The prelude to Ashrei, not found in

the actual tehillim, contextualizes the
rest of the psalm. Praiseworthy are
those who dwell in the house of
Hashem. But also, praise all Jews
because Hashem is our god.

,
.

, .

The second section deals more directly with

praising God on a universal level. Blue is
verbs of our praising God. (I did not
highlight them all) and green refers to the
actual traits we assign to God. All these
adjectives, however, are impersonal; they
are simply synonyms of greatness. In the
next section we use more direct and
personal praises of God.

,
.
,
.
, .
,
.

,
.

, .
, .

The pink highlights our more direct praises

Hashem is compassionate, merciful etc. Not
just great. Interestingly, I noticed that as we
became more specific, the word b
began
popping up in almost every line. Perhaps our
specificity helps us relate to the the whole.

.
,
, .
, .
,
.

Interestingly, as we move again to the more

general greatness in these three pesukim, we
lose the b
s and all of our pink adjectives.

, .

,
.

 , .
Here again we move back into the
personal praise. Except this time it is
even more specific! Not only is Hashem
merciful, and He supports the fallen and
feeds the hungry, but He gives us
everything we desire!

These three pesukim are what make this my

favorite tefilla. After describing Hashem's
greatness, both universal and personal, we are
informed that He is available to all of us.
Anyone who honestly calls to God, shall
receive. And that is all He wants from us! To call
to him! And He will protect us and destroy the
The postlude serves a similar purpose to
the prelude. Hashem is exceedingly
praiseworthy and we shall bless Him until
eternity.

,

.

, .
,
.

,

.

,
.

, .



.
,
, ,
.

Themes:
Kol. Everyone. Community. Ashrei, while focused on praising God, is also strongly
about His connection to us. All of His greatness and kindness are directed to all of
Israel. And I think that idea comes through in the white stanza. Hashem is ready and
willing to help/communicate/etc with anyone who desires that connection. And I
think this is an overall theme of Judaism and specifically tefilla. Having ashrei in the
middle of pesukai dzimra, while we are praising God, reminds us that despite His
greatness, we can all have a connection with Him and that He wants to hear from
all of us. And I heard a nice idea from R Willig that ties into the alphabetical acrostic
aspect of ashrei. He said that each letter in the Torah corresponds to a Jew and just
as if one letter in the Torah is missing it is pasul, so too we cannot lose a single Jew
as part of Klal Yisrael. Perhaps the alphabet of ashrei reveals to us the same idea
that each unique Jew can connect to Hashem and that He desires our call.
Connected to the alphabet idea, Dr. Kimelman writes that the alphabet represents
totality, or as a reflection of the full range of human expression, or as a memory
aid, or as an expression of elation, the explanation most apropos to its use in Psalm
145 is the understanding advanced by Adelle Berlin in her article, "The Rhetoric of
Psalm 145." She says, "the entire alphabet, the source of all words, is marshalled in
praise of God. One cannot actually use all of the words in a language, but by using

the alphabet one uses all potential words. So the form is made to serve the
message."
Another theme might be the idea of praise without request. This is reflected in all of
pesukai dizimra but here as well.
Maharsha - The gemara teaches us that Ashrei contains within it two reasons why
it should be recited and each reason is tied into the other. Torah learning is food for
the soul and bread is food for the body. This is an idea that mimics the saying: If
there is no flour there is no Torah and if there is no Torah there is no flour. And that
might be the connection between our specific needs (food) and the greater power of
Hashem (Torah)

Placement:
The "in berachot says one who thoughtfully recites Ashrei three times daily,
particularly the verse , is guaranteed a place in the World to Come. This pasuk
is obviously critical as it nicely sums up our relationship with God and the purpose
of tefilla. Hashem opens His hands and gives us everything we need.
According to one source, some early siddurim opens with more than two pesukim
that begin with the word: Ashrei. And that makes sense because the "in brachot
says that chasidim would prepare for one hour before davening. And they did this
because the pasuk says Ashrei Yoshvai Baysecha which means to dwell.
Similarly, siddurim began the practice to add the verse: VAnachnu NiVarech Yah
to the end of Ashrei. Rav Amrom wrote that the purpose was to connect the word
Halleluka to the word Halleluka that begins the next paragraph that we recite. All
the chapters of Psalms that follow Ashrei until Kol Hanishama begin and end with
the word Halleluka. The Halleluka that follows Ashrei is the beginning of the next
chapter of Psalms. That is the reason that they added a verse that ends with the
word Halleluka to the end of Ashrei. Beurai Tefilla says In an ancient commentary I
found: I heard in the name of Rabbi Jacob that he would recite the verse: VAnachnu
Nivarech only in Schacharis but not in the Ashrei that is recited in Mincha or in the
Ashrei that is recited before Oovah LTzion. He followed the reasoning that the verse
of VAnachnu Nivarech was only added in order to connect Ashrei with the verse
from Psalms that follows it that begins with the word Halleluka.)