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Week 42 - Monday - 11 September 2000

ROSH HASHANAH: CHAPTER 4: MISHNAH 6

They may not recite less than ten Malkhuyot, ten Zikhronot, ten Shofarot. Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri says, If he said three of each of them, he fulfilled. They may not mention verses of Memory, Kingship, and Shofarot which allude to Divine punishment. He begins with the Torah, and he concludes with the Prophet. Rabbi Yose says, If he completed with the Torah, he fulfilled.

Kehati

The previous mishnah taught that the Musaf prayer includes Malkhuyot, Biblical verses in which it is stated that the Lord is King of all the world; Zikhronot, Biblical verses in which it is stated that the Lord remembers all; and Shofarot, verses in which the shofar is mentioned. This mishnah teaches that at least ten verses must be recited in each of these.

They may not recite less than ten verses of Malkhuyot, ten Zikhronot, ten Shofarot - the Gemara explains that this number corresponds to the ten times that David said "Halleluy-ah" (praise the Lord) in Ps. 150 (the last chapter in the Book of Psalms), in which it is stated, "Praise Him (Halleluy-ah) with the blast of the horn" (v. 3); or it corresponds to the Ten Commandments, as it is stated, "And when the voice of the horn waxed louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice" (Ex. 19:19); or it corresponds to the ten Sayings by which the world was created (for the world was created on Rosh Hashanah - Rashi). The Jerusalem Talmud gives a different reason for each; the ten Malkhuyot correspond to the ten times David said "Halleluy-ah" (as was explained above); the ten Zikhronot correspond to the ten acts of repentance enjoined by Isaiah (1:16-17) - "Wash yourselves," "make yourselves clean," etc.; the ten Shofarot correspond to the seven sheep, the bull, the ram, and the goat of the Musaf sacrifice.

Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri says, If he said three of each of them - three verses of Malkhuyot, three of Zikhronot, and three of Shofarot, he fulfilled - his obligation. The Gemara explains that the number three corresponds to the Torah (the Pentateuch), Prophets, and Writings, or it corresponds to the priests, Levites, and Israelites. According to Rabbeinu Nissim, even Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri agrees that, ten verses of Malkhuyot, ten of Zikhronot, and ten of Shofarot should be said, but he holds that if he recited only three verses of each, he has also fulfilled his obligation. This is the halakhah.

They may not mention verses of Memory, Kingship, and Shofarot which allude to divine punishment - e.g., in Malkhuyot, he does not recite, "surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out" (Ezek. 20:33); in Zikhronot, "So he remembered that they were but flesh" (Ps. 78:39); or in Shofarot, "Blow you the trumpet in Gibeah" (Hos. 5:8). Tosefot Yom Tov comments that the mishnah states "Memory, Kingship, and Shofar," instead of the normal order of Kingship, Memory, and Shofar, for the purpose of alliteration: "mazkirin Zikhron." In each one of these,

He begins with verses from the Torah followed by verses from the Writings ("And in Your holy words it is written, saying…"), and he concludes with the Prophet - verses from the Prophets. Tosafot explains that the Writings are recited before the Prophets because the Books of Psalms, Proverbs, and Job preceded the prophets. The Gemara explains Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri's statement: "If he said three of each" - as meaning one verse each from the Pentateuch, the Writings, and the Prophets.

Rabbi Yose says, If he concluded with the Torah, he fulfilled - his obligation. The Gemara quotes a baraita, in which Rabbi Yose says, "If a person concludes with the Torah, this is praiseworthy"; according to this, this mishnah should read: "Rabbi Yose says, He concludes with the Torah, and if he concluded with the Prophet, he fulfilled" - i.e., in the first place he should conclude with a verse from the Torah after reciting three verses from the Torah, three from the Writings, three from the Prophets, and then he recites a final tenth verse from the Torah - (as in our version of the prayer). However, if he recited the final tenth verse from the Prophets, he also fulfilled his obligation. The halakhah follows Rabbi Yose.

ROSH HASHANAH: CHAPTER 4: MISHNAH 7

The person who passes before the Ark on the holy day of Rosh Hashanah, the second one orders the blowing; and when the Hallel is recited, the first one reads the Hallel.

Kehati

The person who passes before the Ark - i.e., the Reader, on the holy day of Rosh Hashanah, the second one - the Reader for the Musaf prayer, orders the blowing - of the shofar during the blessings, and not the first one, the Reader for the Shaharit service. The Gemara explains that originally they would blow the shofar during Shaharit, until the time when the Roman authorities suspected that the blowing constituted a call for revolt, and killed the Jews. The Sages thereupon decreed that the shofar should be blown during the Musaf prayer. When the enemy saw that the Jews were engaged first in prayer and the reading of the Torah, and only afterwards blew the shofar, the Romans realized that it was part of the ritual and not a call to revolt. Hence our practice of blowing only during Musaf. "The second one orders the blowing" shows that the practice was, as it is now, to have the one Reader for Shaharit and a second one for Musaf. Rav Hai Gaon interprets that the mishnah says, "orders the blowing" because the Reader may not blow during the blessings of the Amidah, lest he become confused, be unable to concentrate and resume the prayer. Therefore another person must blow, and "orders the blowing" means, he lets the appointed person blow between the blessings; and when the Hallel is recited - i.e., on the other holy days, the first one - the first Reader, who leads the Shaharit prayer, reads the Hallel - before the congregation, and they respond with, "Halleluy-ah" (see Suk. 3:10; see also Sot. 5:4, for Rambam's detailed explanation of the former practice for the reading of the Hallel).

The mishnah states "and when the Hallel is recited" because it is not recited on Rosh Hashanah or on Yom Kippur, because these are days of submission, and not for song, as the Gemara explains: How can Israel sing when the King sits on His throne of judgement, with the books of the living and the books of the dead open before Him? It transpires from the Gemara's explanation of the first section of the mishnah (in which it was stated that originally they blew during Shaharit), that during the Shaharit prayer of Rosh Hashanah they also recited Malkhuyot, Zikhronot, and Shofarot, for the blowing of the shofar follows this order of blessings. And indeed, according to Baal Hama'or, originally they recited nine blessings in each of the Amidah prayers of Rosh Hashanah, in Aravit, in Shaharit, in Musaf, and Minhah (i.e., the middle three blessings were those of Malkhuyot, Zikhronot, and Shofarot). The shofar, however, was blown only during Musaf, as stated in this mishnah. Ramban, however, disagrees with Baal Hama'or, adducing proof from the Jerusalem Talmud (Shev. 1:4) that the nine blessings were recited only in Musaf.

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