ל וּ עַ בְ דְֵל הֹ וְָי
Hallel Divided Across History
Rabbi Jonah Rank
Tonight , we sing Hallel ’ s six Psalms ( 113 – 118 ), but we split them up . For centuries , the Jewish people have sung Psalms 113 and 114 immediately before reciting a blessing over the night ’ s second cup of wine . By the time we turn to Psalms 115 – 118 , we will have already eaten the festive meal , blessed it , and drunk from our third cup of wine .
On this night , why is Hallel broken ?
The Portuguese Jewish philosopher Don Isaac Abarbanel ( 1437 – 1508 ) asked the same question in his Zevach Pesach . 17 In this essay , Abarbanel built 100 ‘ gates ’ ( ש ע ר י ם , she ’ arim ) of queries that sought to deconstruct the oddities of the Passover Seder . Near the end of the work , as he faced his 99 th gate — questioning the unusual structure of tonight ’ s Hallel — Abarbanel turned to the Jewish sages who preceded him . His predecessors understood formerly enslaved Israelites as the audience to Psalm 113 ’ s opening words :
Hallelujah ! Praise , servants of Adonai !.
֣ י ֑ ה ׀ הַ֭ הְּל֥ ַה לוּ ־ יָ֨
17
Abarbanel ’ s ז ב ח פ ס ח , “ The Paschal Sacrifice ,” is an extended commentary on the Maggid secmon of the Passover Seder .
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