The blessing before Hallel

A great sage meant to stop it

Rav, a leading sage of the Gemara, once came to Babylonia and saw people saying Hallel on Rosh Chodesh. He thought he should stop them. Then he saw they were skipping parts, and he said: they are keeping their fathers' custom. The skipping is the sign. The Mishnah Berurah (a central commentary on daily Jewish law, written around 1900) says Rosh Chodesh Hallel is cut short so people can see it is a custom and not a requirement.

Five things hidden in Hallel

The Gemara asks: since there is also the Great Hallel, another set of psalms, why say this one? Because it holds five things, each in one of its lines. Leaving Egypt ("When Israel went out of Egypt"). The sea splitting ("The sea saw and fled"). The giving of the Torah ("The mountains skipped like rams"). The dead coming back to life ("I will walk before Hashem in the lands of the living"). The Messiah's "birth pains," the hard time before the redemption ("Not to us"). On Rosh Chodesh, the last two are skipped.

Four letters that count 21 days

Before the blessing, the siddur lists the days of full Hallel and ends with a memory sign: bet, bet, tet, chet. As numbers that is 2, 2, 9 and 8: two days of Pesach, two of Shavuot, nine of Sukkot (counting Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah), eight of Chanukah. That adds up to 21, the number the Gemara gives for places outside Israel. In Israel it is 18. Rosh Chodesh is not on the list.

You cannot read Hallel backwards

Hallel must be said in order, like the Shema. Rabba finds the reason inside Hallel: "From the rising of the sun to its setting, Hashem's name is praised." The sun does not set and then rise, and Hallel does not run in reverse. Rav Yosef points to another line: "This is the day Hashem made." The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) says someone who reads it backwards has not done the mitzvah. If you skip a verse, go back to it and continue in order.

Wonder wears out if you use it every day

The Gemara says that anyone who reads Hallel every day is like someone who insults and curses God. Rav Kook (the first Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel, who died in 1935) explains. Being moved is healthy when it comes from time to time. When it never stops, it loses its power and starts to weigh on you. There is a second problem. Feeling amazed every single day would mean the wonder is amazing all by itself, but next to God's endless power, no wonder is great. Now read "commanded us to read" again.

מצד ערכה המוסרי טובה היא ההתפעלות הנפשית כשהיא באה מזמן לזמן, אבל בהיותה מתמדת ותכופה תאבד פעולתה הראויה

Why does praise need a command?

The blessing says God commanded us to read Hallel. Rabbi Yechezkel Panet (a Chassidic rabbi in what is now Romania, who died in 1845) asks why we need a blessing about a command, since we have to sing God's praise anyway. His answer: a person with real awe may hold back from singing, afraid he is not worthy of so many songs of praise. Angels, he writes, stand in such awe that they sing only once, and only after Israel gives them permission. So Hallel is made a duty, and we say it gladly, happy that we were given it.

וצונו לקרוא את הלל כלומר שהדבר חובה עלינו ואנחנו שמחין בדבר שזכינו לזה

Hallel with skips

On Rosh Chodesh (the first day of the Hebrew month) we say only half Hallel. Rabbi Natan of Breslov (the main student of the Chassidic master Rebbe Nachman) calls this Hallel with skips, a hint at teshuvah (returning to God), which Rosh Chodesh is the start of. Someone who is changing cannot climb one step at a time. He has to jump over levels. The Torah reading that day also steps back instead of going in order, and he suggests this hints that a changing person sometimes goes backward before moving forward. Now read the word "Hallel" again.

וְעַל זֶה מְרַמֵּז מַה שֶּׁאוֹמְרִין חֲצִי הַלֵּל, דְּהַיְנוּ הַלֵּל בְּדִלּוּג

Three kinds of people in Hallel

The Zohar (the central book of Kabbalah) quotes Rabbi Chiyya, a sage who often appears in it: Hallel needs three levels of people, the chasidim (the devoted), the tzaddikim (the righteous), and Israel. The chasidim and the tzaddikim each come from a different side, and Israel comes from all sides, because Israel includes all of them. So God's praise rises from all of them together, and wherever Israel praises Him from below, His glory rises in everything. Now read the blessing again.

דאמר רבי חייא בהלילא צריכין ג' דרגין, חסידים, צדיקים, וישראלים

On which days do I say this blessing?

Only on days when Hallel is said, and that is not every day. The Gemara (the rabbis' discussions built on the Mishnah) counts 18 days a year in Israel, 21 outside it, when Hallel is said in full: the eight days of Sukkot (counting Shemini Atzeret), the eight days of Chanukah, the first day of Pesach and Shavuot. Outside Israel there is also a second day of Pesach and Shavuot, and a ninth day of Sukkot. Rosh Chodesh and the rest of Pesach get half Hallel, with some sections skipped.

Do I say the blessing on Rosh Chodesh?

It depends on the custom. Hallel on Rosh Chodesh is only a custom, not a command, yet this blessing says God "commanded us" to read it. So the Rambam (Maimonides, 1100s) writes that there is no blessing, since we do not bless over a custom. The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) writes that this was the custom in the Land of Israel and the lands around it. The Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles, whose notes add Ashkenazi custom to it) says that in his lands even a person praying alone blesses.

On Rosh Chodesh, does it matter if I say Hallel with the congregation?

Yes. The Rema says that even where individuals bless, you should take care to say Hallel with the congregation and bless with them. The Mishnah Berurah (the standard commentary on the Shulchan Aruch) explains: some authorities hold a person alone does not bless, so if you walk in just before Hallel, say it with them first, then pray. The Arukh HaShulchan (a law code from around 1900) writes that in a congregation he does not bless himself. He answers amen to the leader's blessings, which counts as blessing.

Why does it say "to read" Hallel, and not "to complete" it?

This siddur uses one wording on every Hallel day, even when the whole Hallel is said: likro et haHallel, "to read Hallel." The Shulchan Aruch's laws of Pesach say to bless this way on a full Hallel day. The Mishnah Berurah explains: if you say "to complete" and then skip one word or letter, the blessing could be said for nothing. If you did say "to complete," you still did it, and a place with that custom should keep it. The Sephardi Edot HaMizrach siddur, and the Shulchan Aruch on Sukkot, say "to complete."

Do I have to stand for Hallel?

Yes. The Shulchan Aruch rules that Hallel is said standing. The Mishnah Berurah gives the reason: Hallel is testimony about God's wonders and miracles, and testimony is given standing. The Arukh HaShulchan adds that someone who is not well may sit. The Mishnah Berurah also quotes the Pri Megadim (a commentary from the 1700s) that if you read it sitting, even on full Hallel days, you still did it.

Someone says hello in the middle of Hallel. Can I answer?

It depends on the day. On Rosh Chodesh and the half-Hallel days of Pesach, you may greet someone you must honor, even mid-section, and answer anyone's hello, but nothing more. On full Hallel days the Shema rules apply: mid-section, greet only someone you fear and answer only someone you must honor; between sections, greet someone you must honor and answer anyone. The Mishnah Berurah adds, on the Shema, that since today people do not greet in shul during prayers, you should not greet or answer at all.

What about Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day?

Rabbis disagree, so practice differs by community. Peninei Halakhah (a modern guide to Jewish law by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed) reports that Israel's Chief Rabbinate first ruled to say Hallel without a blessing. In 1974 a majority of its council ruled there is a strong case for full Hallel with a blessing. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (a former Sephardic Chief Rabbi) held it should be said without one, because the miracle did not happen to all of Israel.