כִּי שֵׁם ה׳ אֶקְרָא
A verse from Moshe, said just before the Mincha Amidah.
Draft. This siddur is waiting for a rav's review. For a halachic question, ask your rav.
Hebrew, then English. Open "What it means" under any line for the explanation.
Mincha. You are about to begin the Amidah. First, this verse:
כִּי שֵׁם יְיָ אֶקְרָא הָבוּ גֹדֶל לֵאלֹהֵינוּ.
When I call out the Name of Hashem give greatness to our God
These are Moshe's words, from Haazinu, his poem near the end of the Torah. Rashi (the main medieval commentator on the Torah) says it means: when I say Hashem's Name, you answer by giving greatness to God. The Gemara (the rabbis' discussions built on the Mishnah) reads it the same way.
Rashi on Devarim 32:3; Yoma 37aThen the line that opens every Amidah:
אֲדֹנָי שְׂפָתַי תִּפְתָּח וּפִי יַגִּיד תְּהִלָּתֶךָ.
My Master, open my lips and my mouth will tell Your praise
This is the same line that begins the Amidah at Shacharit and Maariv. The Avot prayer tells where it comes from and why it counts as part of the Amidah.
Siddur Sefard, Weekday Shacharit and Maariv, AmidahSay this verse before "Adonai sefatai," never after it. From "Adonai sefatai" on, you are already inside the Amidah, so nothing goes between it and the first blessing. The Avot prayer explains why.
Mishnah Berurah 111:1The Sifrei (an ancient collection of the Sages' teachings on the book of Devarim) uses this verse as the source for several replies. The answer to Barchu. Amen after a blessing. "Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom." And answering "forever and for all eternities" to "May His great Name be blessed," which is close to the reply we give in Kaddish.
Sifrei Devarim 306:37The Sifrei notices that Moshe does not say God's Name until twenty-one things into the song. It says he learned this from the angels, who say the Name only after three "holy"s. Then it reasons: if Moshe was this careful, anyone who says God's Name for no reason should be far more careful. The Sifrei does not say what it counts. But count the Hebrew words before the Name: 7 in verse 1, 12 in verse 2, and 2 ("ki shem") in verse 3. That makes 21.
Sifrei Devarim 306:36; Yeshayahu 6:3In the Tanach, "the time of the minchah" is the time of the afternoon offering. On Mount Carmel, the prophets of Baal called out until that time and nothing happened. Then Eliyahu prayed, and fire came down. The Gemara says that is why you should always be careful with Mincha: Eliyahu was answered only at Mincha. It adds that he said "answer me" twice, once for the fire and once so people would not call it magic.
Melachim I 18:29-38; Berakhot 6bThese words come from the opening lines of Haazinu, the song Moshe taught the people near the end of his life. When Moshe finished reciting it, God told him that same day to climb Mount Nevo, look at the land he would not enter, and die there. So you are saying a line from the last song Moshe ever taught.
Devarim 32:44-50The Tur (a law code from the 1300s) says some people are accustomed to say verses before the Amidah. It names two: "You who hear prayer, to You all flesh will come" (Tehillim 65:3) and this one. It says not to, because they make a break right after the Shema blessings. But at Musaf and Mincha, "if he wants to say verses, he may." The Beit Yosef (Rabbi Yosef Karo's commentary on the Tur) cites two earlier law books that already called them a break, and reads the Tur as saying no at Maariv too.
Tur, Orach Chaim 111; Beit Yosef on the Tur, Orach Chaim 111In the Torah, the "I" is Moshe, and he is speaking to all Israel. The siddur borrows his sentence for the moment before the Amidah. So it is fair to ask what he meant, and why it fits here.
Rashi reads it as a cue. "Ki" means "when," so Moshe is saying: when I call out God's Name, you give greatness to God. The Gemara in Yoma has the same reading. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi (the sage who edited the Mishnah) taught that Moshe told the people: when I mention God's Name, you give greatness.
Sforno (an Italian Torah commentator of the 1500s) reads "call the Name" differently. He says one who calls God's Name is one who prays, and he gives two proofs. In Eichah, "I called Your Name, Hashem, from the lowest pit." In Tehillim, Shmuel is "among those who call His Name," and "they call to Hashem and He answers them." On his reading, Moshe is about to pray inside this song, and he asks the people, who know God's greatness from the Torah, to give greatness to God.
Ibn Ezra (a Spanish commentator of the 1100s) reads "give greatness" as aimed at the heavens and the earth, the two that Moshe called to listen in the first verse.
So the commentators do not agree on who is being addressed. And we did not find a source that says why this verse was picked for the spot before the Amidah. If you take Sforno's reading, though, the fit is easy to see: the one who calls God's Name is the one who prays, and that is you, about to begin. That connection is ours, not Sforno's.
Rashi on Devarim 32:3,Yoma 37a,Sforno on Devarim 32:3,Ibn Ezra on Devarim 32:3,Eichah 3:55,Tehillim 99:6The Gemara says: Rabbi Chelbo said in the name of Rav Huna that a person should always be careful with Mincha, because Eliyahu was answered only at Mincha. The Gemara goes on to say that other sages make the same point about the other two prayers. Rabbi Yochanan says it of Maariv, from a verse in Tehillim. Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak says it of Shacharit. So Mincha is not the only one with a proof.
Why start with Mincha, then? The Tur gives a practical reason. Shacharit has a clear moment, right after you get out of bed, before you are busy with your affairs. Maariv has one too, when you come home and are free. But Mincha falls in the middle of the day, while you are still tied up with your work. So, the Tur says, you have to take it to heart, clear away your business, and pray. He adds that if you do, your reward is great.
Peninei Halakhah (a modern guide to Jewish law by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed) agrees. It says Mincha is the one a person is often too busy for, and that is why a person must overcome the pressure and set aside time.
It then offers a further thought, and it says "perhaps." The word minchah also means a gift. At Shacharit we have already thanked God for what He gave us. Mincha is a gift that rises out of our own daily life and work.
So the Tur's reason is about the shape of the day: Mincha is the prayer easiest to lose.
Berakhot 6b,Tur, Orach Chaim 232,Peninei Halakhah, Prayer 24:1This is not a gentle song. In Devarim 31, God tells Moshe to write it and teach it so it will be a witness against the people. It will speak up when many troubles come, and it will not be forgotten, because their children will have it in their mouths.
Then Moshe begins. First he calls on heaven and earth to listen. Then he asks that his words fall like rain. Then comes our verse: when I call the Name of Hashem, give greatness to our God. And the next verse says: "The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are just."
Sforno takes the question head on. He explains "give greatness" this way: do not ascribe change to God because of what the song will say about Israel's future, and that He would turn into an enemy to you. In other words, when you hear the hard parts, do not decide that God has changed. (In the text of Sforno we have, the comment breaks off in mid-sentence, so this is all we can quote of it.)
At the end of the song, Moshe adds his own note to the people. Take these words to heart, he says, because they are not an empty thing for you. They are your life.
So the song opens by asking for greatness, and it closes by calling itself life. What is in between is hard.
Devarim 31:19-21,Devarim 32:1-4,Sforno on Devarim 32:3,Devarim 32:44-47Short ideas from the Chassidic masters, the Kabbalah and the Mussar teachers.
The Mei HaShiloach (a Chassidic book of Torah teachings from 1800s Poland) says Moshe is giving a warning here. When you learn or pray, stray thoughts should not pull you away. At the start of Haazinu, the song this verse comes from, "heaven and earth" are called to listen, and the book says they stand for the mind and the heart. Both should lean in. The reason it gives: your life is in God's hands, so remember at all times before whom you are standing.
שבעת שיעסוק אדם בתורה ותפלה שלא יבטלו אותו מחשבות זרות ממוח ולב שנקראים שמים וארץ
Mei HaShiloach, vol. 2, Parashat HaazinuRabbi Chaim Vital (the main student of the Arizal, the great Kabbalist of Safed in the 1500s) wrote a guide to holy living. About the afternoon prayer he says: take special care with it. His first reason comes from the Gemara: the prophet Eliyahu was answered only at Mincha. His second: it is a time of complete judgment, because the day has turned and the shadows of evening are stretching out. Now read the first words of this prayer again.
הזהר מאד בתפלת המנחה כי לא נענה אליהו זכור לטוב אלא בתפלת המנחה... ועוד כי שעת דין גמור הוא כי פנה היום ונטו צללי ערב
Rabbi Chaim Vital, Sha'arei Kedusha 1:6Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk (an early Chassidic master) reads this verse as Moshe speaking from his own level. For Moshe, every Name of God is mercy, even the Name that stands for strict justice, because even judgment is there to do him good. But the people are not at that level. So he tells them: "give greatness to our God." The book explains that greatness means kindness. They should put kindness into the Name of judgment.
כל השמות הם אצלי רחמים, אפילו הדין הוא רחמים... הבו גודל לאלקינו פירוש שצריכים שתתנו גדולה דהיינו חסד
Noam Elimelech, Parashat HaazinuThe Gemara learns from this verse that you bless God before learning Torah (Berakhot 21a). Earlier commentators asked why Moshe waited until now to say such a blessing. The Shem MiShmuel (a Chassidic Torah commentary from Poland, early 1900s) answers in his father's name: the blessing wakes up the Godliness in the Torah. Moshe did not need that, because God's Presence (the Shechina) spoke out of his throat. But here he was handing the Torah's power over to Israel. For them, the blessing is needed.
ברכת התורה ענינה לעורר האלקות שבתורה... משה שכינה מדברת מתוך גרונו, ולא הי' צריך לעורר
Shem MiShmuel, Parashat HaazinuThe practical laws. For a final ruling, ask your rav.
No. The sources call it allowed and customary, not required. The Tur (a law code from the 1300s by Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher, the basis of the Shulchan Aruch, the main code of Jewish law) allows verses like this one at Musaf and Mincha: "if he wants to say verses, he may." The Shulchan Aruch HaRav (by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of Chabad) agrees. Peninei Halakhah (a modern law guide) calls it the Ashkenazi custom. The Nusach Sefard siddur has it too.
Tur, Orach Chaim 111; Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Orach Chaim 111:1; Peninei Halakhah, Prayer 17:2, note 1At Shacharit, the blessing after the Shema ends with Ga'al Yisrael ("who redeemed Israel"), and the Amidah must follow it right away, so a verse there would interrupt. At Mincha and Musaf there is no Shema just before, so nothing is interrupted. The Beit Yosef (Rabbi Yosef Karo, who also wrote the Shulchan Aruch) says the permission does not cover Maariv, because at Maariv too the redemption blessing should lead into the Amidah. The Mishnah Berurah (the classic commentary on the Shulchan Aruch) says to be careful at Maariv as well.
Shulchan Aruch and Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Orach Chaim 111:1; Beit Yosef, Orach Chaim 111; Mishnah Berurah 111:4No. Peninei Halakhah rules that if you forgot and began "Adonai sefatai tiftach," you do not go back to say Ki Shem, because that verse already starts the Amidah. The Shulchan Aruch HaRav gives the reason: the verse is part of the prayer itself, so anything after it would interrupt the prayer. The Aruch HaShulchan (a law code from around 1900) puts it briefly: before it, if you wish, "and not after."
Peninei Halakhah, Prayer 17:2, note 1; Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Orach Chaim 111:1; Aruch HaShulchan, Orach Chaim 111:2No. The Shulchan Aruch says that when the leader begins the Amidah out loud, he goes back and says "Adonai sefatai." The Mishnah Berurah adds that this verse belongs to the prayer, so it is repeated, and it is good to say it quietly. The other verses need not be repeated, though he may. The Magen Avraham (a 1600s commentary) explains: he already said them quietly. The Kaf HaChaim (a Sephardic commentary, early 1900s) records that in Jerusalem the leader says "Adonai sefatai" aloud.
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 111:2; Mishnah Berurah 111:10; Magen Avraham 111:4; Kaf HaChaim, Orach Chaim 111:10Yes. The Shulchan Aruch rules that if you hear a fellow Jew say a blessing, even part of it, and even one you are not obligated in, you must answer Amen. (It lists a few exceptions, such as a blessing said by a small child.) The Mishnah Berurah ties that duty to this verse. In the Gemara (Yoma 37a), Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi reads it as Moshe telling the people: when I mention God's name, you give greatness. The Mishnah Berurah says that giving greatness means answering Amen.
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 215:2; Mishnah Berurah 215:8; Yoma 37aמנין לעומדים בבית הכנסת ואומרים ברכו את ה' המבורך שעונים אחרים ברוך ה' המבורך לעולם ועד שנאמר כי שם ה' אקרא הבו גדל לאלהינו... ומנין לאומרים יהא שמו הגדול מבורך שעונים אחריהם לעולם ולעולמי עולמים שנאמר הבו גדל לאלהינו
How do we know that when people in the synagogue say "Bless Hashem, the Blessed One," others answer "Blessed is Hashem, the Blessed One, forever and ever"? Because it says: "When I call the Name of Hashem, give greatness to our God." ... And how do we know that when people say "May His great Name be blessed," others answer them "forever and for all eternities"? Because it says: "give greatness to our God."
מצינו שלא הזכיר משה שמו של הקדוש ברוך הוא אלא לאחר עשרים ואחד דבר ממי למד ממלאכי השרת שאין מלאכי השרת מזכירים את השם אלא לאחר שלש קדושות
We find that Moshe did not mention the Name of the Holy One until after twenty-one things. From whom did he learn this? From the angels, who mention the Name only after three "holy"s.
כי שם ה׳ אקרא הבו גודל לאלהינו אמר להם משה לישראל בשעה שאני מזכיר שמו של הקדוש ברוך הוא אתם הבו גודל
"When I call the Name of Hashem, give greatness to our God." Moshe said to Israel: when I mention the Name of the Holy One, you give greatness.
הרי כי משמש בלשון כאשר... כשאקרא ואזכיר שם ה', אתם הבו גדל לאלהינו וברכו שמו
Here "ki" is used in the sense of "when"... When I call out and mention the Name of Hashem, you give greatness to our God and bless His Name.
הנה קורא שם ה' הוא המתפלל כאמרו קראתי שמך ה' מבור תחתיות
One who calls the Name of Hashem is one who prays, as it says: "I called Your Name, Hashem, from the lowest pit."
ויהי בעלות המנחה ויגש אליהו הנביא ויאמר
At the time of the afternoon offering, Eliyahu the prophet came forward and said...
לעולם יהא אדם זהיר בתפלת המנחה שהרי אליהו לא נענה אלא בתפלת המנחה
A person should always be careful with the Mincha prayer, because Eliyahu was answered only in the Mincha prayer.
תפלת השחר זמנה ידוע בבקר בקומו ממטתו יתפלל מיד קודם שיהא טרוד בעסקיו... אבל של מנחה שהיא באמצע היום בעוד שהוא טרוד בעסקיו צריך לשום אותה אל לבו ולפנות מכל עסקיו ולהתפלל אותה
The morning prayer has a known time: when he gets up, he prays right away, before he is busy with his affairs... But Mincha is in the middle of the day, while he is busy with his affairs. He has to take it to heart, clear away all his business, and pray it.
ויש נוהגין לומר קודם פסוקים כגון שומע תפלה עדיך כל בשר יבואו כי שם ה' אקרא הבו גודל לאלהינו... אבל במוסף ומנחה אם ירצה לומר פסוקים יאמר
Some are accustomed to say verses beforehand, such as "You who hear prayer, to You all flesh will come," and "When I call the Name of Hashem, give greatness to our God." ... But at Musaf and Mincha, if he wants to say verses, he may.
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