Siddur › Chanukah lights › After lighting
TT Siddur · Chanukah lightsאַשְׁרֵי אִישׁ
An alphabet psalm about a person who fears God. Printed with the Chanukah candles.
Draft. This siddur is waiting for a rav's review. For a halachic question, ask your rav.
No title names an author. The Gemara (the main body of the Talmud) says David wrote Tehillim drawing on ten elders, and Avraham is one of them. It does not link this psalm to any of them. Midrash Tehillim (a collection of rabbinic teachings on Tehillim) reads this psalm as being about Avraham.
This siddur prints it after Maoz Tzur, Mizmor Shir and Tehillim 111. The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) names only HaNerot Halalu after lighting. Kaf HaChaim (a Sephardic law commentary, early 1900s) adds Mizmor Shir and Lamnatzeach. We found no early source for 111 and 112 here.
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 676:4; Kaf HaChaim, Orach Chaim 676:30; Bava Batra 14b-15a; Midrash Tehillim 112:1Hebrew, then English. Open "What it means" under any line for the explanation.
In Siddur Sefard, this comes right after Tehillim 111 in the Chanukah candle-lighting service:
הַלְלוּיָהּ אַשְׁרֵי אִישׁ יָרֵא אֶת יְיָ
Praise God Happy is the man who fears Hashem
The Gemara asks: "happy is the man," and not the woman? Rav Amram, quoting Rav (a leading Babylonian sage): happy is one who repents while still a "man." Rashi (the classic commentator): while young and strong, before old age. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi (a sage in the Land of Israel): happy is one who masters his urge to do wrong "like a man." Rashi: "strong."
Avodah Zarah 19a, with Rashiבְּמִצְוֹתָיו חָפֵץ מְאֹד.
in His commandments he delights greatly
who delights greatly in His commandments.
Rabbi Elazar (a sage of the Gemara) says "in His commandments" means the commandments themselves, and not the reward for doing them. The Gemara links this to the Mishnah: do not be like servants who serve their master in order to get a prize.
Avodah Zarah 19aגִּבּוֹר בָּאָרֶץ יִהְיֶה זַרְעוֹ דּוֹר יְשָׁרִים יְבֹרָךְ.
Mighty in the land his children will be a generation of upright people will be blessed
His children will be mighty in the land. A generation of upright people will be blessed.
Ibn Ezra (a Spanish commentator of the 1100s) says a small word is missing: "like." So the verse means his children will be well known in their time, like a hero in his own generation.
Ibn Ezra on Tehillim 112:2הוֹן וָעֹשֶׁר בְּבֵיתוֹ וְצִדְקָתוֹ עֹמֶדֶת לָעַד.
Wealth and riches are in his house and his righteousness stands forever
Ibn Ezra says the wealth in his house was not made by force or robbery. It came through what is right. That is why the verse goes straight on to "and his righteousness."
Ibn Ezra on Tehillim 112:3זָרַח בַּחֹשֶׁךְ אוֹר לַיְשָׁרִים חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם וְצַדִּיק.
Shines in the darkness a light for the upright gracious, compassionate and righteous
A light shines in the darkness for the upright: gracious, compassionate and righteous.
Who is gracious, compassionate and righteous? Radak (Rabbi David Kimchi of southern France, who died around 1235) gives two readings: God, or the upright person who learned these ways from his Maker. Rashi also brings a midrash: God Himself, so to speak, becomes their light.
Radak and Rashi on Tehillim 112:4טוֹב אִישׁ חוֹנֵן וּמַלְוֶה יְכַלְכֵּל דְּבָרָיו בְּמִשְׁפָּט.
Good is the man who gives graciously and lends who manages his affairs with fairness
Good is the man who gives graciously and lends, who manages his affairs fairly.
Radak says he gives to the poor, and lends to poor people who are too modest to take a gift. Ibn Ezra says he is called chonen (one who gives graciously) because he follows the way of God, who is chanun (gracious).
Radak and Ibn Ezra on Tehillim 112:5כִּי לְעוֹלָם לֹא יִמּוֹט לְזֵכֶר עוֹלָם יִהְיֶה צַדִּיק.
For he will never be shaken the righteous will be remembered forever
Radak says the righteous person is remembered for good even after he dies. Ibn Ezra says his memory will stand the way Mishlei (Proverbs) 10:25 says: "the righteous is the foundation of the world."
Radak and Ibn Ezra on Tehillim 112:6; Mishlei 10:25מִשְּׁמוּעָה רָעָה לֹא יִירָא נָכוֹן לִבּוֹ בָּטֻחַ בַּייָ.
He is not afraid of bad news his heart is firm trusting in Hashem
The Gemara says this verse is about Hillel the Elder (a leading sage of about 2,000 years ago). He heard a scream in the city and said, "I am sure it is not from my house." Rava (a Babylonian sage) adds that the verse works from either end: he does not fear bad news because his heart trusts in Hashem, and a heart that trusts in Hashem does not fear bad news.
Berakhot 60aסָמוּךְ לִבּוֹ לֹא יִירָא עַד אֲשֶׁר יִרְאֶה בְצָרָיו.
His heart is supported he is not afraid until he sees his enemies fall
His heart is supported. He stays unafraid until he sees his enemies fall.
Ibn Ezra separates this verse from the last one. The "bad news" there is trouble for his whole people or city. Here it is trouble that comes on him alone, from his enemies.
Ibn Ezra on Tehillim 112:7-8פִּזַּר נָתַן לָאֶבְיוֹנִים צִדְקָתוֹ עֹמֶדֶת לָעַד קַרְנוֹ תָּרוּם בְּכָבוֹד.
He scattered, he gave to the needy his righteousness stands forever his horn will be raised with honor
He gave freely to the needy. His righteousness stands forever. His strength will be lifted high with honor.
Radak says "scattered" means he gives to this poor person and that one, not that he gives everything away and ends up needing help himself.
Radak on Tehillim 112:9רָשָׁע יִרְאֶה וְכָעָס שִׁנָּיו יַחֲרֹק וְנָמָס תַּאֲוַת רְשָׁעִים תֹּאבֵד.
A wicked person sees and is angry he grinds his teeth and melts away the desire of the wicked will be lost
A wicked person sees it and is angry. He grinds his teeth and melts away. The desire of the wicked will be lost.
Ibn Ezra says the wicked person sees the righteous person's wealth and gets angry out of jealousy. Radak adds that he grinds his teeth because, if he had the power, he would destroy him.
Ibn Ezra and Radak on Tehillim 112:10Shemot Rabbah (a collection of rabbinic teachings on Shemot) describes how the court added a leap month to the year. Ten scholars locked the doors and argued all night. At midnight they asked the head of the court to join their decision, and he agreed. Then a light came out of the study hall and went before them, and they knew God agreed. The proof it gives is this verse: a light shines in the darkness for the upright.
Shemot Rabbah 15:20, on Tehillim 112:4Midrash Tehillim says the first line is about Avraham. He did not do mitzvot like forced labor, it says, but with joy. When God said to leave his land, he went at once. When God said to circumcise himself, he did it that same day. When God said to take his son, he got up early. And he kept the Torah from alef to tav, so this psalm about him and the poem about his wife, Eshet Chayil (Mishlei 31), which praises "a woman who fears Hashem," both run through the alphabet.
Midrash Tehillim 112:1Bereishit Rabbah (an early collection of rabbinic teachings on Bereishit) reads verses 7 and 8 as Avraham hearing that his nephew Lot was taken captive. "Not afraid of bad news" is Avraham. "He will not be afraid" is God telling him "Do not be afraid, Avram." "Until he sees his enemies" is the verse where he "divided his men against them at night." The Midrash adds no comment of its own. It just matches the end of verse 8 to the night he went after the captors.
Bereishit Rabbah 43:1Verse 5 praises a person who gives and lends. The Gemara says lending is greater than giving charity. Rashi (the classic commentator, France, died 1105) says why: a poor person is not ashamed to borrow. Greater than both, the Gemara says, is putting money into a business with him.
Shabbat 63a with RashiVerse 9 says he scattered and gave to the needy. Radak (Rabbi David Kimchi of southern France, who died around 1235) says that does not mean giving until you are poor yourself. He quotes the rule the sages set in the town of Usha: do not give away more than a fifth of your money, in case you end up needing other people. The Gemara says that limit is for a person who is alive. Mar Ukva, a sage of Babylonia, gave away half of his money on his deathbed.
Radak on Tehillim 112:9; Ketubot 50a and 67bThis siddur also prints Tehillim 111 and 112 together on Shabbat afternoon. They come after the Torah is read and lifted, just before it is put back. So the pair is not only for Chanukah. Tehillim 111 comes first, then 112.
Siddur Sefard, Shabbat MinchaBoth. Ibn Ezra (Rabbi Avraham ibn Ezra, Spain, 1100s) says the two halves of the line cover the two kinds of commandments. Fear is about the "do not" commandments: he stays away from wrong because of God, not because of what a king or other people would think. Delight is about the "do" commandments, and "greatly" means he puts all his strength into them.
Radak (Rabbi David Kimchi of southern France, who died around 1235) says the delight is real. He does the commandments because his heart wants to, not to look impressive in front of people, but out of love for the God who gave them.
The Gemara goes one step further. Rabbi Elazar (a sage of the Gemara) says the line means he delights in the commandments, and not in the reward for the commandments. The Gemara connects this to a line in the Mishnah (the early rabbinic law book). In Pirkei Avot (a Mishnah book of wise sayings), Antigonus of Sokho, an early sage from Second Temple times, says: do not be like servants who serve their master to get a prize. Be like servants who serve with no prize in mind.
So the line is not fear against delight. Fear here means staying away from what is wrong because of God. Delight means wanting to do what is right, even with no prize waiting.
Ibn Ezra and Radak on Tehillim 112:1,Avodah Zarah 19a,Pirkei Avot 1:3Tehillim 111, which this siddur prints right before this psalm, says "Hashem is gracious and compassionate." Verse 4 here uses the same two words and adds "righteous," but now it sits in a verse about the upright. Who are the words describing?
One reading says God. Ibn Ezra says that when troubles come on the world, a light shines for the upright, and "that is Hashem, who is gracious and compassionate and righteous." Rashi gives a reading from the Midrash: God Himself, so to speak, becomes their light, like "Hashem is my light and my salvation" (Tehillim 27:1).
Radak gives both readings. His main one is God: when there is darkness in the world, meaning trouble, light shines for the upright, and the light is relief. He adds that the verse can also be read the other way. Then "gracious and compassionate" describes the upright person, who learned from the way his Creator acts.
The two readings sit close together. Radak himself says the person learned this from the Creator. The Gemara has the same idea in another place, not about this verse. The Az Yashir prayer tells how Abba Shaul (a sage of the Mishnah) reads "this is my God and I will make Him beautiful" as "be like Him." Just as He is gracious and compassionate, you be gracious and compassionate. The same two words describe God and set the standard for a person.
One more detail. The light shines in the darkness. The verse does not say the darkness is gone. Ibn Ezra and Radak both treat the darkness as real trouble. Ibn Ezra calls the light rescue. Radak calls it relief. This siddur prints the psalm for the menorah, but the commentators above do not mention Chanukah. The link to Chanukah comes later, for example in the Sefat Emet (a Chassidic leader who died in 1905).
Tehillim 111:4 and 112:4,Ibn Ezra, Rashi and Radak on Tehillim 112:4,Shabbat 133b,Sefat Emet, Chanukah, 5661 (1900)Look at what verse 7 says. It does not say bad news never comes. It says that when he hears it, he is not afraid. The verse is about what happens inside him.
Radak explains why. He does not lean on his money, his army, or his many friends and relatives. He leans on God alone. Malbim (Rabbi Meir Leibush Weiser, a commentator of the 1800s) adds that some people fear bad news because they know they wronged others and expect payback. This person's heart is firm.
The Gemara tells of Hillel the Elder (a leading sage of about 2,000 years ago). He was walking, heard screaming in the city, and said, "I am certain it is not coming from my house." The Gemara says this verse is about him. It sets the story right after a line of the Mishnah that says: if you hear a scream and pray "may it not be my family," your prayer is wasted, because it has already happened. Hillel's line is not a prayer. It is a statement of trust.
The Gemara does leave room for one kind of fear. Rabbi Yishmael son of Rabbi Yosei (a sage at the end of the Mishnah period) told a student who looked afraid that he must be a sinner. The student answered with a verse: "Happy is the person who is always afraid." Rabbi Yishmael replied that this verse is about words of Torah. Rashi adds that the fear there is of forgetting what you learned, so you keep reviewing it.
These sources do not say how to get a firm heart. They describe what one looks like.
Tehillim 112:7-8,Radak and Malbim on Tehillim 112:7,Berakhot 60a, with Rashi,Mishnah Berakhot 9:3Short ideas from the Chassidic masters, the Kabbalah and the Mussar teachers.
The Sefat Emet (Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, who led the Ger Chassidim and died in 1905) passes on a teaching from an old book, the Rokeach: the 36 candles of Chanukah match the 36 hours that the first light of Creation shone before it was hidden. So each Chanukah candle gives off that hidden light, and nothing can block it. He says it was set aside for the righteous, and quotes this verse. The people who kept serving God under Greek rule were in the dark, and that light shone for them. Now read "in the darkness" again.
נר חנוכה הוא מאור הגנוז והוא מאיר בתוך החושך הגדול
Sefat Emet, Chanukah, 5661 (1900)Most people read the end of the first verse as: happy is the one who wants God's mitzvot a great deal. The Mei HaShiloach (teachings of Rabbi Mordechai Yosef of Izhbitz, a Chassidic master who died in 1854) reads the same words the other way around. It is God who wants, a great deal, the mitzvot and good deeds of the person who fears Him. Another Chassidic teacher, Rabbi Shimon of Yaroslav, says the same. Now read the first verse again.
פי' שהש"י חפץ מאוד במצות ומעשים טובים של ירא ה׳
Mei HaShiloach, Volume I, Tehillim 112:1; Imrei Shefer, on Tehillim 112Beit Hillel (the school of the sage Hillel) say to add a candle each night. Kedushat Levi (Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, who died in 1809) explains with a king. People far from their king may give up on seeing him, so his arrival is their joy. Others always expected him, so their joy is what he does for them. Hillel was the second kind: the Gemara applies this psalm's "not afraid of bad news" to him. Kedushat Levi says his joy was in the mitzvah itself, and so it grows each night.
והיה עיקר השמחה בגוף המצות... ובכל יום נתוסף השמחה לכן סבירא להו מוסיף והולך
Kedushat Levi, Chanukah, Kedusha Revi'it 5; Shabbat 21b; Berakhot 60aThe Zohar (the central book of Kabbalah) says that whoever takes hold of the hand of a person in the wrong, and works with him to leave a bad path, rises three levels that no one else does. He weakens evil, he raises God's honor, and he keeps the whole world standing. The Zohar then applies this psalm to him: his children mighty, wealth in his house, and "a light shines in the darkness." Now read those lines again.
כל מאן דאחיד בידא דחייבא ואשתדל ביה למשבק ארחא בישא
Zohar, Parashat TerumahThe psalm praises the one who gives to the poor. Maharal (Rabbi Yehudah Loew of Prague, who died in 1609) warns the giver not to think he is doing the poor person a favor. He quotes a midrash: the poor person does more for the homeowner than the homeowner does for him. His picture is a spring. When someone opens it and lets the water run out, fresh water flows in from the source. In the same way, the giver receives from God because he gave. Now read "he gave to the needy" again.
יותר ממה שבעל הבית עושה עם העני העני עושה עם בעל הבית
Maharal, Netivot Olam, Netiv HaTzedakah, chapter 5The practical laws. For a final ruling, ask your rav.
The sources we checked do not require it. After lighting, the Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) names only HaNerot Halalu. The Kaf HaChaim (a Sephardic law commentary from the early 1900s) adds two psalms, Mizmor Shir (Tehillim 30) and Lamnatzeach (Tehillim 67), and does not name this one. Siddur Sefard prints it, right after Tehillim 111. The Tehillim 111 page has the sources for the order and for what other siddurim do.
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 676:4; Kaf HaChaim, Orach Chaim 676:30; Siddur Sefard, ChanukahYes. The Shulchan Aruch says even a poor person who lives off charity must ask for help or sell his clothes to buy oil. The Rambam (Maimonides, 1100s) rules the same. The Mishnah Berurah (a central commentary on daily Jewish law, written around 1900) sets a limit: that extreme effort is required only for one light each night for you and your household. More lights than that are the extra, beautiful way to do it, not the minimum.
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 671:1; Rambam, Laws of Megillah and Chanukah 4:12; Mishnah Berurah 671:3-4The Shulchan Aruch: if you can afford it, as much as the poor need. If not, up to a fifth of your wealth is the best way to do the mitzvah, a tenth is the middle level, and less is stingy. After the first year, the share is of what you earned that year. The Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles, who adds Ashkenazi practice to the Shulchan Aruch) says not to give more than a fifth while alive, so you will not need charity. At death you may give all you want.
Shulchan Aruch and Rema, Yoreh Deah 249:1The Rema says no. Money you have set aside as your tenth for charity should not be used for a mitzvah item, for example candles for the synagogue. It should go to the poor. He does not mention Chanukah candles, so this is only what he says about mitzvah items in general. The Shach (a classic commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, from the 1600s) brings another view: if you could not afford a mitzvah otherwise and so would not do it, such as buying books to learn from and lend out, you may use that money.
Rema, Yoreh Deah 249:1; Shach, Yoreh Deah 249:3Yes. The Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat, its section on money law) says there is a commandment to lend to the Jewish poor, and that it is greater than giving charity. It adds that even a rich person who needs a loan should be lent to for a time, and encouraged with words and good advice.
Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 97:1The Shulchan Aruch rules that on bad news you say the blessing Baruch Atah Hashem ... Dayan HaEmet, "the true Judge." The Mishnah Berurah adds that this is only when a trustworthy person tells you what he saw himself, not a rumor, and that several pieces of news at once need one blessing. On a related case, it also says people today seem to say these blessings less.
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 222:2; Mishnah Berurah 222:1-2זָרַח בַּחֹשֶׁךְ אוֹר לַיְשָׁרִים חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם וְצַדִּיק
A light shines in the darkness for the upright. Gracious, compassionate and righteous.
זרח בחשך אור. כמו הזריח, ומדרשו הוא עצמו כביכול נעשה להם אור כמו ה׳ אורי וישעי
"Zarach" works like "hizriach," to make shine. The Midrash reading is that God Himself, so to speak, becomes a light for them, like "Hashem is my light and my salvation."
וזרח פעל יוצא ואפשר שהוא פעל עומד ויהיה פירוש חנון ורחום על האדם הישר שלמד ממדת בוראו
The verb "zarach" can be read as acting on something else, or as standing alone. Read the second way, "gracious and compassionate" describes the upright person, who learned from his Creator's ways.
אבא שאול אומר ואנוהו הוי דומה לו מה הוא חנון ורחום אף אתה היה חנון ורחום
Abba Shaul says: "ve'anveihu" means be like Him. Just as He is gracious and compassionate, you be gracious and compassionate.
באותה שעה יצא אור מבית המדרש ובא לפניהם והיו יודעים שנתרצה להם האלהים
At that moment a light came out of the study hall and went before them, and they knew that God had agreed with them.
במצותיו חפץ מאד אמר רבי אלעזר במצותיו ולא בשכר מצותיו
"Who delights greatly in His commandments." Rabbi Elazar said: in His commandments, and not in the reward for His commandments.
מעשה בהלל הזקן שהיה בא בדרך ושמע קול צוחה בעיר אמר מובטח אני שאין זה בתוך ביתי ועליו הכתוב אומר משמועה רעה לא יירא נכון לבו בטח בה׳
There was a story about Hillel the Elder, who was walking and heard screaming in the city. He said: I am certain this is not coming from my house. About him the verse says: "He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in Hashem."
גדול המלוה יותר מן העושה צדקה ומטיל בכיס יותר מכולן
One who lends is greater than one who gives charity. And one who puts money into a business with the poor person is greater than all of them.
ולמה אשריו שלא עשה את המצוות באנגריא אלא בשמחה במצותיו חפץ מאד
Why is he happy? Because he did not do the commandments as forced labor but with joy. "He delights greatly in His commandments."
משמועה רעה לא יירא זה אברהם... עד אשר יראה בצריו ויחלק עליהם לילה
"He is not afraid of bad news" is Avraham... "Until he sees his enemies" is "he divided against them at night."
Torah Tech is a beit midrash in Tel Aviv built for personal and professional growth: Torah learning at the center of every day, and internships at Israeli startups. It is the year a future Jewish leader realizes who he can become, and chooses to become it.