עַל נַהֲרוֹת בָּבֶל שָׁם יָשַׁבְנוּ גַּם בָּכִינוּ בְּזָכְרֵנוּ אֶת צִיּוֹן. עַל עֲרָבִים בְּתוֹכָהּ תָּלִינוּ כִּנֹּרוֹתֵינוּ. כִּי שָׁם שְׁאֵלוּנוּ שׁוֹבֵינוּ דִּבְרֵי שִׁיר וְתוֹלָלֵינוּ שִׂמְחָה שִׁירוּ לָנוּ מִשִּׁיר צִיּוֹן. אֵיךְ נָשִׁיר אֶת שִׁיר ה׳ עַל אַדְמַת נֵכָר. אִם אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלִָם תִּשְׁכַּח יְמִינִי. תִּדְבַּק לְשׁוֹנִי לְחִכִּי אִם לֹא אֶזְכְּרֵכִי אִם לֹא אַעֲלֶה אֶת יְרוּשָׁלִַם עַל רֹאשׁ שִׂמְחָתִי. זְכֹר ה׳ לִבְנֵי אֱדוֹם אֵת יוֹם יְרוּשָׁלִָם הָאֹמְרִים עָרוּ עָרוּ עַד הַיְסוֹד בָּהּ. בַּת בָּבֶל הַשְּׁדוּדָה אַשְׁרֵי שֶׁיְשַׁלֶּם לָךְ אֶת גְּמוּלֵךְ שֶׁגָּמַלְתְּ לָנוּ. אַשְׁרֵי שֶׁיֹּאחֵז וְנִפֵּץ אֶת עֹלָלַיִךְ אֶל הַסָּלַע.
On days when Tachanun is said, say:
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, sat and wept, as we thought of Zion. There on the poplars we hung up our lyres, for our captors asked us there for songs, our tormentors, for amusement, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.” How can we sing a song of the Eternal on alien soil? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither; let my tongue stick to my palate if I cease to think of you, if I do not keep Jerusalem in memory even at my happiest hour. Remember, O Eternal, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem’s fall; how they cried, “Strip her, strip her to her very foundations!” Fair Babylon, you predator, a blessing on the one who repays you in kind what you have inflicted on us; a blessing on the one who seizes your babies and dashes them against the rocks!
A Song of Ascents. When God brings about the return to Zion we will have been like dreamers. Then will our mouths be filled with laughter, and our tongue with joyous song. Then will they say among the nations: ‘God has done great things for them.’ God had done great things for us; we will [then] rejoice. God! bring back our exiles like springs in the desert. Those who sow in tears will reap with joyous song. [Though] they walk along weeping, carrying the bag of seed, they will return with joyous song carrying sheaves.
My mouth shall utter the praise of the Eternal, and all creatures shall bless God's holy name forever and ever.
But we will bless the Eternal now and forever. Hallelujah.
Praise the Eternal, for God is good,
Whose steadfast love is eternal.
Who can tell the mighty acts of the Eternal,
proclaim all God's praises?
by Rabbi Ari Enkin
It is customary recite a preliminary chapter of Tehillim before reciting the birkat hamazon after meals. On weekdays, the general custom is to recite chapter 137, "al naharot bavel", which is intended to remind us of the destruction of Jerusalem and the current exile. The Zohar states that one who derives pleasure from bread and enjoys the taste of foods is required to remember the Holy Land and the Beit Hamikdash after every meal. On Shabbat, and other festive days when such sobering thoughts are not appropriate, chapter 126, "shir hama'alot", is recited instead which speaks about the future redemption...
It is recorded that there were great rabbis who had the practice to recite "shir hama'alot" before reciting birkat hamazon every single day of the year. The only exception to this was on Erev Tisha B'av, when they too would recite the "al naharot bavel" in order to better prepare themselves emotionally for the onset of Tisha B'av. It seems that that this was also the custom of the Baal Shem Tov, the Arizal, and other kabbalists. The reason for the custom to always substitute "al naharot bavel" with "shir hama'alot" was in order to be "b'simcha", to be happy whenever possible, and reciting "al naharot bavel" cant help but make one sad. Rabbi Shlomo Aviner records that Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah Kook would not recite "al naharot bavel" but rather he would recite "shir hama'alot" at each meal, as a result of our return to Eretz Yisrael...
Reciting a chapter of Tehillim [Psalms] before the birkat hamazon also allows one to fulfill the requirement that every meal include words of Torah...
Based on the teachings of the Arizal, some individuals also have the custom of reciting additional Scriptural verses prior to reciting the birkat hamazon, most notably: "Tehillat Hashem", "Hodu L'hashem", and "mi yemalel", among others. The origin for reciting these verses is unclear... It is also suggested that these supplementary verses were chosen because they parallel the themes of the blessings of the birkat hamazon...
בזוהר פרשת תרומה (ח"ב קנז, ב) ... ובגין ההוא עציבא דאיהו קא אתעציב על פתוריה בההוא חדוה ומשתי' דתמן, קב"ה חשיב עליה כאלו בנה ביתיה ובנה כל אינון חרבי דבי מקדשא, זכאה חולקיה, עד כאן. על כן נוהגין לומר מזמור (תהילים קל״ז:א׳) על נהרות בבל כו' קודם ברכת המזון, ובפרט כי השלחן במקום המזבח, אבל בעונותינו הרבים לא יש המזבח בעצמו, יזכור אוי לבנים שגלו מעל שלחן אביהם (ברכות ג, א), וגלות שלחן מכח לנח"ש שגרמה, כמו שאיתא בזוהר איכ"ה ואיבה אשית וגו' (בראשית ג, טו), ראשי תיבות איכ"ה ישב"ה בד"ד העי"ר (איכה א, א). ובשבת וביו"ט אומרים מזמור (תהילים קכ״ו:א׳) בשוב ה׳ את שיבת ציון וגו':
In the Zohar on Parashat Terumah... Therefore it is customary to recite the Psalm 'By the waters of Babylon' (Psalms 137) before Grace after Meals, particularly since the table corresponds to the (Temple) altar, while, through our many sins, the altar itself is no longer. One should call to mind [the teaching], 'Woe to the children who have been banished from their Father's table' (Talmud Berachot 3a). The banishment from the Table (shulchan, sh.l.h.n) was caused by the power of the Snake (lenachash, l.n.h.sh), as is taught in the Zohar [about the word] Eichah ('.y.kh.h, 'Alas;' the name of the Book of Lamentations): 'I shall set enmity' (Eivah, '.y.b.h) (Genesis 3:15), an anagram for א׳יכה י׳שבה ב׳דד ה׳עיר 'Alas, the city sits solitary' ('.y.b.h) (Lamentations 1:1). On Shabbat and Festivals one recites the Psalm 'When the Name restores the fortunes of Zion' (Psalms 126).
by Rabbi Daniel Landes
We should continue to study Psalm 137 for its presentations of the nightmare scenario that we experienced and re-experienced in our long and often sad history. Nonetheless, it and its concluding verse is not necessary halakhically and is, in fact, pedagogically dangerous at this volatile stage of life for the Jewish people. It will remain for students of TaNach to learn and for Psalm readers to Zugh (recite). We just need the Bentcher Industry to drop it from its side position to Shir HaMaalot for Shabbat.
by Debra Band
As my collaborator and translator for this project, Raymond P. Scheindlin, suggested in his literary commentary, “the expression “Those who sow in tears will reap in joy” has become proverbial. After enunciating it, the psalmist concretizes it by imagining an actual person weeping as he sows, singing as he brings the harvest home, a touching image for Israel in exile and restoration.” Like so much of Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, this psalm draws upon the agrarian background of early Israeli society; its verses employ agricultural metaphors — the value of water in the arid land, and seeding, often a matter of risky guesswork — to fuse Israel’s love of its sacred land of Zion to our faith in our providential God. It is this combined faith that the rabbis early applied to introduce the Grace after Meals.
The Hebrew and English illuminations contrast anxious and painful — yet still fertile — exile with joyful and fruitful redemption, using imagery expressing the agricultural metaphors within the psalm, in biblical era and modern views. Both paintings present the same locale, a spot on the modern-day Kibbutz Yotvata.
In the Hebrew illumination, the woman is not the glorious Sabbath bride or queen, but following Lamentations and Jeremiah, she is Jerusalem, mourning in the wake of exile, longing for restoration to her land. She drags the seed-bag behind her through the sunset landscape, yet in the midst of the barren landscape of stones and broken trees, the fallen seeds sprout with promises of rebirth that she does not see. The desert’s vernal springs tumble down a hillside, feeding the dry land with water, feeding the human realm with wisdom.
Brilliant day has arrived for the English illumination, a sparkling sky and clouds promising life-giving rain in the landscape of modern Israel; as the vernal springs again flow from the same hillside, young Israelis drive tractors through burgeoning fields and date orchards, cultivating the bounty afforded by hard work and divine providence. And again today, we pray for the regrowth of the land.
עַל הַנִּסִּים וְעַל הַפֻּרְקָן וְעַל הַגְּבוּרוֹת וְעַל הַתְּשׁוּעוֹת וְעַל הַמִּלְחָמוֹת שֶׁעָשִׂיתָ לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם בַּזְּמַן הַזֶּה.
On Chanukah and Purim add:
We thank You also for the miracles, for the redemption, for the mighty deeds and saving acts, and for the wars which You performed for our ancestors in days of old, at this season.
On Chanukah—In the days of the Hasmonean, Mattathias son of Johanan, the High Priest, and his sons, when the iniquitous power of Greece rose up against Your people Israel to make them forgetful of thy Law, and to force them to transgress the statutes of thy will, then didst thou in thine abundant mercy rise up for them in the time of their trouble; thou didst plead their cause, thou didst judge their suit, thou didst avenge their wrong; thou deliveredst the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the arrogant into the hands of them that occupied themselves with thy Law: for thyself thou didst make a great and holy name in thy world, and for thy people Israel thou didst work a great deliverance and redemption as at this day. And thereupon thy children came into the oracle of thy house, cleansed thy temple, purified thy sanctuary, kindled lights in thy holy courts, and appointed these eight days of Chanukah in order to give thanks and praises unto thy great name. For all these things thy name, O our King, shall be continually blessed and exalted for ever and ever.
A dilemma was raised before the Sages: What is the ruling to mention Chanukah in Grace after Meals? Since it is merely an obligation by rabbinic law, do we not mention it? Or, perhaps due to publicity of the miracle, we mention it. Rava said that Rav Seḥora said that Rav Huna said: One does not mention it. And if one comes to mention it, one mentions it in the blessing of thanksgiving. Rav Huna bar Yehuda happened by Rava’s house, he thought to mention Chanukah in the blessing: Who builds Jerusalem. Rav Sheshet said to them just as in the prayer. Just as in the prayer one mentions Chanukah in thanksgiving, so too, in Grace after Meals in thanksgiving.
by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat
Even as we thank God for doing miracles for our ancestors, we remember that we too played a role in bringing about those miracles. We are partners with God in making space for the miraculous. We must not expect God to perform miracles to redeem us while we sit back and wait.
Like our spiritual ancestors, we’re called to work toward redemption — our own, and that of all creation — in hope and trust that what we do here “below” will arouse the flow from “on high.”
When we speak truth to power, may we, like Esther, be blessed with a turning of the political tide. When we cultivate faith that we will be enough to bring light to darkness, may we, like the Hasmoneans, be blessed with the miracle of our own sufficiency, and the miracle of the light of justice banishing the darkness of bigotry, destruction, and hate.
רְצֵה וְהַחֲלִיצֵנוּ יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ בְּמִצְוֹתֶיךָ וּבְמִצְוַת יוֹם הַשְׁבִיעִי הַשַׁבָּת הַגָּדוֹל וְהַקָדוֹשׁ הַזֶּה. כִּי יוֹם זֶה גָּדוֹל וְקָדוֹשׁ הוּא לְפָנֶיךָ לִשְׁבָּת בּוֹ וְלָנוּחַ בּוֹ בְּאַהֲבָה כְּמִצְוַת רְצוֹנֶךָ. וּבִרְצוֹנְךָ הָנִיחַ לָנוּ יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ שֶׁלֹּא תְהֵא צָרָה וְיָגוֹן וַאֲנָחָה בְּיוֹם מְנוּחָתֵנוּ. וְהַרְאֵנוּ יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ בְּנֶחָמַת צִיוֹן עִירֶךָ וּבְבִנְיַן יְרוּשָׁלַיִם עִיר קָדְשֶׁךָ כִּי אַתָּה הוּא בַּעַל הַיְשׁוּעוֹת וּבַעַל הַנֶּחָמוֹת.
On Sabbath say:
Be pleased, Eternal our God, to fortify us by thy commandments, and especially by the commandment of the seventh day, this great and holy Sabbath, since this day is great and holy before thee, that we may rest and repose thereon in love in accordance with the precept of thy will. In thy favor, O Lord our God, grant us such repose that there be no trouble, grief or lamenting on the day of our rest. Let us, O Lord our God, behold the consolation of Zion thy city, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem thy holy city, for thou art the Lord of salvation and of consolation.
The Sages taught that the order of Grace after Meals is as follows: The first blessing is the blessing of: Who feeds all; the second is the blessing of the land; the third is: Who builds Jerusalem; and the fourth is: Who is good and does good. On Shabbat one begins the third blessing with consolation and ends with consolation and mentions the sanctity of the day in the middle.
Rabbi Eliezer says: If one wishes to recite in the blessing of consolation: recite it there; in the blessing of the land, recite it there; in the blessing instituted by the Sages at Yavne, recite it there.
And the Rabbis say: One may only recite in the blessing of consolation.
(ג) בראש-חודש ובמועדים
אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹקֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, יַעֲלֶה וְיָבֹא יַגִּיעַ יֵרָאֶה וְיֵרָצֶה יִשָּׁמַע יִפָּקֵד וְיִזָּכֵר זִכְרוֹנֵנוּ וְזִכְרוֹן אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, זִכְרוֹן יְרוּשָׁלַיִם עִירָךְ, וְזִכְרוֹן מָשִׁיחַ בֶּן דָּוִד עַבְדָּךְ, וְזִכְרוֹן כָּל-עַמְּךָ בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל לְפָנֶיךָ, לִפְלֵטָה לְטוֹבָה לְחֵן לְחֶסֶד וּלְרַחֲמִים לְחַיִּים וּלְשָׁלוֹם בְּיוֹם
(ד) בראש חודש—רֹאשׁ הַחֹדֶשׁ
(ה) בפסח—חַג הַמַּצּוֹת
(ו) בסוכות—חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת
(ז) בשמיני עצרת—שְׁמִינִי עֲצֶרֶת הַחַג
(ח) בשבועות—חַג הַשָּׁבוּעוֹת
(ט) בראש השנה—הַזִּכָּרוֹן,
(י) הַזֶּה, זָכְרֵנוּ ה׳ אֱלֹקֵינוּ בּוֹ לְטוֹבָה, וּפָּקְדֵנוּ בוֹ לִבְרָכָה, וְהוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ בוֹ לְחַיִּים, בִּדְבַר יְשׁוּעָה וְרַחֲמִים; חוּס וְחָנֵּנוּ, וְרַחֵם עָלֵינוּ, וְהוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ כִּי אֵלֶיךָ עֵינֵינוּ, כִּי אֵל מֶלֶךְ חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם אָתָּה.
(3) On New Moons and Festivals add:
Our God and God of our ancestors! May our remembrance rise and come and be accepted before thee, with the remembrance of our ancestors, of Messiah the son of David thy servant, of Jerusalem thy holy city, and of all thy people the house of Israel, bringing deliverance and well-being, grace, lovingkindness and mercy, life and peace on this day of
(4) On new Moon say—The New Moon.
(5) On Passover—The Feast of Unleavened Bread.
(6) On Tabernacles—The Feast of Tabernacles.
(7) On the Eighth Day of Solemn Assembly and on the Rejoicing of the Law—The Eighth Day Feast of Solemn Assembly.
(8) On Pentecost—The Feast of Weeks.
(9) On New Year—Memorial.
(10) Remember us, O Lord our God, thereon for our wellbeing; be mindful of us for blessing, and save us unto life: by thy promise of salvation and mercy, spare us and be gracious unto us; have mercy upon us and save us; for our eyes are bent upon thee, because thou art a gracious and merciful God and King.
In the yaaleh veyavo prayer, we pray that the remembrance and fulfillment of the main elements of our redemption – the Jewish people throughout the generations, the remembrance of the Davidic messiah, of the holy city of Jerusalem – should be found in complete alignment with G-d’s will, and that we should be worthy of embodying these elements.
בשבת—הַרָחֲמָן הוּא יַנְחִילֵנוּ יוֹם שֶׁכֻּלוֹ שַׁבָּת וּמְנוּחָה לְחַיֵּי הָעוֹלָמִים.
(ד) הַשִּׁיר שֶׁהָיוּ הַלְוִיִּם אוֹמְרִים בַּמִּקְדָּשׁ... בְּשַׁבָּת הָיוּ אוֹמְרִים (שם צב), מִזְמוֹר שִׁיר לְיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת, מִזְמוֹר שִׁיר לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא, לְיוֹם שֶׁכֻּלּוֹ שַׁבָּת מְנוּחָה לְחַיֵּי הָעוֹלָמִים:
(4) These are the psalms that the Levites would recite in the Temple... On Shabbat they would recite “A psalm, a song for Shabbat day” (Psalms, chapter 92). A psalm, a song for the future, for the day that will be entirely Shabbat and rest for everlasting life.
On the Intermediate Days of Tabernacles—May the All-merciful raise up for us the fallen Sukkah of David.
(11) In that day, I will set up again the fallen Sukkah of David: I will mend its breaches and set up its ruins anew. I will build it firm as in the days of old,
בִּנְיָמִין רָעֲיָא כְּרַךְ רִיפְתָּא, וַאֲמַר: ״בְּרִיךְ מָרֵיהּ דְּהַאי פִּיתָּא״. אָמַר רַב: יָצָא. וְהָאָמַר רַב: כׇּל בְּרָכָה שֶׁאֵין בָּהּ הַזְכָּרַת הַשֵּׁם אֵינָהּ בְּרָכָה! דְּאָמַר: ״בְּרִיךְ רַחֲמָנָא מָרֵיהּ דְּהַאי פִּיתָּא״.
Binyamin the shepherd ate bread and recited: Blessed is the Master of this bread. Rav said, he thereby fulfilled.
But didn’t Rav say: Any blessing that does not contain mention of God’s name is not a blessing? He said: Blessed is the All-Merciful, Master of this bread.
נוֹדֶה לְּךָ ה׳ אֱלֹקֵינוּ עַל שֶׁהִנְחַלְתָּ לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ אֶרֶץ חֶמְדָּה טוֹבָה וּרְחָבָה בְּרִית וְתוֹרָה וְעַל שֶׁהוֹצֵאתָנוּ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם
וְעַל הַכּל אֲנַחְנוּ מוֹדִים לָךְ וּמְבָרְכִים שְׁמָךְ בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳, עַל הָאָרֶץ וְעַל הַמָּזוֹן:
רַחֵם ה׳ אֱלֹקֵינוּ עָלֵינוּ וְעַל יִשְׂרָאֵל עַמָּךְ. וְעַל יְרוּשָׁלַיִם עִירָךְ. וְעַל מִּקְדָּשׁךְ וְעַל מַלְכוּת בֵּית דָוִד מְשִׁיחָךְ
בשבת : ורצה והחליצנו ביום השבת הזה
וּבּנֵה יְרוּשָׁלָיִם בִּמְהֵרָה בְיָמֵינוּ בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳. בּוֹנֵה בְרַחֲמָיו יְרוּשָׁלָיִם: אָמֵן:
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳, אֱלֹקֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אָבִינוּ מַלְכֵּנוּ הַמֶּלֶךְ הַטּוֹב וְהַמֵּטִיב לַכּל. הוּא הֵטִיב לָנוּ. הוּא מֵטִיב לָנוּ. הוּא יֵיטִיב לָנוּ. הוּא גְמָלָנוּ. הוּא גוֹמְלֵנוּ. הוּא יִגְמְלֵנוּ חֵן וָחֶסֶד וְרַחֲמִים וְכָל-טוֹב:
עוֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם בִּמְרוֹמָיו הוּא בְרַחֲמָיו יַעֲשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל-עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן