83. Pesukei D’zimrah

14:1 The section that starts with the prayer Hodu through the end of the Shira is called “pesukei d’zimrah” (“verses of praise”). This section is bookended by two blessings: Baruch She’amar at the beginning and Yishtabach at the end. Once a person has started Baruch She’amar, he may not interrupt this section with speech until he has finished it. (Since pesukei d’zimrah is a single unit, doing so would be tantamount to speaking in the middle of a blessing.) However, if a mitzvah requires a person’s attention, different rules apply than in the section of reciting Shema (as we will see in chapter 16). For example, one may reply “Amen” to a blessing during pesukei d’zimrah, even during Baruch She’amar or Yishtabach. Similarly, one may recite the verse of Shema with the congregation, as well as respond to Kaddish, Kedusha and Barchu (though it is preferable, if possible, to arrange to stop at a natural break, such as between paragraphs, or at least between verses). One does not respond “Baruch Hu u’baruch shmo” during pesukei d’zimrah. If one used the facilities, he should wait to say Asher Yatzar, since it need not be recited immediately.

14:2 A man holds his two front tzitzis and says Baruch She’amar standing. At the end of the blessing, he kisses the tzitzis and releases them. The pesukei d’zimrah should be recited at a leisurely pace; one should not hurry through them. A person should be as careful with the words as he would be counting money: paying careful attention to each one. While one should think about the meaning of every word, this is especially important for the verse “poseiach es yadecha,” that God opens His hand to feed all His creatures (in “Ashrei”). When reciting that verse, one should especially pray for his own sustenance and that of the entire Jewish people. If a person did not have proper concentration (kavana) while saying this verse, he must go back and recite it again properly. In the prayer Hodu, one must pause between the phrase “ki kol elohei ha’amim elilim” – that false pagan “gods” are nothing – and the phrase “Vashem Shamayayim asah” – that God created the heavens. (Running these two phrases together would cause one to make an erroneous statement that the pagan gods are nothing AND God.)