Tefillah 028

72:
P^esuké d^eZimra came to an end with the recitation of the Song at the Sea and the three verses that were appended to it – as we saw in the previous shiur. It could be assumed that at this stage we would proceed to the benediction which concludes P^esuké d^eZimra; for just as there is a benediction that initiates P^esuké d^eZimra (Barukh She-Amar) so there is a benediction which concludes it (Yishtabaĥ). And, indeed, this is what happens on weekdays. However, on Shabbat and YomTov there is a long insertion before we reach Yishtabaĥ. This insertion begins with the word Nishmat [Siddur Sim Shalom page 104; Siddur Va'ani Tefillati page 325].

73:
Nishmat is not a homogenous prayer, but is an amalgam collected from various sources, some of which can be identified and some not. In various places during the prayer we can also detect the various ages of the development of the Hebrew language, so it is quite clear that Nishmat, as we now have it, is not an original composition but, as just indicated, a collection of various pieces whose original task was quite different.

74:
It would seem that the inclusion of Nishmat kol ĥai at this point is connected with the conclusion of 'the Great Hallel' at the Seder service on Passover! At the Seder service we begin to recite Hallel just before the meal, but the repast itself interrupts the recitation of Hallel which is concluded only after Grace After Meals. The recitation of Hallel is then followed by Hallel ha-Gadol, 'the Great Hallel'. We discussed Hallel ha-Gadol at some length in Tefillah 019. The Gemara [Pesaĥim 117b at the very bottom-118a at the top] discusses what benediction should be recited after Hallel ha-Gadol:

This discussion in the Gemara reflects the differing customs between the Jewish community in Babylon (Iraq) and the Jewish community in Eretz-Israel during the Talmudic period: Rav Yehudah answers the question according to the Babylonian custom and Rabbi Yoĥanan answers it according to the custom of Eretz-Israel. (In our modern Haggadah we include both versions after Hallel ha-Gadol at the Seder service.)

75:
To this day Y^ehall^elukha Adonai Eloheynu constitutes the concluding blessing every time Hallel is recited in the synagogue on festivals [Siddur Sim Shalom page 137; Siddur Va'ani Tefillati page 505]. However, apart from its inclusion in the Passover Haggadah, the sole remnant of the ancient conclusion of Hallel in the rite of Eretz-Israel is the beginning of Nishmat as inserted at the end of P^esuké d^eZimra on Shabbat and YomTov.

76:
It would seem that the original format of Nishmat ended at the words bekhol et tzarah vetzukah ['at all times of trouble and sorrow']. The additional words that begin eyn lanu melekh ella attah ['We have no king but You'] down to l^ekha levad^ekha anaĥnu modim ['You alone do we acknowledge'] are, apparently, an anti-Christian addition. The added words acknowledge God as the only object of Israel's adoration, who alone rules the universe and needs no assistance in this task.

77:
This consideration introduces a truly quaint curiosity. In the 14th century the author of a supercommentary on Ramban's commentary on the Torah, Shem-Tov ben Avraham ibn-Gaon, discusses the authorship of Nishmat. (The supercommentary is called Keter Shem-Tov.) Among the rather far-fetched suggestions that he makes we find one that is truly amazing. He suggests that Nishmat was composed by none other than Peter, the chief disciple of Jesus of Nazereth! He identifies him by his Hebrew (Aramaic) name of Shim'on Keifa (which the Christian scriptures render as Simeon Cephas). According to Shem Tov towards the end of his life Peter recanted and rejoined the Jewish community and as an act of penance he composed Nishmat! The only portion of this fantastic allocation that bears any relationship to some likely provenance is, as we have already indicated, that this part of Nishmat probably demonstrates an anti-Christian bias. This would fit in well with a date of composition some time during the second or third centuries CE in Eretz-Israel.

To be continued.