When Praise Pours Out of You
The Hallel prayer is Klal Yisroel’s song of wonder — six chapters of Tehillim (Psalms 113-118) recited on days when Hashem’s miraculous intervention in history demands not just gratitude, but jubilation. On Yomim Tovim, on Rosh Chodesh, and on Chanukah, Yidden rise to their feet and give voice to these ancient words of praise, reliving the moments when the sea split, when enemies fell, when the impossible became real. Hallel is more than a liturgical addition to the morning service. It is the sound of a people who have witnessed miracles and refuse to remain silent.
Hallel — from the Hebrew root meaning “to praise” — refers to the recitation of Tehillim 113 through 118 as a unified tefillah of praise and thanksgiving. These six chapters encompass the full range of praise: acknowledgment of Hashem’s sovereignty, gratitude for national deliverance, celebration of personal salvation, and messianic hope for the future. It is recited during Shacharis after the Shemoneh Esrei and before the Torah reading, introduced with a bracha (likro es haHallel in the Ashkenazi nusach, ligmor es haHallel in the Sephardi nusach) and concluded with a bracha as well.
There are two forms of Hallel. Full Hallel (Hallel Shalem) consists of all six chapters recited in their entirety. It is said on the first days of Pesach (first two in the Diaspora), on Shavuos, on all days of Sukkos and Shemini Atzeres, and on all eight days of Chanukah. Half Hallel (Chatzi Hallel) omits the first halves of Psalm 115 (Lo lanu, verses 1-11) and Psalm 116 (Ahavti ki yishma, verses 1-11), and is recited on Rosh Chodesh and on the intermediate and final days of Pesach (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 422:2; 490:4).
The roots of Hallel reach into the foundational moments of Jewish history. The Gemara in Pesachim 117a records a machlokes about who composed Hallel. One opinion attributes it to Moshe and Klal Yisroel at Krias Yam Suf. Another attributes it to Dovid HaMelech. The Chachamim conclude that the Nevi’im among Klal Yisroel established Hallel to be recited at every epoch of redemption and salvation. Chazal teach (Megillah 10b; Sanhedrin 39b) that when the Egyptians drowned at the sea, the malachim wished to sing shirah, but Hashem silenced them, saying: “My handiwork is drowning in the sea — and you wish to sing?” The meforshim (see Maharsha) note that Klal Yisroel were nevertheless permitted to sing, distinguishing between the angels’ detached song of praise and the experiential shirah of those who had just been saved.
This teaching establishes a foundational principle: praise that emerges from personal encounter with Hashem’s salvation carries a different weight than praise offered from a distance. The formal institution of Hallel as a fixed part of the holiday liturgy took shape during the period of the Second Beis HaMikdash. The Mishnah in Sukkah 4:1, 4:8 establishes that Hallel is recited on all eight days of Sukkos in the Beis HaMikdash, and Mishnah Sukkah 5:1-4 describes the accompanying Simchas Beis HaShoeivah (water-drawing celebration) with musical accompaniment from the Leviim. The Gemara in Taanis 28b establishes the days on which Hallel is recited and the distinction between days requiring full and half Hallel.
Before You Say This Tefillah
Before Hallel begins, let yourself arrive in the moment. You are about to stand on your feet and say, out loud, that Hashem does the impossible. That He splits seas. That He raises the poor from the dust. Do not let the words wash past you. Let one thing rise up from your own life — one moment when Hashem carried you through something you thought you could not survive. Hold that memory. Then speak:
Ribono Shel Olam, I am about to praise You for miracles. Open my heart so that I can actually feel them. Let me remember Your chesed in my own life, not just in the history of Klal Yisroel. The times You held me up. The times You opened a door I thought was locked. The times You were carrying me when I did not even know it. Let my Hallel today be real. Elokah d’Meir aneni.
If giving tzedakah, add:
In the zechus of the tzedakah I am giving for Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, let my hallel travel from my lips to my hands. Let me become a small channel of the chesed that I am about to praise You for.
Hallel: The Full Prayer (Opening — Tehillim 113:1-4)
[rmbh_prayer_tabs]Why This Kapitel Matters Here
Mekimi mei’afar dal מְקִימִי מֵעָפָר דָּל “He raises the poor from the dust.” (Tehillim 113:7)
This phrase captures one of the most radical theological claims in Tehillim: that the infinite Creator of the universe concerns Himself with the destitute. The Radak explains that the “dust” here is not merely poverty — it is the total erasure of hope, the feeling that one has been ground down to nothing. Hashem, who dwells in the highest heights, lowers Himself to look upon the heavens and the earth and lifts the broken out of the dust. The Malbim adds that the use of the present tense — mekimi, “He raises” — indicates that this is not a historical event but an ongoing reality. For the reader who feels invisible, this phrase is not theology. It is a lifeline.
Hayam ra’ah vayanos הַיָּם רָאָה וַיָּנֹס “The sea saw and fled.” (Tehillim 114:3)
This is one of the most vivid images in all of Tehillim. The Midrash (Mechilta, Beshalach) asks: what did the sea see that caused it to flee? Various answers are given — it saw the coffin of Yosef, it saw the zechus of Avraham, it saw the hand of Hashem. The Maharal (in Gevuros Hashem) offers a different reading: when Hashem decides to save His people, the laws of nature do not merely bend — they step aside. For anyone facing a situation that seems physically impossible — a medical diagnosis, a financial crisis, a relationship beyond repair — this phrase reminds us that the G-d we praise in Hallel is not limited by natural law. The sea fled. Mountains danced. What seems immovable can move when Hashem wills it.
Min hameitzar karasi Kah מִן הַמֵּצַר קָרָאתִי יָּהּ “From the narrow straits I called to Hashem.” (Tehillim 118:5)
The word meitzar — narrowness, constriction — shares its root with Mitzrayim. The Chassidic masters explain that every person has their own Mitzrayim — a personal Egypt, a place of constriction where the walls press in and there seems to be no way forward. The kapitel teaches that it is precisely from that narrow place that the cry reaches Hashem. Not from a place of comfort or clarity, but from the crushing tightness of not knowing what to do. And the response: Anani vamerchav Kah — He answered me with expansiveness, with the wide-open space of divine rachamim. The movement from meitzar to merchav is the movement of geulah itself. This is what Hallel celebrates: not that life is always easy, but that Hashem’s answer is always bigger than our problem.
Ana Hashem hoshi’a na אָנָּא ה׳ הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא “Please, Hashem, save us.” (Tehillim 118:25)
In many shuls, this verse is the emotional peak of the Hallel recitation. The kehillah cries out in unison — “Please, Hashem, save us” — and then immediately follows with “Please, Hashem, grant us success.” Many baalei mussar highlight that the request for salvation and the request for success are placed together because they are two faces of the same need: salvation from what threatens us, and success in what awaits us. Hallel does not only look backward at past miracles. It looks forward, asking Hashem to continue His miracles in our own lives, in our own time.
How to Say This Tefillah
The Hallel prayer is recited during Shacharis, after the repetition of the Shemoneh Esrei and before the Torah reading. It is preceded and followed by a bracha, and one stands for the duration of the tefillah (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 422:2; Mishnah Berurah 422:28).
Full Hallel is recited on the first day of Pesach (first two in the Diaspora), Shavuos, all seven days of Sukkos (eight in the Diaspora including Shemini Atzeres), and all eight days of Chanukah. On these days, all six chapters of Tehillim are recited in their entirety. Half Hallel is recited on Rosh Chodesh and on the intermediate and final days of Pesach. The omitted sections are Psalms 115:1-11 and 116:1-11.
On Rosh Chodesh, the dispute is about the berachot surrounding Half Hallel. The Mechaber’s Sephardi practice is not to recite a berachah on Rosh Chodesh Hallel, while the Rema records the Ashkenazi custom to recite the berachah before Hallel (likro et ha-Hallel).
Hallel is not recited on Shabbos (unless it coincides with Yom Tov or Chanukah), on regular weekdays, on Purim, or on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The Gemara in Arachin 10b explains the omission on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur: “The King sits on the throne of judgment, the books of life and death are open — and Yisroel should sing shirah?” The solemnity of the Yamim Noraim precludes the jubilant tone of Hallel.
Women are exempt from the recitation of Hallel according to the majority of poskim, as it is a time-bound positive mitzvah. However, many Ashkenazi authorities allow women to recite Hallel on Chanukah with a bracha, based on the principle that af hen hayu b’oso ha’nes — they, too, were part of the miracle. If a person missed Hallel during Shacharis, it may be recited until sunset (Mishnah Berurah 422:13) with a bracha.
Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness
Hallel is the tefillah of gratitude — and the deepest form of gratitude is not merely saying thank you but acting on it. When we recite Hallel and acknowledge that Hashem mekimi mei’afar dal, raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the refuse heap, we are called to participate in that very act. Tzedakah is how we become Hashem’s partners in lifting those who have fallen.
The Gemara in Bava Basra 10a teaches that tzedakah saves a person from death and from the judgment of Gehinnom — a power that resonates directly with the themes of Hallel. Psalm 118 describes calling to Hashem from the narrow straits and being answered with expansiveness. Tzedakah creates that expansiveness. When a person gives to those in need, they open channels of bracha that flow in both directions — toward the recipient and back toward the giver.
Rabbi Meir Baal Haness embodied this reciprocal flow. His promise — that whoever gives to the poor of Eretz Yisroel in his memory and calls out Eloka D’Meir Aneini — is built on the same principle that Hallel celebrates: Hashem responds to those who respond to the needs of others. Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities, founded in 1799, continues distributing funds to Torah scholars, widows, orphans, and needy families throughout Eretz Yisroel. As you recite Hallel on the next Yom Tov, Rosh Chodesh, or Chanukah, consider pairing your praise with an act of giving. Let your halleluyah travel from your lips to your hands — from words of praise to deeds of chesed.
Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness
Living with Hakaras Hatov
Hallel is not only a tefillah for Yom Tov mornings. It is training. Every time you stand and recite those six kapitlach, you are teaching yourself to see Hashem’s chesed in places you might otherwise walk past. The sea split for Klal Yisroel at Yam Suf. But a quiet sea that stays in its place, day after day — that is also Hashem. The bread that rises in your oven. The child who walks through the door safely. The nisayon that was going to crush you and somehow did not.
The avodah of hakaras hatov is simply learning to notice. Pick one small thing today that you would usually take for granted. Name it. Thank Hashem for it out loud. That is a private Hallel, and it counts. Chazal teach that a person is judged in the world to come on what they did with the pleasures Hashem gave them — did they notice? Did they thank Him? Hallel trains your heart to answer yes. And the more you practice on the days of Hallel, the more naturally it will carry into the ordinary mornings when you are the only one saying anything at all.
[rmbh_faq]A Blessing for Your Praise
The Hallel prayer carries the entire story of Klal Yisroel in six chapters — from slavery to freedom, from despair to praise, from the dust to the presence of the Shechinah. Every time we stand and recite these words, we declare that we are a people who have seen miracles and believe that more miracles await.
In the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, may you be blessed with simchah, spiritual elevation, and the privilege of witnessing Hashem’s wonders in your own life. May every Hallel you say shake something loose in your heart — a fresh sense of gratitude, a reminder that the sea can still split, and the conviction that the G-d who raises the poor from the dust is the same G-d who is holding you right now.
You can submit a prayer request to the scholars at the kever of Rabbi Meir in Tiberias at no cost — they will daven for you by name through Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities. And if you would like to give tzedakah in Rabbi Meir’s zechus as well, your kindness will rise together with your tefillah.
