Yishtabach
Encyclopedia
Yishtabach (Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

: "[ God
Names of God in Judaism
In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title; it represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relationship of God to the Jewish people and to the world. To demonstrate the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for...

 ] be praised") is a prayer in the final portion of the Pesukei Dezimra morning prayers of Judaism known as shacharit
Shacharit
Shacharit is the the daily morning Tefillah of the Jewish people, one of the three times there is prayer each day.Shacharit is said to have been established by the patriarch Abraham when he prayed in the morning...

, recited before the second kaddish
Kaddish
Kaddish is a prayer found in the Jewish prayer service. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the liturgy different versions of the Kaddish are used functionally as separators between sections of the service...

 leading to the Shema prayers.

The theme of the number "fifteen
15 (number)
15 is the natural number following 14 and preceding 16. In English, it is the smallest natural number with seven letters in its spelled name....

" plays a pivotal role in the blessing; there are fifteen expressions conveying praise in the beginning half of the paragraph and fifteen words in the concluding blessing (after "Blessed are You, God..."). The number fifteen is an allusion both to the Divine Name
Tetragrammaton
The term Tetragrammaton refers to the name of the God of Israel YHWH used in the Hebrew Bible.-Hebrew Bible:...

 יה (whose gematria
Gematria
Gematria or gimatria is a system of assigning numerical value to a word or phrase, in the belief that words or phrases with identical numerical values bear some relation to each other, or bear some relation to the number itself as it may apply to a person's age, the calendar year, or the like...

 is fifteen) and to the fifteen Songs of Ascents
Song of Degrees
Song of Ascents is a title given to fifteen of the Psalms, 120–134 , that each starts with the ascription Shir Hama'aloth...

 composed by King David (Psalms 120–34).

There are two themes of Yishtabach: God's power and might are deserving of our praise and adoration, and that one must continually praise God.

Since Baruch Sheamar and Yishtabach are both blessings, this gives the sense that Pesukei Dezimra is one single prayer. Yishtabach is not recited unless Baruch Sheamar is recited, because Baruch Sheamar is the opening blessing, and Yishtabach is the closing blessing.

Yishtabach is normally recited while standing. This is because Baruch Sheamar is recited while standing, and since Baruch Sheamar is the opening of Pesukei Dezimra and Yishtabach is the conclusion, they are both recited in the same manner. However, on Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...

, some congregations have a custom to sit.

The author of Yishtabach is not known to this day. But with words 2-5 in the prayer spelling שׁלמה (Shlomo), this alludes to a reference to King Solomon.
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