Ashrei Part 2

My final project for Psalms as Poetry and Spirituality was a 20 page paper on Ashrei. I will share it here in sections, with the introduction included each time. The second section covers the origins and history of Ashrei.

Introduction

Ashrei has been part of Jewish liturgy for centuries. Ashrei is a prayer composed as a cento, which opens with Psalms 84:5 and Psalms 144:15, concludes with Psalms 115:18, and is primarily composed of Psalm 145. While Ashrei as a full prayer has its basis in the Babylonian Talmud, Psalm 145’s liturgical roots can be traced to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Psalm 145 is the only psalm identified as a “song of praise,” and is composed as an acrostic, although a line for nun was lost some time between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Masoretic Text. The evolution of Psalm 145 and Ashrei has been an engaging research topic, but what I have ultimately discovered is that the historical details are less important to me than the transmission of tradition throughout the Jewish world. My research process was a bit convoluted, and I have identified some areas for improvement. I have also gained a better understanding of my own religion’s traditions around recitation of Ashrei, and a new appreciation for the prayer.

Origins of Ashrei

In modern Jewish practice, the custom of reciting Ashrei is traditionally established by several passages in the Babylonian Talmud: Berakhot 4b:16-22 (which also speculates about the missing nun line), Berakhot 32b.21, Sanhedrin 91b.16-17, and Shabbat 118b.5. Beyond the tradition, the answer is more complex. Given the number of scholars who have chosen to refer to Ashrei as a whole as simply “Psalm 145,” we could easily date the origins of Ashrei to the Second Temple, which Siddur Lev Shalem does. This is based on the appearance of Psalm 145 in the Dead Sea Scrolls, which records the psalm along with a chorus following every verse: "Blessed is Adonai and blessed is God's name." (Feld et al, 136) With that said, Jewish tradition names texts based on the first important word, so can Ashrei be Ashrei if it doesn't open with ashrei?

On one hand, it is very tempting to envision the recitation of Ashrei as an ancient and continuous tradition carried out of the Temple and into the Diaspora. As someone who became Jewish in part to join in traditions, this idea of connecting a direct line across thousands of years and millions of worshippers is powerful. That said, there are key differences between the Ashrei we know now and the psalm recited then. In addition to losing the response line, the Psalm 145 that was preserved in Jewish tradition also lost a nun line. Modern Judaism has also gained opening lines, borrowed from Psalms 84:5 and 144:15, and closing lines, from Psalms 115:18. The process by which a Temple prayer became a synagogue prayer required so many steps across so many generation that teasing out which change makes Psalm 145 into Ashrei is a fool’s errand. L’dor v’dor (generation to generation) demands flexibility; perhaps this shifting continuity is the answer to Psalms 137:4, “How can we sing a song of the LORD on foreign soil?” (Alter)

We can start to see how this tradition shifted in historic Jewish texts. While Langer’s article primarily seeks to determine the origin of Pesuqe as a collection in Jewish liturgy, her work does also explore the origins of Ashrei more specifically, and she questions whether Berakhot 4b15-20 is evidence of an existing liturgical tradition (Langer, 223-4) set in the 600s CE (Spitzer). This does seem like a valid criticism. Langer goes on to argue that the earliest evidence for Pesuqe as established liturgy date to the 700s and 800s CE, but that in both cases they imply that Pesuqe is a recent addition to the service. Langer makes this assertion because in both cases, the text is discussing what to do if you arrive late to the service, and at what point in the prayers you should pick up, which implies that this was a new problem. I suppose the validity of this depends on assumptions around historical arrival time. Is it possible that prior to this point, people who arrived late to the service were turned away at the door? Could it be that people only just started worrying about interrupting prayers because their worship spaces had been so busy and bustling before this point? In both of these cases, communities today are widely variable—there are communities where the doors are closed when the service starts, and services where people come and go as they please.  Without this paper, I would not have thought to ask my rabbi which prayers I should go back and recite when I am late, or which prayers I should not interrupt with talking.

There is once again an element here of traditional belief. I like to describe my belief in the Torah as being the same as my belief that the family china came over from Europe with my great-grandmother. The value of the story is not in its historical accuracy, but in the sharing of the story. If we set aside whether the first Talmud in the 600s was really laying out an existing liturgical tradition around Ashrei and Pesuqe, what can we understand about these traditions from the text as it has been provided?

Talmud tells us, “Rabbi Elazar said that Rabbi Avina said: Anyone who recites: ‘A Psalm of David’ (Psalms 145) three times every day is assured of a place in the World-to-Come.” (Berakhot 4b.16) This begins to establish the tradition of saying Ashrei. The text goes on to discuss why Psalm 145 is so important: “If you say that it is because it is arranged alphabetically, then let us say: 'Happy are they who are upright in the way’ (Psalms 119) where the alphabetical arrangement appears eight times.” (Berakhot 4b.18) The Rabbis tell us that if Psalms 145 is only important because it is an acrostic, then Psalms 119 should be much more important, since it is an even bigger acrostic. It is especially funny to consider Psalms 119 as an alternative in the context of a suggestion elsewhere in Berakhot that one should wait one hour before and one hour after reciting Ashrei to ensure the proper state of mind for prayer. (Berakhot 32b.20-22) I suppose we should all be grateful that Berakhot is only calling for 6.5 hours a day dedicated to Ashrei, as opposed to the 9 hours a day it would take to recite Psalms 119 three times a day sandwiched between two hours of silent reflection. Ultimately, the Rabbis determine that Psalms 145 is important “because it contains both an alphabetic acrostic as well as mention of God’s provision of sustenance to all creation.” (Berakhot 4b.20) This makes sense in the larger context of modern Jewish liturgy as well. The Amidah is essentially composed of a list of things you should remember to thank God for each day.

Nun Line

“Additionally, with regard to this psalm, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Why is there no verse beginning with the letter nun in ashrei? Because it contains an allusion to the downfall of the enemies of Israel, a euphemism for Israel itself. As it is written: “The virgin of Israel has fallen and she will rise no more; abandoned in her land, none will raise her up” (Amos 5:2), which begins with the letter nun. Due to this verse, ashrei does not include a verse beginning with the letter nun.” (Berakhot 4b.21.)

“In order to ease the harsh meaning of this verse, in the West, in Eretz Yisrael, they interpreted it with a slight adjustment: “She has fallen but she shall fall no more; rise, virgin of Israel.” Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak adds: Even so, David went and provided support, through divine inspiration. Although King David did not include a verse beginning with the letter nun alluding to Israel’s downfall, he foresaw the verse that would be written by Amos through divine inspiration; and the very next verse, which begins with the letter samekh, reads: “The Lord upholds the fallen and raises up those who are bowed down” (Psalms 145:14). Therefore, through divine inspiration, David offered hope and encouragement; although the virgin of Israel may have fallen, the Lord upholds the fallen.” (Berakhot 4b.22)

The Talmud commentary does not match up well with the nun line found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, “Trustworthy is God in all His ways, / and faithful in all His deeds.” (Alter, 328) Why, then, did the Rabbis conclude that the nun line was such a dramatic omen? My first clue came in a commentary on Psalm 145: “Many of the verses were culled from other Psalms and are in the form of an alphabetic acrostic with the omission of the verse beginning with the letter ‘nun.’” (Cohen and Oratz) If the other lines in this poem are taken from elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, it would be reasonable to assume that the nun line would be as well. While I remain tragically unable to locate every single verse in the Hebrew Bible that starts with the letter nun due to an inability to read Hebrew (and a lack of Ctrl+F feature for any of the Hebrew text Bibles presently available to me), I have to assume the Rabbis did. From there, I imagine the Rabbis assumed that if the line was left out, it must be because it was the worst possible line, and so they chose the worst possible line starting with nun they could find. 

There is another connection to be made between Psalm 145 as recorded in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Ashrei: both are formatted as a call and response. (Feld et al, 136) Siddur Lev Shalem formats Ashrei with alternate verses in italics, to indicate verses should alternately be read by the leader and the congregation. Ashrei is also offered with transliteration on pages 181-183 of Siddur Lev Shalem, since this call and response format is frequently recited in Hebrew. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, Psalm 145 is recorded “with a congregational response attached to each verse: ‘Blessed is Adonai and blessed is God’s name.’” (Feld et al, 136) Because my own congregation exists after the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, I cannot be certain whether the decision to present Ashrei as a call and response exists independently of the discovery of an earlier tradition. If this format shifted in reaction to the discovery of Psalm 145 preserved as a call and response, this still connects the modern tradition directly back to the Second Temple liturgy.

In the context of the modern Jewish people, this idea of preserved tradition is important. The story of Jews is often one of perseverance, and tracing the descent of our liturgy directly from the Temple is as important as tracing our people’s descent directly from Abraham and Sarah. As a convert, my Hebrew name is Mara Tikvah bat Avraham v’Sarah, because Jewish tradition states that all converts are the direct children of Abraham and Sarah. My birth certificate (not to mention my hyphenated last name) may show that my parents are Mark Mattson and Lauren Perdue, and that is true, but it is also true that my parents are Abraham and Sarah. Records may also show that I was born in 1990, and I was, but it is also true that I was at Sinai, as our tradition says all converts were. The story of the Jewish people is one of many competing truths, and ultimately both the historic record and the conflicting religious tradition are part of this truth.

Works Cited

Robert Alter, ed., The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary, First edition, vol. 3 (New York London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019).

A. Cohen and Ephraim Oratz, The Psalms: Hebrew Text & English Translation, Rev. 2nd ed, The Soncino Books of the Bible (London: Soncino Press, 1992).

Edward Feld, Jan Uhrbach, and Rabbinical Assembly of America, eds., Siddur Lev Shalem: For Shabbat and Festivals (New York: The Rabbinical Assembly, 2013).

Ruth Langer, “The Early Medieval Emergence of Jewish Daily Morning Psalms Recitation, Pesuqe de-Zimra,” in The Power of Psalms in Post-Biblical Judaism: Liturgy, Ritual and Community, ed. Claudia D. Bergmann et al., Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity ; Volume 118 (Leiden ; Brill, 2023), 222–40.

 Jeffrey Spitzer, “A Timeline of Jewish Texts,” My Jewish Learning, n.d., accessed December 3, 2025, https://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/About_Jewish_Texts/Jewish_Texts/Timeline.shtml.

Adin Steinsaltz, Koren Noé Talmud Bavli, The William Davidson Digital Edition (US: Koren Publishers, 2019), https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Talmud.