Gemara:

Pesachim 

Halacha:

Tefillah 

Machshava:

Pesach 

Nach:

Tehillim 

Collections: Rabbi Etshalom Hagada

Description

One of the highlights - and perhaps the ultimate purpose - of the Seder evening is the recitation of Hallel (Tehillim 113-118), the first two chapters of which are sung at the end of Maggid. We explore the general framework of Hallel, the rabbinic discussion about its authorship and the various "Hallels" that we have in our liturgy. We then study the text with an eye towards the four goals in any study of Tehillim - (1) the meaning of the words (2) the poetic structure of the psalm (3) the message of the psalm and (4) its place at that point in the liturgy.