Ashrei

Ashrei, אשרי is a prayer that is recited thrice daily by the observant Jewish population. The prayer is composed of Psalm 145, with a verse each from Psalms 84 and 144 added to the beginning, and a verse from Psalm 115 added to the end. The first two verses that are added both start with the Hebrew word "ashrei" (translating to "praiseworthy"), hence the prayer's name.

It is said that one who thoughtfully recites Ashrei three times daily, particularly the verse פּותת, is guaranteed a placed in Olam Haba [The Artscroll Tehillim, page 312] .ׁ

Times of recitation

Ashrei is recited three times during the full course of Jewish prayers. It is recited twice during Shacharit (once during Pesukei D'Zimrah and once between Tachanun/Torah reading and Psalm 20/Uva Letzion), and once during Mincha, where it is the introduction to mincha (on Yom Kippur, it is recited during Ne'ila.

tructure

The majority of Ashrei is Psalm 145 in full. Psalm 145 is composed of 21 verses, each starting with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet arranged alphabetically. The only Hebrew letter that does not begin a verse of Psalm 145 is nun. The letter nun is omitted because the following verse (beginning with samekh) describes G-d's support for the fallen, and nun begins the Hebrew word נפילה, Israel's future downfall [Complete Artscroll Siddur, page 68] .

The first two verses are from Psalms 84:15 and Psalms 144:15 respectively. The final verse is Psalm 115:18.

References