In the brocho of “Elohai neshomo”, most Sephardic Siddurim have an instruction to pause after the word “Elohai”.
What's the origin of this practice?
1 Answer1
The earliest source I have found for this ruling is inAbudarham, Birchot Hashachar:
וצריך להפסיק מעט בין אלהי לנשמה כדי שלא יהא כחוזר למעלה חלילה וחס.
One must pause slightly between "Elokai" and "neshamah", so that he shouldn't appear to be referring [with the words "my soul"] to [the words "My G-d" which he just said] before, G-d forbid.
- Perhaps it would be better to translate להפסיק as "to punctuate" (like פיסוק) since the point here is to not read through the comma after אלהי. Actually pausing between the words seems more like a modern misapplication of this rule. (I can't think of a good English verb for "speaking with proper prosody in accordance with the punctuation".)2025-12-16 14:31:39 +00:00Commented17 hours ago
- 2Would it make sense to modify such a reading of להפסיק with מעט?Joel K– Joel K2025-12-16 14:39:41 +00:00Commented17 hours ago
- Yes certainly. That's what we call a "comma" instead of a "period". For translation maybe "light divide" vs "hard divide" is better english? "Pause" to me sounds like you need to physically not be vocalizing anything and that's not the point here at all.2025-12-16 14:58:10 +00:00Commented16 hours ago
- This source is quoted by the שערי תשובה near the end of אורח חיים סימן ו׳J. W. Tanner– J. W. Tanner2025-12-16 19:34:47 +00:00Commented12 hours ago
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