Psalms · Psalm 150

"Hallelujah" — Rabbi Moshe said: "in His sanctuary" [means] the heavens; and likewise "in the firmament of His power," as in "and His strength is in the skies" (Psalm 68:35). And Rabbi Yehudah Halevi said: "Praise God who is in His sanctuary" — the meaning being the inner sanctuary and the temple hall; and "in the firmament of His power" is the Ark. And here the psalmist is speaking together with the Levites, who sing with psalteries and with all kinds of musical instruments.

"Hallelujah" — this psalm contains thirteen [occurrences of the word] "praise" (halelu), alluding to the thirteen attributes [of mercy]. "In His sanctuary" — this is the world of the angels. "In the firmament of His power" — this is the uppermost sphere, which encompasses everything; therefore it says "His power," for in it the power of God, blessed be He, is made manifest.

"Hallelujah" — Praise Yah; that is, he said, praise God in His holy place, which is the world of the angels. "In the firmament of His power" — This is the world of the celestial spheres, for there the might and strength of the Omnipresent is seen.

"His power" (עזו) — an expression of strength.

'Praise God in His sanctuary' — in light of what he has praised until now, he says: behold, there are two kinds of praise. Praise 1: 'that they should praise Him in His sanctuary' — that is, according to the governance in holiness above nature, which is the governance through the angels and His holy Name. Praise 2: 'praise Him in the firmament of His power' — that is, the governance ordered through the firmament, the sphere, and the constellations, according to nature.

"Praise Him" — the meaning of "for His mighty acts" is that you shall praise Him by recounting them. "Praise Him according to His abundant greatness" — the meaning is: praise Him abundantly, just as His greatness is abundant.

"Praise Him" — he says this to Israel. "Praise Him according to His abundant greatness" — for He magnified and sanctified Himself among the nations through their redemption.

"For His mighty acts" — In the recounting of His mighty acts. "According to His abundant greatness" — That is to say, just as His greatness is abundant, so praise Him abundantly.

'Praise Him' — corresponding to the first he says 'praise Him for His mighty acts,' and corresponding to the second he says 'praise Him according to His abundant greatness' — for then He performs no mighty acts to overpower and override nature, but rather guides according to His greatness which He established at the time of Creation.

"Praise Him with the psaltery" — it has ten holes.

"Praise Him with the blast of the horn" — this includes the trumpets as well.

(3-4) 'Praise Him' — accordingly there stand two kinds of praise: whether they praise Him 'in His sanctuary' and 'for His mighty acts,' which will be in the future when they are a people close to Him — and then 'they will praise Him with timbrel and dance,' hinting that Hashem is the leader of the dance; nevertheless 'they will' also 'blow the horn,' which indicates trembling, that they will feel fear of Hashem and His exaltation, and with harp and lyre, which indicates joy, and they will praise with timbrel and dance, and Hashem will be the leader of the dance for the righteous. The second kind of praise: if they praise 'with stringed instruments and the pipe' and praise 'with clanging cymbals' — this is at the time when He conducts Himself with them by way of nature, when they will praise Him 'in the firmament of His power' and 'according to His abundant greatness,' and then they will not rejoice with the joy of the dance over the indwelling of the Shechinah among them; nevertheless 'they will praise with cymbals of trumpet-blast,' for the trumpet-blast indicates trembling before the shattering, and they will fear from Hashem the fear of punishment. The point being that in both kinds of praise there will be either the horn-blast or the trumpet-blast: the horn-blast indicates the fear of exaltation, and the trumpet-blast indicates the fear of punishment, and the fear will be mingled with the joy, in the manner of 'and rejoice with trembling.'

"with stringed instrument and flute" — Heb. במנים ועגב. They are kinds of musical instruments.

"Praise Him with stringed instruments" — many instruments, one melody.

"With stringed instruments and the pipe" — the musical instrument [meant here] is not known to us.

"With stringed instruments and the pipe" (במנים ועוגב) — these are names of musical instruments.

"with resounding cymbals" — Heb. בצלצלי שמע, cymbals that let a sound be heard. שָׁמַע is a noun, like שֶׁמַע, with a “segol,” but because of the “ethnactha” [which denotes a pause], it is vowelized with a long “kamatz,” and therefore, its accent is above, under the “shin.”

"Praise Him with loud-sounding cymbals" — these are the cymbals mentioned in Chronicles. This is the general rule: there is no way to fully know these musical instruments, for many musical instruments are found in the land of Ishmael that the people of Edom have never seen; and likewise there are instruments in Edom that the sages of Ishmael have never heard of.

"Cymbals" — instruments that produce a loud sound; and so it says in Chronicles, "with cymbals, to sound aloud." "With clanging cymbals" — instruments that produce a sound of teruah (a blast/shout).

"With the loud-sounding cymbals" — With a musical instrument called metziltayim (cymbals), which makes a sound heard from afar. "With the clanging cymbals" — Which make a blast-sound heard.

"The loud-sounding cymbals" (בצלצלי שמע) — these are two instruments of copper that are struck one against the other and produce a sound when struck together, as it is written, "with cymbals of brass, to sound aloud" (במצלתים נחושת להשמיע) (I Chronicles 26), and in the Mishnah: "Ben Arza struck the cymbal" (הקיש בן ארזא בצלצל) (Mishnah Tamid 7). "The clanging cymbals" (בצלצלי תרועה) — these are the trumpets that sound forth a blast of trumpet-sound, because "צלצל" is an expression of a resounding sound; and so, "at the sound my lips quivered" (לקול צללו שפתי) (Habakkuk 3:16), which is a slight trembling sound.

"Every[thing]" — Rabbi Yehudah said: because the musician utters melodies on the harp, and the melodies change according to the length of the breath and the shortness of the sound, or its highness or its lowness, or its speed; therefore he concludes: "let all that has breath praise Hashem." And Rabbi Shlomo the Sephardi said: that this alludes to the supernal soul that is in the heavens. See: the Book of Psalms is complete and finished. And Abraham the son of Meir sums them up: "the praises of God are never completed, forever — and who is this that began them, yet finished them?"

"Every [thing]" — and above all these praises is the praise of the soul, which consists in its contemplation of the work of God, blessed be He, and in [its] knowledge, according to the capacity of the soul while it is still in the body; and he spoke, addressing the souls, "Hallelujah." "Chazak" ("Be strong").

"Let every thing that has breath" [praise Hashem], etc., "Hallelujah" — This transposes the verse, [and is to be read:] "Praise Yah," meaning that everyone who has in him a soul and a rational spirit shall praise Yah. [Here] the Book of Psalms is concluded — praises to the holy God, worthy of praise.

'Every soul' — but in every manner, the praise of Hashem shall spread from the heights of His holiness to the totality of all created beings, until every soul praises Hashem; and likewise for every single breath that they draw of the spirit of life and kindness, they shall praise Hashem for His kindnesses, His goodness, His deeds, and His wonders — for His mercies are not consumed, His kindnesses do not cease.