Hallel: The Psalms of Praise in Jewish Worship

Songs of Joy

If the Amidah is the quiet heart of Jewish prayer — whispered, private, intense — then Hallel is its exuberant counterpart. Hallel is singing. Hallel is clapping. In many congregations, Hallel is the moment when the cantor pulls out the guitar, the children come to the front, and the synagogue sounds less like a house of worship and more like a concert.

Hallel consists of six psalms — Psalms 113 through 118 — and its name comes from the Hebrew root h-l-l, meaning “to praise,” the same root that gives us “Hallelujah.” These psalms are recited on Jewish holidays and new months, and they represent the tradition’s most concentrated expression of joy, gratitude, and theological wonder.

The Six Psalms

Each of the Hallel psalms contributes a distinct voice to the chorus of praise:

Psalm 113 opens with the words Halleluyah, hallelu avdei Adonai — “Hallelujah, praise, you servants of the Lord.” It celebrates God who “raises the poor from the dust” and “seats them with princes.” It is a psalm of divine reversal, where the lowly are lifted up.

Psalm 114 recalls the Exodus: “When Israel went out of Egypt.” The sea fled, the mountains skipped like rams. It is one of the most vivid poems in the entire Psalter, painting the Exodus as a cosmic event that shook nature itself.

Psalm 115 confronts idolatry: “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, eyes but cannot see.” Then it pivots to trust: “Israel, trust in the Lord — He is their help and shield.”

Psalm 116 is deeply personal: “I love the Lord, for He hears my voice.” It speaks of someone who was near death and was rescued. “What can I give back to the Lord for all His gifts to me? I will lift the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.”

Psalm 117 is the shortest psalm in the entire Bible — just two verses. “Praise the Lord, all nations; extol Him, all peoples. For His kindness overwhelms us, and the Lord’s truth endures forever. Hallelujah.”

Psalm 118 is the grand finale, containing some of the most famous lines in Jewish liturgy: Hodu l’Adonai ki tov, ki l’olam chasdo — “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His kindness endures forever.” And: Min ha-meitzar karati Yah, anani va-merchav Yah — “From the narrow place I called to God; God answered me with expansiveness.”

Full Hallel vs. Half Hallel

Not all holidays receive the same measure of praise. Jewish law distinguishes between Hallel Shalem (Full Hallel) and Chatzi Hallel (Half Hallel):

Full Hallel — all six psalms without omission — is recited on:

• The first two days of Passover (first day only in Israel)
• Shavuot
• All nine days of Sukkot (including Hoshana Rabbah)
• Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah
• All eight days of Hanukkah

Half Hallel — which omits portions of Psalms 115 and 116 — is recited on:

• Rosh Chodesh (the new month)
• The last six days of Passover

The logic behind the distinction is theologically revealing. Full Hallel marks occasions of complete celebration. Half Hallel marks occasions where the joy is real but tempered.

The most famous example: why is only half Hallel recited on the last days of Passover? The Talmud (Megillah 10b) provides one of the most remarkable passages in all of rabbinic literature. When the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and the Egyptian army drowned, the angels began to sing. God stopped them: “My creatures are drowning in the sea, and you sing songs?”

This teaching — that God mourns even the death of the wicked — is the reason Jews diminish their praise on the last days of Passover. Joy must be tempered by compassion. Even liberation has its costs.

When Hallel Is NOT Recited

Notably, Hallel is not recited on several major occasions:

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur: The Talmud asks why Hallel is omitted on the High Holidays. Rabbi Abahu answers: “The King sits on the throne of judgment, the books of life and death open before Him — and you sing songs?” The Days of Awe are too solemn for Hallel’s exuberance.

Purim: Despite being a holiday of great celebration, Hallel is not said on Purim. One reason given: the miracle of Purim occurred outside the Land of Israel, and the Jews remained subjects of a foreign king. Another: the reading of the Megillah itself serves as Purim’s form of praise.

The Yom HaAtzmaut Debate

Few liturgical questions in modern Judaism have generated as much controversy as whether to recite Hallel on Yom HaAtzmaut — Israel’s Independence Day.

For Religious Zionist Jews, the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 was a miracle comparable to the Exodus — a moment of divine deliverance after the Holocaust. Rabbi Meshulam Roth and other authorities ruled that full Hallel with a blessing should be recited on Yom HaAtzmaut. The Israeli Chief Rabbinate adopted this position, and in Religious Zionist synagogues and yeshivot, Yom HaAtzmaut Hallel is recited with full festivity.

Ultra-Orthodox communities, by and large, reject this practice. Many do not recognize Yom HaAtzmaut as a religious holiday at all, viewing the secular state as theologically insignificant or even problematic. For them, adding Hallel would be an unauthorized innovation.

Conservative Judaism has taken a middle path: many Conservative synagogues recite Hallel on Yom HaAtzmaut but without the full blessing formula, acknowledging the day’s significance while stopping short of equating it with biblically mandated holidays.

The Joy of Singing

For all its halakhic complexity, Hallel is fundamentally about one thing: joy. It is the moment in the service when the mood lifts. In many Sephardi communities, Hallel is chanted responsively, with the congregation repeating each line after the cantor in a call-and-response pattern that can feel almost musical. In Israeli synagogues, particularly on holidays, Hallel is often sung to well-known melodies that the entire congregation knows by heart.

The line Ana Adonai hoshi’ah na — “Please, Lord, save us” — from Psalm 118 is recited with the waving of the lulav and etrog on Sukkot, creating a multisensory experience of praise that combines voice, movement, and the fragrance of the etrog.

Hodu l’Adonai ki tov — “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good” — is perhaps the single most frequently sung line in Jewish life, appearing not just in Hallel but at weddings, celebrations, and moments of gratitude throughout the year.

Praise as Practice

Hallel teaches that praise is not spontaneous — it is practiced. The rabbis did not wait for Jews to feel joyful before requiring Hallel. They mandated it on specific occasions, trusting that the act of praising would itself cultivate the capacity for gratitude.

This is a characteristically Jewish approach to emotion: you do not wait to feel it before you express it. You express it, and the feeling follows. You stand in synagogue on a cold Hanukkah morning, open your mouth, and sing psalms that are nearly three thousand years old — and somewhere between the first Hallelujah and the last, something shifts. The praise becomes real. The joy becomes your own.