[Avodah] Format of Tehillim

[T613K at aol.com]

R' Alan Rubin _alan at rubin.org.uk_ (mailto:alan at rubin.org.uk)  asked:

>  > Why do the vast majority of siddurim print most tehillim as if they
>  > were prose? Doesn't this obscure the poetry of the tehillim?

R'  Micha Berger answered
> To really answer your question, I think in many  cases it reflects the
> fact that most people aren't shopping for a siddur  based on their
> knowledge of what the tefillos mean. 


RAR  responded:
 
>>Pity that the only answer is so prosaic!  <<

>>>>
I don't know if the pun was intended -- the answer is *prosaic*  -- but it is 
an excellent pun.  And he is right that it is a pity, I've  often thought it 
myself.  Tehillim should be printed on the page with every  new pasuk starting 
a new line.  And since many pesukim of shira  (poetry) have a parallel 
structure, "kefel davar bemilim shonos," the  second part of each pasuk should be on 
a new line too, but indented a  little.  And when the lines start with 
successive letters of the aleph  bais, the first letter of each pasuk should be 
printed in bold.  In the  ArtScroll Yom Kippur machzor, Ashrei actually is printed 
that way, with each  pasuk on a new line and the first letter in bold.  But 
they didn't do it  with other perakim of Tehillim (for instance, the Shir Shel 
Yom).  
 


--Toby  Katz
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