Talmud sur Néhémie 8:6

It is written (Neh. 8:6): “Ezra praised the Eternal, the great God.” In what did he declare Him great? He declared Him great by the Explicit Name¹¹³The name YHWH pronounced with the correct vocalization that is unknown to us.. Rav Mattanah said, he declared Him great by a benediction. Rebbi Simon in the name of Rebbi Joshua ben Levi: Why are they called the Men of the Great Assembly¹¹⁴The parallel is in Megillah 3:8; in Babli Yoma 69b it is spelled out that Rav Mattanah means the first benediction of the ‘Amidah that contains the sentence “the Great, Strong, and Awesome God” chosen by the Men of the Great Assembly, and the observation of R. Joshua ben Levi is intended to buttress the argument of Rav Mattanah.? Because they returned the Crown to its former status. Rebbi Phineas said, Moses fixed the formula of benediction, (Deut. 10:17) “the Great, Strong, and Awesome God.” Jeremiah said (Jer. 32:18): “the Great, Strong God,” but he left out “Awesome.” Why did he say “the Strong”? He may rightly be called strong because He sees the destruction and is silent. And why did he not say “the Awesome”? Awesome is only the Temple, as it is said (Ps. 68:36): “Awesome is the Eternal from Your holy place.” Daniel said (Dan. 9:4)¹¹⁵The same expression is used by Nehemiah, Neh. 1:5.: “the Great and Awesome God,” he did not say “the Strong”; His sons are put in neck-irons¹¹⁶Latin collare “neck-iron.”, where is His strength? Why did he say: “the Awesome?” He may well be called “the Awesome” by the wonders He did for us in the fiery oven. But when the Men of the Great Assembly came,they restituted Greatness to its former place, “the Great, Strong, and Awesome God.” Does flesh and blood have power to set limits in these matters? Rebbi Isaac ben Eleazar¹¹⁷There were two sages of this name, one a student of R. Yoḥanan and the other in the fourth generation, a colleague of R. Mana. In the Babli, the statement is attributed to R. Eleazar. said, the prophets know that their God is Truth and they will not fawn before him.

If a person holds a scroll of the Torah [in order to read it], there is a difference of opinion between two Tanna’im.⁴⁷On the question whether the prescribed benedictions should be said while the scroll is open or rolled. One declared that he should open it, look [for the passage which is to be read], roll it up and then say the benediction;⁴⁸Were one to say it while the scroll is open, people might erroneously assume that the benediction is written in the Torah (Meg. 32a, Sonc. ed., pp. 192f). but the other declared that he should open it, look [for the required passage] and say the benediction.⁴⁹Because nobody could be so ignorant as to be unaware that the benedictions do not form a part of the text of the Torah (Meg. loc. cit.). What is the reason?⁵⁰That the scroll must be open when the benediction is said. Because it is written, And when he opened it, all the people stood up;⁵¹Neh. 8, 5 referring to the scroll of the Torah. and what follows? And Ezra blessed⁵²i.e. he said the prescribed benedictions. the Lord, the great God.⁵³ibid. 6. As Ezra opened the scroll and blessed the Lord, so everyone who reads the Torah must have the scroll open when the benedictions are said. Whereby did he proclaim His greatness?⁵⁴As implied in the words the great God. Rab said: He proclaimed His greatness by pronouncing the Ineffable Name.⁵⁵The Tetragrammaton. Raba said: He proclaimed His greatness by the recital of the prescribed benediction.
What is the form of the benedictions?⁵⁶Before and after the reading in the Torah. In an assembly of ten⁵⁷A minimum of ten males over the age of thirteen is required for congregational worship. one says, ‘Bless ye the Lord Who is to be blessed’.⁵⁸And then follow the benedictions given later for an individual in private reading. In the case of an individual, when he rises early to read in the Torah, he says, ‘Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, Who hast given us a Torah from heaven, everlasting life from the heights. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, Who givest the Torah’. Then⁵⁹At the conclusion of the reading. he rolls up the scroll⁶⁰This is a unanimous ruling. It is upheld even by the Rabbi who maintained that the scroll must be open when the first benediction is said. and says, ‘Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, Who hast given us a Torah of truth and hast planted everlasting life in our midst. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, Who givest the Torah’.⁶¹The benedictions now in use are shorter (P.B., p. 147).