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It seems like there is a usual practice of saying a psalm or a fragment of a psalm before starting into a set of blessings. I have been taught that this is to mentally prepare yourself before the main prayer service starts. Some examples would be Ashrei before Minchah (and Selichot?), V'hu Rachum before Ma'ariv, and maybe Psalm 30 before Baruch She'amar or in an expanded view the whole of P'sukei d'Zimra before Shacharit.

With this as background, it seems notable that before the morning blessings, therefore before the main public service the way we do things today in Ashkenazi custom, there is no psalm. People say Modeh Ani earlier and perhaps Ma Tovu and some Torah or Talmud verses after the early morning Torah blessing as personal preparation, but I don't remember seeing a psalm in this section in any siddurim.

I don't know if this was ever a conscious choice on the part of any rabbis or if the practice just happened to evolve this way, but the difference is notable and perhaps someone has written on the topic. Does any one try to explain why there is customarily no psalm early in the morning?

Mike
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  • Morning blessings aren't a public service (or much of a unit at all) – Double AA Nov 06 '23 at 22:31
  • At every Ashkenaz shul I've been to, this is the moment the public service begins, whether that was the intended concept 1000 years ago or not. – Mike Nov 07 '23 at 00:57
  • It may be the moment someone starts doing something out loud where you've been, but that doesn't make it a communal service. Plenty of ashkenazi shuls today don't have someone start anything out loud until psukei dizimra or even yishtabach. Not long ago it was common for the leader to start aloud with adon olam and blessings on tallit/tefillin. – Double AA Nov 07 '23 at 02:04
  • The brachos themselves are part of our hachana. Saying birchas hatorah would be important before reciting anything from Torah. – Dude Nov 07 '23 at 12:32
  • The Maalos HaTorah takes uvekumechah literally and says you should learn in bed before getting up. So that would the first thing you would actually do in the day. – The GRAPKE Nov 07 '23 at 13:31
  • @Dude You would think so, but, for example, this Artscroll has both Mah Tovu and Exodus 13 before the Torah blessings. – Mike Nov 07 '23 at 13:38
  • @DoubleAA, IIRC, the Rem"a says that we say Birkot haShachar in schul, because some don't know how to say them. One might qualify that as a unit of tefillah, though I think the premise of the question is still flawed – Noach MiFrankfurt Nov 07 '23 at 15:11

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