Ask Rav LJ: The One who makes THE peace

[rhu]

This has bothered me for years: During the Ten Days of Repentance, we change the wording "Oseh shalom bimromav" (The One who creates peace on high) to "Oseh HA-shalom bimromav" (The One who creates THE peace on high) in two places -- at the end of Amidah and at the end of Kaddish. But apparently we don't do it in the third place where this sentence appears in our liturgy, towards the end of Birkat ha-Mazon. I wonder: why not?

I think that the earliest source for the first two cases is מטה אפרים סי' תקפ"ב סעי' כ"ב but I'm not 100% sure, and I don't have a copy of that source. Anyone out there have access to it and/or additional information?

Edited to add: A Google search for מטה אפרים found me a site with the whole thing as a PDF. (The Internet is for Sform!) Page 59 of that PDF contains the relevant part, at the end of the paragraph cited above:

The conclusion [of the final bracha of Amidah] one should say "Baruch Atah... hamvarech" as the remainder of the year, although there are those who say "oseh ha-shalom." And in a place where they have this custom, the shaliach tzibbur (prayer leader) should not deviate from the custom, because it would cause divisiveness, but in one's personal silent prayer there are those who say "hamvarech."

Only at the end of "Elokey ntzor etc." [the personal supplication after the Amidah] after the three steps there are those who say "Oseh ha-shalom bimromav etc.", and also in the recitations of Kaddish [they do] as we have explained.

So... ok. That certainly provides a source for the practice, but it doesn't explain where it comes from or why it doesn't also say "in birkat hamazon."

PPS - There's a footnote on that PDF page, the Elef ha-Minyan, which says further "And the mekubalim [those who accept the tradition?] wrote that davka [very specifically] at the end of Elokai n'tzor, because one has taken the three steps, one says "Oseh ha-shalom", but in the recitations of kaddish one does not alter [the practice] of the other days of the year."

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

"mekubalim" usually means what we'd call "kabbalists"

[(Anonymous)]

sorry -- that was Rachel G. didn't mean to hide.

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

That makes sense; thanks.

[abbasegal.livejournal.com]

Why are you asking Rav LJ when you could be asking Rav kahal at shaarei dot org? The number of scholars on that list is mind-boggling...

[hatam-soferet.livejournal.com]

I have a huge long post on the subject which I will post tomorrow iy"h after running it by Liturgical Historian Boyfriend.

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

Excellent! You (and LHB) were one (two) of the people I was hoping would be able to help!

[hatam-soferet.livejournal.com]

The phrase oseh HAshalom starts as a Ten Days of Repentance Amidah Blessing implant from ancient Palestinian liturgy, gains independent meaning in the realm of the Hasidei Ashkenaz, is axed in the eighteenth century by well-meaning championers of liturgical authenticity, is sorely missed by those who liked the extra layer of meaning from the Hasidei Ashkenaz, is adopted into the Kaddish by way of compromise, is well-established there by the nineteenth century, and has spread into the Amidah meditation by the twentieth century, and incidentally some Ashkenazim never accepted its axing from the Amidah Blessing in the first place.

It’s a phrase grounded in the Amidah and extended awkwardly to Kaddish, not a wholesale theological search-and-replace on the concept of “the maker of peace” for the Ten Days. We could do that if we liked, but there’s no particular reason to, for reasons which will become clear in the long version.

Long version here!