Barukh Sheamar

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Overview

Barukh Sheamar is not found in the Gemara which leads to a problem of "כל המשנה ממטבע שטבעו חכמים בברכות". Some attribute Barukh Sheamar to earlier sources such as Anshei Kenneset Hagedolah although it seems to be that Barukh Sheamar was written later.

It is unclear exactly when Barukh Sheamar was written but it is found in siddurim of the Geonim. Their נוסח is very similar to ours. The only difference is that Rasag would add the opening to the berakha only on Shabbat and not on chol.

Introduction

Pesukei DeZimra starts and ends with a berakha - Barukh Sheamar and Yistabach. Barukh Sheamar is composed of two sections:

The opening to the berakha - "ברוך שאמר והיה העולם ברוך הוא... ברוך שמו"
The berakha itself - "בא"ה אמ"ה הא-ל האב הרחמן... בא"ה מלך מהולל בתשבחות"

What is the relationship between both sections?

Tannaim and Amoraim

Barukh Sheamar is one of the only berakhot not mentioned explicitly in ספרות of Tannaim and Amoraim¹. This causes a problem of "כל המשנה ממטבע שטבעו חכמים בברכות". This question is brought already by the Birkei Yosef in the name of the Peri Chadash:

הרב פר"ח תמה דאחר חתימת התלמוד איך יכלו הגאונים לתקן ברכות חדשות, ומהתימה על הרא"ש וכו' ע"ש. ואין כאן תימה דמוכח דברכת ברוך שאמר היא תקנה קדומה קודם התלמוד, דבזהר (ח"ב דף רטו סוף ע"ב) מזכירה. ותו דהטור כתב משם ספר היכלות דיש בו פ"ז תיבות.

The Birkei Yosef answers that the Berakha is found already in the Zohar² and Pirkei Heichalot³.

The Mishna Berurah says that Barukh Sheamar was written already during Anshei Kennest Hagedolah's time:

ברוך שאמר - שבח זה תקנוהו אנשי כנה"ג ע"י פתקא דנפל מן שמיא

However, it seems to be that Barukh Sheamar was really written later.

Geonim

The first source for Barukh Sheamar that we have is from the Geonim time. It is found in Siddur R. Amram Gaon, Rasag and R. Moshe Gaon. The text of Barukh Sheamar is pretty similar to our נוסח which shows that Barukh Sheamar is early although we don't know exactly when it was written.

In addition, Rasag only said the opening to Barukh Sheamar on Shabbat and not everyday⁴. It's possible that it started as a special opening for Shabbat and then got moved to everyday.