Birkat ha-shir (The Blessing of Song)

The Mishnah refers obliquely to Birkat ha-shir, the Blessing of Song, which was to follow the recitation of the Hallel psalms at the end of the Passover meal. The Babylonian Talmud suggests two possible identifications of this prayer, which it refers to by their opening phrases, “All Your works shall praise You” and “The breath of every living thing.” Although the full prayers were presumably known to the authors of the Babylonian Talmud, they are attested in writing only later. Eventually, these prayers were combined and were incorporated into the Sabbath morning service and the Passover Haggadah.