On Sunday, 20 November 2016 the Kotzk Blog posted the following https://www.kotzkblog.com/2016/11/102-did-st-peter-compose-nishmat-prayer.html

Here we shall review the essay concerning St. Peter's composition of the beloved Nishmat kol chai prayer. R. Gavin Michal gives a very good description on the usae of the prayer which he tells us is recited every Shabbat morning and every Pesach Seder night and according to R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi it is replete with very deep mystical references. Nishmat and Yistabach are technically one long prayer. On weekdays it is abridged to just Yishtabach for purposes of brevity according to Essays on Pesach and the Haggadah by R. Joseph Dov Soloveitchick. It was supposedly instituted during the early Amoraic era (200 – 500 CE) because the earliest reference to it is by R. Yochanan bar Nafcha (180-279) who suggests that it should be recited during the Pesach Seder after Hallel.(Pesachim 118a) An early to reference to Nishmat occurring within the Shabbat morning service is in Seder Rav Amram Gaon (810-875). By the time of Rav Saadia Gaon (882-942) Nishmat had become a standard component of the liturgy. Rambam (1135-1204) writes that the Sefardic practice was to include Nishmat in the Shabbat morning service ( - but this was not a unanimous Askenazic practice).

R. Gavin Michal says that "Others suggest the writer was a Shimon -ben Shetach (or Shimom ben Yona, or Shimon Kipah)?" and tells us to "see later on in article" but never tells us who these others are.

He also misses completely that the reference to Yitzchak and Rivka as the ancestors of both Israel and Edom which is found in a very prominent acrostic within the prayer is very relevant to Simon's mission to the Notzrim apostates who operate in the spirit of Esav.

R. Gavin Michal says that Simon Peter was "subversively sent by the rabbis" which is an attack on the integrity of the Sages of Judaism. The correct view is that this was an act of Tikkun Olam with no subversive nor devious intention. A strategic Trojan horse tactic to save Erev Rav from complete damnation by getting them on the good side of the destroyer. To correct his comment, the work was actually meant to be appealing for Notzrim to look towards a Christian faith as a viable alternative having become outcasts. That is why the rabbis devised a plan to send Shimon Kipah to infiltrate the new movement. The plan was that he rise to an influential position in the church so that he could make some radical changes which would draw a Christian faith out of Judaism with an identity of its own. Shimon was successful in his mission and managed, in harmony with exchanging kabbalat shabbat for Havdalah also drew different holidays for Christians out of the original Jewish ones.

R. Gavin Michal accurately points out that Simon, to maintain his secret connection with Judaism, composed the Nishmat prayer, the Etan Tehillah prayer we recite on the High Holidays as well as Ahava Rabbah.(See Otzar HaMidrashim, Eisenstein, p. 557 for more details.)

PETER’S YARTZEIT:

We know that Peter’s Yartzeit (anniversary of his death) is the 9th of Tevet.

The Tur and Shulchan Aruch mention this date in their list of fast days but add that no reason is given for this particular fast.[8]

It is only in a commentary on the Shulchan Aruch that it states:

“I found in a manuscript that Shimon HaKalphus (Kipah) who saved Israel from distress at the time of the pritzim (violators of the Torah), died on the ninth of Teves, and the day of his death was established as a fast day in Jerusalem.”[9]

It’s interesting to note that it is only in an obscure reference in a commentary to an unnamed manuscript, that the story which appears to have been hidden away, is finally corroborated.

RABBEINU TAM (1100-1171):

This amazing story (or legend) of St. Peter infiltrating Christianity appears to have been supported by a piece of writing by the Tosafist Rabbeinu Tam[10]:

“(Peter) was a devout and learned Jew who dedicated his life to guiding gentiles along the proper path (by incorporating Noachide Laws into Christianity).”

Rabbeinu Tam similarly concurred that Peter authored the Nishmat prayer and it appears as if this view was widely held by many of the Rishonim.

Adding fuel to the fire, there is an overriding universal theme appealing to the oneness of humankind that pervades throughout this prayer. This includes passages that refer to ‘every living being’, ‘spirit of all flesh’, ‘every knee shall bend’ and ‘G-d of all creatures’.[11]

THE YEMENITE SIDDUR:

There is also an old Yemenite prayer book that similarly purports that St. Peter was the author of the prayer. This source, dated at around the 1500’s, is a handwritten note in Yehiya Bashiri’s Baladi-Rite Siddur.[12]

A NEUTRAL VIEW:

R. YEHUDAH HaCHASID (1150-1217):

R. Yehudah HaChasid wrote in his Sefer Chassidim that:

“Shimon Kipah was a righteous man but the Christians…venerated him as one of their saints and gave him the surname Peter. Even though he was a righteous man, the Jews gave him the nickname ‘Peter’ as in ‘peter chamor’ (firstling donkey).”[13]

In this source, although not entirely complimentary, Peter is nevertheless referred to as a ‘righteous man’.

VIEWS AGAINST:

MACHZOR VITRY:

Not everyone agreed with this positive image of St Peter. Most strenuous among the objectors was R. Simcha of Vitry (d. 1105) a student of Rashi who wrote in his Machzor Vitry:[14]

“There are those who say concerning...Peter...that he established this prayer...along with other prayers...But G-d forbid, no such thing should occur in Israel. And anyone who says this thing, when the Temple is built, he shall bring a sin offering.”

Instead of Peter, the Machzor Vitry suggested that it was (another Shimon) Shimon ben Shetach (120-40 BCE) who compiled the Nishmat prayer. This would have predated the Christian era by a number of years.

SHADAL (1800-1865):

Another objector was R. Shmuel David Luzzatto, who wrote in his Introduction to the Italian-Rite Prayer Book that:

“...the remarks of Rabbeinu Tam are based on a false rumour that spread among the Jews in days of old, in the time of the troubles and devastations, with good intention to strengthen the faith of the masses, for they would hear that the first Apostle wrote the liturgical hymns in praise of the Jewish faith, and that his intention when he founded the new faith was only for the sake of Heaven and for the welfare of the Jews.”

According to Shadal, the story of Peter infiltrating the Church was nonsense and was just part of the imaginative psyche of a persecuted people trying to diminish the historical pain of their Christian tormentors.

ANALYSIS:

Whether factually accurate or not, we have established that there was indeed widespread acceptance of the notion that St. Peter had composed the Nishmat, Etan Tehillah and Ahavah Rabbah prayers. This appears to have been supported by Rabbeinu Tam and other Rishonim.

On the other hand this perception was vehemently challenged by Rashi, his student the Machzor Vitry and others who suggested the prayers may have predated the Common Era.

It is interesting to see that the brunt of the debate is played out between both Rashi’s grandson (Rabbeinu Tam) and his student (R. Simcha of Vitry).

In an attempt at reconciling the variant opinions, some suggest that there may have been two Shimons. One was Shimon ben Yona, the Apostle who was known as St. Peter who was viewed rather negatively by Rashi and the Machzor Vitry. The other was Shimon Kipah who was the righteous man who acted as the agent for the rabbis.

But that is just speculation.

In general the difficulty that confronts us is that;

“Since the names of the first paytanim (composers of liturgical poems) have been lost to memory, it has happened that the liturgical poems have been attributed to people who never thought to write them.”[15]

This means that we may never have any real resolution to our question as to who the mysterious author was who penned these prayers.

[1] According to R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi it is replete with very deep mystical references. [2] See Essays on Pesach and the Haggadah by R. Joseph Dov Soloveitchick. [3] Pesachim 118a. [4] Or Shimom ben Yona, or Shimon Kipah? (See later on in article). [5] Sochen ad, Mi yidmeh, Ad hena, Veilu pinu, Nishmat (in reverse order). [6] See Mark 8:31 and Matthew 16:13 [7] See Otzar HaMidrashim, Eisenstein, p. 557 for more details. [8] Orach Chaim 580 : בו לא כתבו רבותינו על מה הוא [9] See Baruch Ta’am ibid. R. Baruch Frankel-Teomim (1760-1828) was the father-in-law of the Sanzer Rebbe (The Divrei Chaim) and great grandson of the great kabbalist R. Noson Nota Shapira (The Megaleh Amukot). Many regarded him as a Gadol HaDor of his time. [10] As quoted in Machzor Vitry. [11] There is also a reference to; ‘You redeemed us from Egypt’, which may or may not have relevance to this point (as the redemption from Egypt is recognized by Christianity - and additionally - many early Christians were Jews). On the other hand, Ahavah Rabah has continuous references to the uniqueness of Israel and appears to be a rallying cry in solidarity with the specific mission on the Jewish nation without any hint of universalism. Could these two prayers represent the alleged two sides of his persona? [12] See Microfilm # 1219 Ben Tzvi Institute. [13] A play on Shemot 13:13. See Sefer Chasidim 191. [14] R. Simcha appears to be stating the view of his teacher Rashi, with whom he concurs. [15] Shadal, in his Introduction to the Italian Rite Prayer Book (Mavo le’Machzor Bnei Roma)