GE'ULLAH

GE'ULLAH (Heb. גְּאֻלָּה; "Redemption"), title of several prayers. That section in the morning and evening prayer which is recited between the shema and the amidah is known as Ge'ullah. This ancient prayer is mentioned in the Mishnah (Ber. 1:4; 2:2; Tam. 5:1) and referred to as Ge'ullah in the Talmud (Pes. 117b). The original text was probably much shorter; according to Zunz it contained only 45 Hebrew words. The present wording varies considerably in different rites. The prayer starts with the words "emet ve-emunah" ("true and trustworthy") in the evening prayer and with "emet veyaẓiv" ("true and firm") in the morning prayer (Ber. 12a). It opens with a profession of faith, enumerates the miracles of the redemption of Israel from Egypt, and closes with a plea to the Redeemer of Israel to deliver them again. In some Sephardi rituals, however, there is a longer variant ending. The Talmud (Ber. 4b, 9b) insists that there be no interruption between Ge'ullah and the Amidah and so even the response "Amen" is omitted after the Ge'ullah benediction in the morning prayer. In the evening prayer hashkivenu is inserted between them, the interruption being permitted because the recitation of the evening prayer was not considered obligatory in the Talmud. The name Ge'ullah applies also to the piyyutim which are inserted before the closing formula of this prayer on special Sabbaths and on the three pilgrimage festivals. The Mishnah uses the term Ge'ullah for the benediction recited at the end of Hallel during the Passover seder (Pes. 10:6). The term Ge'ullah is also used to designate the seventh benediction of the Amidah which ends with the words "the Redeemer of Israel."   -BIBLIOGRAPHY: ET, 5 (1953), 43–46; Elbogen, Gottesdienst, 22ff., 101, 211f., 514; Eisenstein, Dinim, 67f.; Idelsohn, Liturgy, 41, 92, 99.