Take the 2-minute tour ×

Why does the prayer "Shomer Yisra'el" in Tachanun say in two of the verses the word גוי in the first and last phrase, but עם in the middle phrase?

שומר גוי אחד שמור שארית עם אחד ואל יאבד גוי אחד


שומר גוי קדוש שומר שארית עם קדוש ואל יאבד גוי קדוש

share|improve this question
+1 Good question!! –  Dave Dec 23 '12 at 21:55
Related: judaism.stackexchange.com/q/11482 –  msh210 Dec 24 '12 at 15:55

2 Answers 2

What I am writing is an idea that is recorded by the Malbim on chapter 1 verse 4 of Sefer Yeshayau.. (you can see it here in Hebrew) any errrors are the translator's (mine). He seems to say that the difference between "Goy" and "Am" is that "Goy": refers to a people who share (some of these things not necessarily all these things) ancestry, language, family, and possibly locale. "Am":refers to a group of people united under a leader, government or unified philosophy and act as a whole entity rather than the individual. I will try and llok into it more...

share|improve this answer
The question remains why each word was chosen for its respective part of the prayer. –  msh210 Dec 24 '12 at 15:44
In English, that means goy = nation vs. am = state... sorta. Neat! –  Charles Koppelman Feb 22 '13 at 19:46
Also, is it then the "שארית" that makes the distinction? That though it's the full nation, it's the remainder of the state. Then the question of why remains but this helps get there. –  Charles Koppelman Feb 22 '13 at 19:48

I assume its a girsa thing because it happens during havdoloh too. I Daven nosach baladi-teimani/ RaMbaM. For Shabboth we say joyim not amim, same with havdoloh. I asks by rov who davens chassidishe nosach Sefard, and he said that the gemoroh in ( I forgot) mentions the text and he said it says amim not goyim. So the kasha in on RaMbaM. I truly believe its a girsa thing. Maybe someone who has the vilna edition of RaMbaM can check what the text is compared to the Mori kafih/frankel Misheh Toroh since the vilna edition usually changed the text according to it's own girsa instead of what RaMbaM wrote.

share|improve this answer
You must know that your Frankel Rambam set has a listing of the various Nuschaot in the different manuscripts/editions. Why not check there instead of asking someone else to? –  Double AA Feb 25 '13 at 15:08
Because I don't use frankel I use kafih and magbili. –  MoriDoweedhYaa3qob Feb 25 '13 at 20:26
Don't you mean a Jirsa? And Mishne Thoroh? –  Double AA Feb 25 '13 at 20:37
I don't think it's a Thow/Sov,but a regular Tow. Next time I comment on a post with ivrith, I'll transliterate my way to make you happy. But be warned there might be a flood of comments saying stop or I can't understand you. –  MoriDoweedhYaa3qob Feb 25 '13 at 20:46
mechon-mamre.org/i/3129n.htm halochoh jimmal: הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לַחֹל, וּבֵין אוֹר לַחֹשֶׁךְ, וּבֵין יִשְׂרָאֵל לַגּוֹיִים, וּבֵין יוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי לְשֵׁשֶׁת יְמֵי הַמַּעֲשֶׂה. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה', הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לַחֹל. –  MoriDoweedhYaa3qob Feb 26 '13 at 1:25

Your Answer


