The Surprising Reason We Say This Line of the Shema Aloud on Yom Kippur

Moshe opens his song in Parashat Ha’azinu with the words:

“For I will proclaim the Name of Hashem; ascribe greatness to our God” (Deuteronomy 32:3).

Rashi explains: “When I call out and mention the Name of Hashem, you ascribe greatness to our God and bless His Name. From here they said that one responds, ‘Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto’ after a blessing in the Temple.”

In other words, when the Kohen Gadol pronounced Hashem’s explicit Name in the Beit HaMikdash, the priests and the people would fall on their faces and declare, “Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto l’olam va’ed.”

The Gemara in tractate Taanit (16b) explains that when Hashem’s Name was mentioned outside the Temple, those listening responded “Amen.” Only in the Beit HaMikdash did they say “Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto.”

Why the difference?

The Maharal answers in Gur Aryeh:

“The reason is because it is written, ‘For I will proclaim the Name of Hashem,’ and this is the explicit Name. The explicit Name is pronounced as it is written only in the Temple (Yoma 69b). Therefore, they respond ‘Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto’ specifically in the Temple.”

But this raises another question. Why, when Hashem’s explicit Name is pronounced, do we respond with “Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto l’olam va’ed” rather than “Amen”?

And there is another mystery. We ourselves say “Baruch Shem” quietly every time we recite Shema Yisrael, even though Hashem’s explicit Name is not pronounced. Why?

Why Do We Whisper “Baruch Shem”?

The Gemara in tractate Pesachim (56a) takes us back to the final moments of Yaakov Avinu’s life.

“Yaakov wished to reveal to his sons the end of days, but the Divine Presence departed from him. He said: Perhaps, Heaven forbid, there is something unfit among my descendants, as Yishmael came from Avraham and Esav came from Yitzchak?

“His sons said to him: ‘Shema Yisrael,’ meaning Yisrael, their father, ‘Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad.’ That is to say: Just as there is only one God in your heart, so too there is only one God in our hearts.

“At that moment, Yaakov Avinu began and said: ‘Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto l’olam va’ed.’”

This left the Sages with a dilemma.

Should we say Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto? Yaakov Avinu said it.

But if we say it, there is another problem: Moshe Rabbeinu did not include it in Parashat Va’etchanan, where the passage of Shema Yisrael appears.

The Sages therefore established a compromise: We say “Baruch Shem,” but quietly, in a whisper rather than aloud.

The Gemara illustrates this with an analogy. A king’s daughter smelled a simple, seasoned food that was considered inappropriate for royalty, but she desperately wanted it. Her servants faced a dilemma. If she ate it publicly, it would be embarrassing for her. If she did not eat it, she would suffer. So they brought it to her discreetly.

But what does this analogy actually mean? What is supposedly inappropriate about saying “Baruch Shem”? And how does whispering solve the problem?

A Praise That Belongs to the Angels

The Tur (Orach Chaim 619) introduces another remarkable dimension to the custom.

“The custom in Ashkenaz is to say on Yom Kippur, ‘Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto l’olam va’ed’ aloud, based on a teaching in Midrash Rabbah on Parashat Va’etchanan: When Moshe ascended to heaven, he heard the ministering angels praising Hashem by saying ‘Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto l’olam va’ed,’ and he brought this praise down to the people of Israel.

“What is this comparable to? To a person who stole a beautiful object from the king’s palace and gave it to his wife. He told her: Do not adorn yourself with it except discreetly inside your home. Therefore, throughout the year it is said quietly, while on Yom Kippur it is said openly, because we are like angels.”

This explanation raises its own questions. Why should the angels object to the Jewish people praising Hashem with the same words? Unlike an ordinary theft, the angels lose nothing when we say them. And if these words were “taken” from the angels, what does whispering accomplish?

Most importantly, the Midrash seems to suggest that Moshe Rabbeinu brought “Baruch Shem” to the Jewish people. Yet the Gemara identifies Yaakov Avinu as its source and points out that Moshe did not include it in the Shema.

The Maharal provides an explanation that brings these different ideas together.

A Praise That Requires Holiness

In Netivot Olam (Netiv HaAvodah, chapter 7), the Maharal explains that “Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto” is a praise suited to someone who is removed from the purely physical.

Something that lacks holiness cannot truly bless Hashem’s Name because it has no connection to or understanding of the transcendent. The physical cannot fully contain the spiritual.

This is why this praise naturally belongs to the angels, who are not physical beings.

Among human beings, Yaakov Avinu could say it because he is described as holy, as the verse states, “the Holy One of Yaakov” (Isaiah 29).

The same principle explains why “Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto” was said in the Beit HaMikdash. The holiness of the place elevated those who were present there.

But Moshe was addressing the entire Jewish people when he taught them the Shema. The nation includes people at many different spiritual levels. Therefore, the Maharal explains, every Jew can proclaim “Shema Yisrael,” but “Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto” represents a higher spiritual level.

The Two Sides Within Every Person

The Sages’ dilemma now takes on a deeper meaning.

Every human being contains both a holy, elevated soul and a physical side rooted in the material world.

Should we say “Baruch Shem,” following Yaakov Avinu, who represents the human being at an extraordinary level of holiness?

Or should we leave it unsaid, following the Shema as taught by Moshe to the Jewish people in their ordinary human state?

The answer is that we whisper it.

The Maharal explains:

“Therefore, they established that it be said quietly, for from the perspective of the separate holy soul within a person, one should say ‘Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto,’ since from the perspective of the soul, a person resembles an angel. Only the body holds this back.

“But Yaakov, who was holy, certainly could say it. On the contrary, if it were not said at all, there would be pain and deficiency for the soul, because from the perspective of the soul it should be said.

“Therefore, they established that it be said quietly, for in truth, because a person has a separate soul that dwells in concealment, and it is holy and removed from materiality, he can say ‘Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto.’ Therefore, they established that it be said quietly, just as the soul, which is holy, dwells in secret.”

Whispering, then, is not simply a way of hiding the words.

It represents the hidden spiritual dimension within us.

Speech said aloud enters the external, physical world. It uses the body to communicate our thoughts to those around us. Whispered speech, by contrast, remains more inward and concealed.

We see a similar idea in the prayer of Chanah. The verse says, “Only her lips moved, but her voice could not be heard” (I Samuel 1:13). From here, the Sages learn in tractate Berachot (31a) that a person praying should not make their voice heard.

The Maharal explains in Netivot Olam (Netiv HaAvodah, chapter 2): “For one who makes his voice heard is heard and revealed, and anything revealed does not cleave to the higher level, for what is higher is concealed.”

Whispered speech therefore expresses the inner, spiritual dimension of a person. When we whisper “Baruch Shem,” it is the holy soul within us that is speaking.

Why Yom Kippur Is Different

This brings us to the remarkable exception: Yom Kippur.

On Yom Kippur, we do not whisper “Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto l’olam va’ed.”

We say it aloud.

The Maharal explains that Yom Kippur is different because it is a day on which the Jewish people temporarily separate themselves from ordinary physical life. We refrain from eating and drinking, washing, anointing, wearing leather shoes, and marital relations.

For one day, our physical needs recede and the holiness of the soul comes to the forefront.

The Maharal writes that Yom Kippur “is a holy day, and all of Israel are holy, without physical matters... Then certainly even an individual says ‘Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto,’ because this praise belongs only to one who is holy, as we have said.”

Throughout the year, we whisper “Baruch Shem” because it expresses the hidden holiness of the soul within a physical human being.

But on Yom Kippur, that holiness no longer needs to remain hidden.

For one extraordinary day, we step away from the physical world and become more like the angels. The words that belong to the deepest, most spiritual part of ourselves can finally be proclaimed aloud:

“Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto l’olam va’ed.”

Based on LeOr HaMaharal al Parashah U’Moed, by attorney Avraham Vinrot.