Pesukei dezimra (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: פְּסוּקֵי דְּזִמְרָא, romanized: pǝsuqe ḏǝzimrāʾ "Verses of praise"; Rabbinic Hebrew: פַּסוּקֵי הַזְּמִירוֹת pasûqê hazzǝmîrôṯ "Verses of songs), or zemirot as they are called in the Spanish and Portuguese tradition, are a group of prayers that may be recited during Shacharit (the morning set of prayers in Judaism). They consist of various blessings, psalms, and sequences of other Biblical verses. Historically, reciting pesukei dezimra in morning prayer was a practice of only the especially pious. Over the course of Jewish history, their recitation has become widespread custom among all of the various rites of Jewish prayer.[1]
The goal of pesukei dezimra is for the individual to recite praises of God before making the requests featured later in Shacharit and the day.[2]