The Laws of Prayer /Verses of Praise (20)

1. Before starting to recite the verses of praise, we say the blessing of “Baruch she’amar”. It is correct to say it standing, even when praying privately. When saying this blessing, one should hold the two front Tzitzis, and at the end of the blessing one should kiss them and put them down. (Shulchan Aruch and Mishne Berurah 51)

2. In this blessing there are there are fifty-seven words. This is alluded to in the verse “his head is of the finest gold” (the numeric value of the word “paz”, referring to fine gold, is fifty-seven), which means that the beginning of the prayer, which is this blessing, has fifty-seven words. (ibid)