Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Halakhah הֲלָכָה
Three steps forward before the Amidah
In Sefer Ha-Rokei’ah, Rabbi Elazar of Worms makes a connection between three places in the Tanakh where the word וַיִּגָּשׁ (va-yigash, he approached appears:
- When Avraham pleads with God not to destroy the city of Sedom (Bereishit 18:23)
- When Yehudah approaches Yosef, here in the very beginning of our parashah (Bereishit 44:18)
- When Eliyahu confronts the prophets of Ba’al (Melakhim Alef 18:36)
From these three instances of approaching, the Sefer Ha-Rokei’ah teaches that a person should take three steps forward before beginning the Amidah. The Rema (Orah Hayyim 95:1) also mentions this practice, and it is very common today.
Three steps back and three steps forward?
You might have seen people before the Amidah taking three steps back and three steps forward. There’s nothing wrong with doing it this way, and it often makes sense where space is limited. But the Mishnah Berurah (Orah Hayyim 95:3) comments that the three steps backward are not necessary. You can just take three steps forward immediately, without first stepping back.
What about after the Amidah?
- According to the Talmud (Yoma 53b), we should take three steps backward after the Amidah and then stay paused for at least a moment before stepping forward.
- The Talmud compares this situation to a student leaving their teacher, saying that it would be disrespectful to immediately move on to the next thing after departing. Similarly, since the Amidah is like standing before God, we should remain in our place for a moment after taking three steps back when it’s over.
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