- Amidah - The Standing Prayer
- Shemoneh Esreh - 18 Benedictions
- Kevah - Fixed Prayer
- Kavannah - Intentional Prayer
O God, God, my deliverer,
that I may sing forth Your beneficence. (17) O Lord, open my lips,
and let my mouth declare Your praise. (18) You do not want me to bring sacrifices;
You do not desire burnt offerings; (19) True sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit;
God, You will not despise
a contrite and crushed heart.
(17) O Lord, open my lips,
and let my mouth declare Your praise.
Lord, open my lips, assist me in formulating these words, so my mouth may declare Your praise.
Each time we pray the supreme prayer, the Amida, we begin by saying silently a verse from Psalms: “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare Your praise” (Ps. 51:17). At the highest point of the encounter with God, we do not speak: we are spoken. We open our mouths but the words we utter do not come from us, though they come through us. Prayer, like prophecy, is an extinction of the self (known in Jewish mysticism as bittul hayesh) in the presence of the One-who-is-all.
- Step back three steps as one recites each of the first three words
- Then step forward three steps and put one’s feet together at attention, as one recites the last three words.
Unlike the prayers in the Amidah proper that are in the plural as we join as a community in prayer, these words, like those which conclude the Amidah, are in the singular, as each of us attempts to connect with the whole congregation through our personal prayers.
- This line was added by Rabbi Yochanan, great third century sage of the land of Israel
“When frail and insignificant man stands before his Maker and contemplates His praises, he should be struck silent with awe. Therefore, he must pray for divine assistance to open his mouth and grant it the ability to declare God’s praises.” (Artscroll Ketuvim.)
“We are, as it were, dumb when we want to address God. We need God’s help in what we are about to do. Prayer, in other words, is not the utterances of the person praying, as a subject, to God, as object. Prayer is, rather, the interaction of the person praying with God. For prayer to work, Dorff notes, God has to want to help us pray as much as we must want to pray.” (Rabbi Elliot Dorff)
“Prayer may ultimately be an exercise for helping us let go of our egos, hopelessly anchored to this world where one person is discrete from another, and from God, and soar to the heavens where we realize there is a holy One to all being and that we have been an expression of it all along.” (Rabbi Lawrence Kushner)
Rav Yehuda said: There is an additional distinction between the various sections of the Amida prayer: One must never request his own needs in the first three or in the last three blessings; rather, he should do so in the middle blessings. As Rabbi Ḥanina said: During the first three blessings, he is like a servant who arranges praise before his master; during the middle blessings, he is like a servant who requests a reward from his master; during the final three blessings, one is like a servant who already received a reward from his master and is taking his leave and departing.
Shemonah Esrei is divided into 3 sections: praises, requests, and thanksgiving;
(ג) רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר, בְּכָל יוֹם מִתְפַּלֵּל אָדָם שְׁמֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה. רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר, מֵעֵין שְׁמֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה. רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא אוֹמֵר, אִם שְׁגוּרָה תְפִלָּתוֹ בְּפִיו, יִתְפַּלֵּל שְׁמֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה. וְאִם לָאו, מֵעֵין שְׁמֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה:
(ד) רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, הָעוֹשֶׂה תְפִלָּתוֹ קֶבַע, אֵין תְּפִלָּתוֹ תַּחֲנוּנִים. רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר, הַמְהַלֵּךְ בִּמְקוֹם סַכָּנָה, מִתְפַּלֵּל תְּפִלָּה קְצָרָה. אוֹמֵר, הוֹשַׁע הַשֵּׁם אֶת עַמְּךָ אֶת שְׁאֵרִית יִשְׂרָאֵל, בְּכָל פָּרָשַׁת הָעִבּוּר יִהְיוּ צָרְכֵיהֶם לְפָנֶיךָ. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' שׁוֹמֵעַ תְּפִלָּה:
(3) The mishna cites a dispute with regard to the obligation to recite the Amida prayer, also known as Shemoneh Esreh, the prayer of eighteen blessings, or simply as tefilla, prayer. Rabban Gamliel says: Each and every day a person recites the prayer of eighteen blessings. Rabbi Yehoshua says: A short prayer is sufficient, and one only recites an abridged version of the prayer of eighteen blessings. Rabbi Akiva says an intermediate opinion: If he is fluent in his prayer, he recites the prayer of eighteen blessings, and if not, he need only recite an abridged version of the prayer of eighteen blessings.
(4) Rabbi Eliezer says: One whose prayer is fixed, his prayer is not supplication and is flawed. The Gemara will clarify the halakhic implications of this flaw. Rabbi Yehoshua says: One who cannot recite a complete prayer because he is walking in a place of danger, recites a brief prayer and says: Redeem, Lord, Your people, the remnant of Israel, at every transition [parashat ha’ibur], the meaning of which will be discussed in the Gemara. May their needs be before You. Blessed are You, Lord, Who listens to prayer.
Amidah, made up of nineteen blessings (originally eighteen) on weekdays and seven on Shabbat and holidays.
- Rabban Gameliel said: everyone must say 18 benedictions every day. Rabbi Joshua said, A synopsis suffices. Rabbi Akiva said: 18 benedictions are desirable only if people know them fluently; if not, they should say a synopsis of 18 benedictions. Rabbi Eliezer said: If you make your prayers a fixed task, your prayers do not count as real supplications. (M. Ber 4:3-4)
GEMARA: Since the mishna deals with the fundamental obligation to recite the Amida prayer, the Gemara seeks to resolve fundamental problems pertaining to this prayer. Corresponding to what were these eighteen blessings instituted? When the Shemoneh Esreh was instituted by the Sages, on what did they base the number of blessings? Rabbi Hillel, son of Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani, said: Corresponding to the eighteen mentions of God’s name that King David said in the psalm: “Give unto the Lord, O you sons of might” (Psalms 29). Rav Yosef said: Corresponding to the eighteen mentions of God’s name in Shema. Rabbi Tanḥum said that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Corresponding to the eighteen vertebrae in the spine beneath the ribs.
Regarding this, Rav Shemen, Shimon, bar Abba said to Rabbi Yoḥanan: the eighteen blessings of the Amida prayer and the other prayer formulas for prayer were instituted for Israel by the members of the Great Assembly just like all the other blessings and prayers, sanctifications and havdalot;
ברוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ
אֱלֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם אֱלֹהֵי יִצְחָק וֵאלֹהֵי יַעֲקב
[וֵאלֹהֵי שָׂרָה אֱלֹהֵי רִבְקָה אֱלֹהֵי רָחֵל וֵאלֹהֵי לֵאָה]
הָאֵל הַגָּדוֹל הַגִּבּוֹר וְהַנּוֹרָא אֵל עֶלְיוֹן
גּוֹמֵל חֲסָדִים טוֹבִים וְקוֹנֵה הַכּל
[וְזוֹכֵר חַסְדֵּי אָבוֹת [וְאִמָהוֹת
וּמֵבִיא גוֹאֵל לִבְנֵי בְנֵיהֶם לְמַעַן שְׁמוֹ בְּאַהֲבָה
מֶלֶךְ עוֹזֵר וּמוֹשִׁיעַ וּמָגֵן
[בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ מָגֵן אַבְרָהָם [וּפוֹקֵד שָׂרָה
Elohei Avraham, Elohei Yitzchak, v’Elohei Ya’akov
[Elohei Sarah, Elohei Rivka, Elohei Rachel, v’Elohei Leah.]
Ha’El ha’gadol ha’gibor v’ha’nora
El Elyon, gomel hasadim tovim v’koneh ha’kol
Zocher hasdei avot [v’imahot]
Umevi go’el livnei v’neihem l’ma’an shemo b’ahavah
Melech ozer umoshiya umagen
Baruch ata adonai, magen Avraham [u’foked Sarah].
God of Abraham, God of Isaac and God of Jacob
[God of Sarah, God of Rebecca, God of Rachel, and God of Leah.]
The great, mighty and awesome God, God most high
Who bestows loving kindness and goodness and who creates everything
Who remembers the good deeds of the Patriarchs [and Matriarchs]
And who will lovingly bring a redeemer to their children’s children for the sake of God's name
King, Helper, Redeemer, and Shield
Blessed are you Adonai, Shield of Abraham [and Gracious Visitor of Sarah].
Why do you think we are invoking the names of our patriarch's while beginning to bless Hashem in the Amidah? What is the function of this?
The Gemara proceeds to explain this order: The Sages taught in a baraita: From where is it derived that one says the blessing of the Patriarchs, the first blessing of the Amida? As it is stated: “Ascribe to the Lord, mighty ones” (Psalms 29:1), which means that one should mention before the Lord the mighty ones of the world, i.e., the Patriarchs. And from where is it derived that one then says the blessing of mighty deeds? As it is stated in the continuation of that verse: “Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength” (Psalms 29:1). And from where is it derived that one then says the blessing of holiness? As it is stated in the next verse: “Give to the Lord the glory due to God's name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Psalms 29:2).
Shemonah Esrei is a direct link to talking to Hashem, one may question whether or not we merit this opportunity. The answer is in the very first bracha of the Amidah, because we are descendants from Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaacov. It is therefore our ancestral merit as Jews to talk to the Creator of the world.
(ט) תְּפִלּוֹת אֵלּוּ אֵין פּוֹחֲתִין מֵהֶן אֲבָל מוֹסִיפִין עֲלֵיהֶם. אִם רָצָה אָדָם לְהִתְפַּלֵּל כָּל הַיּוֹם כֻּלּוֹ הָרְשׁוּת בְּיָדוֹ. וְכָל אוֹתָן הַתְּפִלּוֹת שֶׁיּוֹסִיף כְּמוֹ מַקְרִיב נְדָבוֹת. לְפִיכָךְ צָרִיךְ שֶׁיְּחַדֵּשׁ דָּבָר בְּכָל בְּרָכָה וּבְרָכָה מִן הָאֶמְצָעִיּוֹת מֵעֵין הַבְּרָכוֹת. וְאִם חִדֵּשׁ אֲפִלּוּ בִּבְרָכָה אַחַת דַּיּוֹ כְּדֵי לְהוֹדִיעַ שֶׁהִיא נְדָבָה וְלֹא חוֹבָה. וְשָׁלֹשׁ רִאשׁוֹנוֹת וְשָׁלֹשׁ אַחֲרוֹנוֹת לְעוֹלָם אֵין מוֹסִיפִין בָּהֶן וְלֹא פּוֹחֲתִין מֵהֶן וְאֵין מְשַׁנִּין בָּהֶן דָּבָר:
(9) The number of these prayers may not be diminished, but may be increased. If a person wants to pray all day long, he may.
Any prayer that one adds is considered as a freewill offering. Therefore, one must add a new idea consistent with that blessing in each of the middle blessings. [However], making an addition of a new concept even in only one blessing is sufficient in order to make known that this is a voluntary prayer and not obligatory.
https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/assets/public/halakhah/teshuvot/19861990/rembaum_matriarchs.pdf
"Because the Siddur, perhaps more than any other compilation of Jewish religious expression, has embodied the ideas that have both shaped and reflected the deepest beliefs and concerns of our people, significant ideological and communal developments and trends have always been represented in our prayers. In a generation when women are assuming a more significant role in the religious life of the Conservative Jewish community, it is appropriate that the prayer that expresses the unity, commitment and lofty aspirations of the Jewish people, the i11'~37, be modified so that it can speak to all members of our congregations, male and female alike. The inclusion of the names of the Matriarchs"
https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/halakhah/teshuvot/19861990/rembaum_matriarchs.pdf