Rabbah b. Hinnana [the Elder] also said in the name of Rab : When one prays [the Tefillah] and has to bow, he should bow at the word "Blessed" ; and when returning to the erect position, he should do so on mentioning the Divine Name. Samuel asked : What is Rab's reason ? Because it is written, "The Lord raiseth up them that are bowed down" (ibid, cxlvi. 8). Against this is quoted, "And from before My name he is afraid" (Mal. ii. 5)! Is it written "at My name"? No, "from before My name" is written. Samuel said to Hiyya b. Rab : O son of the Law, come and let me tell thee an excellent thing which thy father once said. Thus spake thy father : When one bows, he should do so at the word "Blessed" ; and when he returns to the erect position, he should do so on mentioning the Divine Name.
12b
When Rab Sheshet bowed, he did so like a twig ; but when he returned to the erect position, he did so like a snake.

MISHNAH Rabban Gamaliel says: Every day one should pray the eighteen [benedictions]. GEMARA To what do these eighteen benedictions correspond ?


... R. Tanhum said in the name of R. Joshua b. Levi : They correspond to the eighteen vertebrae in the spinal column. R. Tanhum also said in the name of R. Joshua b. Levi : When one says the Tefillah, he must bow until all the vertebrae in the spine are loosened.

Ke'Hizra - [like] a staff in the hand of a person who strikes the staff downward in one motion Straightens (from the bow) like a snake - pleasantly, first his head, and the rest of his body afterwards, so his bow does not appear to be a burden upon him.

Ke'Hivya - like a snake that, when he straightens himself, lifts his head first, and then straightens himself gradually.

(The Ben Ish Chai) "Rav Sheshet when he would bow, he bowed like a rod; when he would straighten up, he straightened up like a snake." And it appears to me that there is another reason why he would practice bowing like a rod and straightening up like a snake: because the rod is a stick that alludes to the attribute of judgment, and he would act in his bowing as he was subduing the forces of judgment through bowing. But in straightening up, he straightened up like a snake, to allude to the sparks of holiness that fell through the sin of the serpent - that they should be raised up through this commandment of straightening up, and therefore he straightens up in the Name becuase if the Holy One, Blessed be He, would not help a person, he would not be able to.


And it further appears to me, with God's help, that the reason one bows at "Blessed" is to allude through this to the kindness that the Holy One, Blessed be He, did for man in the descent of the soul from the heavenly heights to this lower world, and this is like a form of bowing. Therefore he does it quickly like a pig, because the descent of the soul from above is quick, as it says (Psalms 147:15) "He sends His word to the earth; His word runs very swiftly." Therefore the bowing that alludes to the descent of the soul to this world is quick like a pig, and the straightening up that alludes to the ascent of the soul he does like the straightening of the snake - slowly, slowly, because the ascents of the soul will be in gradual stages, slowly, slowly.

'Ulla said : [He must bow] until he sees a small coin [issar]
opposite his heart. R. Hannina said : If he lowered his head, more than that is unnecessary. Raba said : That is so, if it gives him pain [to bow low] and he appears like one making obeisance.

Ulla said: until he can see a coin opposite his heart.

Rabbenu Hai z"l explained that he should bend his head like a reed so that he can see a coin that is placed on the ground opposite his heart, and not that he should divide his stature into two parts and bend it while standing upright. And it is possible to explain that he should bend his head so that if there were a coin or some object opposite his heart, he would see it.

There is a teaching: R. Judah said: It was the practice of R. 'Akiba, when he said the Tefillah with the Congregation, to shorten [the time in which he said it] and step back, so as to avoid troubling the Congregation; but when he said the Tefillah alone, a man might leave him in one corner and find him in another corner. And why so? Because of his bowings and genuflections.

Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Everything is due to the merit of prostration. Abraham returned from Mount Moriah [with Isaac] due only to the merit of prostrating – “we will prostrate ourselves, and we will return to you.” Israel was redeemed [from Egypt] due only to the merit of prostration, as it is stated: “The people believed…and they bowed and prostrated themselves” (Exodus 4:31). The Torah was given due only to the merit of prostration, as it is stated: “You shall prostrate yourselves from afar” (Exodus 24:1). Hannah was remembered [by God] due only to the merit of prostration, as it is stated: “They prostrated themselves before the Lord” (I Samuel 1:19). The exiles will be gathered in due only to the merit of prostration, as it is stated: “It will be on that day, a great shofar will be sounded…and they will prostrate themselves to the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 27:13). The Temple will be built due only to the merit of prostration, as it is stated: “Exalt the Lord our God and prostrate yourself at His holy mountain” (Psalms 99:9). The dead will be revived due only to the merit of prostration, as it is stated: “Come, let us prostrate ourselves and bow; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [oseinu]” (Psalms 95:6).

Bowing: What is implied?
One praying bows five times in each and every Amidah:
In the first blessing, at the beginning and at the end;
in the blessing of thanks, at the beginning and at the end; and
upon completing the Amidah, one bows and takes three steps backwards while bowing. He takes leave from his left and afterwards, from his right. Then, he lifts his head up from the bowed position.
When he bows the [other] four times, he does so at [the utterance of the word] "Blessed" and straightens up when [reciting] G‑d's name.
To whom does the above apply? To an average person.

Prostration, what is implied?
After one lifts his head from the fifth bow, he sits on the ground, falls with his face towards the earth, and utters all the supplications that he desires.
"Kneeling" always refers to [falling to] one's knees; "bowing," to bending over on one's face; and "prostration," to stretching out on one's hands and feet until he is flat with his face on the ground.

When uttering the supplication after the Amidah, there are those who bow and there are those who prostrate themselves.
It is forbidden to prostrate oneself on stones except in the Holy Temple, as we have explained in Hilchot Avodat Kochavim.

[The High Priest] would come to the goat for Azazel and place his two hands on it, and confess. And this is what he would say: "Please God, we, Your people the House of Israel, have committed wrongdoing, transgressed, and sinned before You. Please God, please forgive the wrongdoing, transgressions and sins that we, Your people the House of Israel, have committed, transgressed, and sinned before You. As it is written in the Torah of Moses Your servant (Leviticus 16:30), 'On this day, you will be forgiven and cleansed from all your sins—before Hashem you will be cleansed.'" Then, the priests and the people standing in the courtyard, when they heard the explicit Name from the mouth of the High Priest, would bend their knees, bow down and fall on their faces, and they would say, "Blessed be the Honored Name of His Sovereignty forever."

For on this day atonement shall be made for you to purify you of all your sins; you shall be pure before יהוה.

Ten wonders were wrought for our ancestors in the Temple: [8] the people stood pressed together, yet bowed down and had room enough; [9] never did a serpent or a scorpion harm anyone in Jerusalem; [10] and no man said to his fellow: the place is too congested for me to lodge overnight in Jerusalem.

And the priests and the people who were standing in the Temple Courtyard; when they heard the glorious and awesome Name [of God] explicitly pronounced from the mouth of the High Priest, with holiness and with purity, they bowed, prostrated themselves, offered thanks, and fell upon their faces, and said: “Blessed [is His] Name, His glorious kingdom is forever and ever.”
And He [the High Priest] prolonged the intoning of the Divine Name until the worshippers completed [the response]; and [completing the verse] said to them: “You will be cleansed.” And [now] with Your great goodness, arouse Your mercy, and pardon the community of Yeshurun.

Our Rabbis taught: Originally they would transmit [God's] twelve-lettered name to all people. When unruly men increased, it was confided to the discreet members of the priesthood, and these “swallowed it” during the chanting of their brothers, the priests. It was taught: R. Tarfon said: “I once ascended after my mother's brother to the platform, and inclined my ear to the High Priest, and heard him swallowing the name during the chanting of his brothers the priests.” Rav Judah said in the name of Rav: The forty-two lettered name is entrusted only to one who is discreet, humble...

And this is the general rule we have: anything that is not in the [Amidah prayer of] eighteen [blessings] - one may bow and prostrate as he wishes, that is to say, in a place where he prays for himself, where he is the one bowing and prostrating.

And regarding what we say in the Musaf service of Yom Kippur 'And the priests and the people etc. would bow down etc.' - Is it possible that the entire congregation bows down even though it is not about themselves? It is different in other cases because there we do it as a remembrance. We now (in YK Musaf) imagine ourselves in the place of the priests at the time when the Temple existed, as mentioned above regarding this matter. And similarly, regarding what we say in the Musaf of Yom Kippur in the Temple service 'They sinned, transgressed, and committed iniquity - the children of Israel' - we imagine ourselves as if we are those same House of Israel and we repent for our sins.

How truly glorious was the High Priest as he left the Holy of Holies, peacefully, unharmed. As the canopy of the heavens stretched out on high, was the appearance of the High Priest. As the glitter of light emanating from the brilliance of the Chayos, was the appearance of the High Priest. As the beautiful [blue] thread in the fringes of the four corners of a garment, was the appearance of the High Priest. As the rainbow in the clouds, was the appearance of the High Priest. As the garment of majestic splendor with which the Creator attired His creatures, was the appearance of the High Priest. As a rose planted in a beautiful garden, was the appearance of the High Priest. As a crown set upon a king's forehead, was the appearance of the High Priest. As the grace reflected in the face of a groom, was the appearance of the High Priest.

R. Simeon ben Gamaliel said, "Never were more joyous festivals in Israel than the fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur, for on them the maidens of Jerusalem used to go out dressed in white garments—borrowed ones, in order not to cause shame to those who had them not of their own..and thus they went out and danced in the vineyards,