When reciting the Amidah, an individual should have in mind that they are truly standing before the King of kings. For this reason, tradition suggests that the proper way of approaching the Amidah is to take three steps forward into the posture of prayer. An additional custom has developed to take three steps back prior to taking the three steps forward, which apparently derived from the practical need for space to move forward.
It is customary to take three steps forward prior to praying the Amidah, in order to express one’s desire to come closer to Hashem and to stand before Him (Rama 95:1). A person who is already standing in his place of prayer does not need to take three steps back in order to return and step towards prayer. The fact that he came to synagogue demonstrates that he already brought himself closer to prayer and took more than three steps towards it (Eliyah Rabbah). Some say that it is proper even for a person who already walked to his place of prayer to step backwards just before the Amidah and then to take three steps forward again towards his place of prayer (Ben Ish Chai, B’shalach 3; Kaf HaChaim 95:7).
In his introduction to the Rabbinical Council of America’s version of the ArtScroll Siddur, Rabbi Saul Berman has a lovely essay on the opening word of today’s Parsha, vayigash, “And he drew close.” Because the work is not widely available outside America, I summarise the essay here.
It is our custom to take three steps forward before beginning the Amidah, the “standing prayer.” These steps symbolise a formal approach to the Divine presence. It is as if we had been ushered into the innermost chamber of the palace, and we “draw close” to present our petition to the supreme King of kings.
R. Eleazar ben Judah (c.1165-c.1230), author of the Sefer Rokeach, made the fascinating suggestion that these three steps correspond to the three times in the Hebrew Bible where the word vayigash, “and he drew close,” is used in connection with prayer.
(כג) וַיִּגַּ֥שׁ אַבְרָהָ֖ם וַיֹּאמַ֑ר הַאַ֣ף תִּסְפֶּ֔ה צַדִּ֖יק עִם־רָשָֽׁע׃ (כד) אוּלַ֥י יֵ֛שׁ חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים צַדִּיקִ֖ם בְּת֣וֹךְ הָעִ֑יר הַאַ֤ף תִּסְפֶּה֙ וְלֹא־תִשָּׂ֣א לַמָּק֔וֹם לְמַ֛עַן חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים הַצַּדִּיקִ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר בְּקִרְבָּֽהּ׃ (כה) חָלִ֨לָה לְּךָ֜ מֵעֲשֹׂ֣ת ׀ כַּדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֗ה לְהָמִ֤ית צַדִּיק֙ עִם־רָשָׁ֔ע וְהָיָ֥ה כַצַּדִּ֖יק כָּרָשָׁ֑ע חָלִ֣לָה לָּ֔ךְ הֲשֹׁפֵט֙ כׇּל־הָאָ֔רֶץ לֹ֥א יַעֲשֶׂ֖ה מִשְׁפָּֽט׃
(23) Abraham came forward and said, “Will You sweep away the innocent along with the guilty? (24) What if there should be fifty innocent within the city; will You then wipe out the place and not forgive it for the sake of the innocent fifty who are in it? (25) Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty, so that innocent and guilty fare alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”
(יח) וַיִּגַּ֨שׁ אֵלָ֜יו יְהוּדָ֗ה וַיֹּ֘אמֶר֮ בִּ֣י אֲדֹנִי֒ יְדַבֶּר־נָ֨א עַבְדְּךָ֤ דָבָר֙ בְּאׇזְנֵ֣י אֲדֹנִ֔י וְאַל־יִ֥חַר אַפְּךָ֖ בְּעַבְדֶּ֑ךָ כִּ֥י כָמ֖וֹךָ כְּפַרְעֹֽה׃
(18) Then Judah went up to him and said, “Please, my lord, let your servant appeal to my lord, and do not be impatient with your servant, you who are the equal of Pharaoh.
(כא) וַיִּגַּ֨שׁ אֵלִיָּ֜הוּ אֶל־כׇּל־הָעָ֗ם וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ עַד־מָתַ֞י אַתֶּ֣ם פֹּסְחִים֮ עַל־שְׁתֵּ֣י הַסְּעִפִּים֒ אִם־ה׳ הָאֱלֹקִים֙ לְכ֣וּ אַחֲרָ֔יו וְאִם־הַבַּ֖עַל לְכ֣וּ אַחֲרָ֑יו וְלֹא־עָנ֥וּ הָעָ֛ם אֹת֖וֹ דָּבָֽר׃
(21) Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you keep hopping between two opinions? If the ETERNAL is God, then follow [the ETERNAL]; and if Baal, follow [Baal]!” But the people answered him not a word.
There are echoes of these encounters in the first three paragraphs of the Amidah. The first is about the patriarchs. God “remembers the good deeds of the fathers.” This reminds us of Abraham’s prayer.
The second is about Gevurah, God’s governance of the universe, “supporting the fallen, healing the sick, setting free the bound and keeping faith with those who lie in the dust.” When we recite it, we are like Judah standing before Joseph, a servant or subject in the presence of sovereignty and power.
The third is about Kedushat Hashem, “the holiness of God’s name,” meaning the acknowledgement of God by human beings. When an act makes people conscious of God’s existence, we call it a Kiddush Hashem. That is precisely what Elijah sought to do, and succeeded in doing, on Mount Carmel.
These three prayers – each an historic moment in the unfolding of the human spirit towards God – together represent the full spectrum of emotions and concerns we bring to the act of prayer. Each is introduced by the word vayigash, “and he approached, drew close, stepped forward.” As we take three steps forward at the start of each prayer, we are thereby retracing the footsteps of three giants of the spirit, Abraham, Judah, and Elijah, re-enacting their great encounters with God.
The psalms are essentially about faith, but not as faith is often imagined. Many of us believe it to be an achieved state, a place on a spiritual map, a glow of unwavering belief in relation to God. But such a conception bears little resemblance to the real experience of religious life, which is always a vector, a way of directing and redirecting oneself towards God in various gradations of intensity and confidence.
The psalms have touched people because they reflect the lived experience of religion, not neat theological doctrine...
It is precisely the psalms' refusal to engage in theological piety - their overflowing into wild jubilance or anger or deeply wrenching despair - that allows them to resonate as perennial expressions of the human desire to stand simply and unabashedly before God. (xvi-xvii)