The prayer is also sometimes called Amidah ("standing") because it is recited while standing and facing the Aron Kodesh (the ark that houses the Torah scrolls).The basic form of the prayer was composed by the 120 Men of the Great Assembly in the fifth century B.C.E. ii. 2). Alternatives to the Shemoneh Esrei | Yeshivat Har Etzion 5; Geiger, in "Kerem emed," v. 102; idem, "Lehr- und Lesebuch zur Sprache der Mischnah," ii. on the resurrection (hence one of its names, "Teiyyat ha-Metim"; Ber. Verse 6 accounts for the petition against the enemy, No. ii. xv. In No. 76; Ber. We speak about the primary sources, and take a survey of the topics which we will encounter in our study of this quintessential Tefilah. Ber. And so in the final benedictionfor which the Sephardim always use the formula beginning with "Sim shalom," never that with "Shalom rab"among the blessings asked for is included that for "much strength," one not found in the German ritual. xi. This one speaks of the sanctity of the day (Ber. May it be a pleasure from before Thee, O Eternal, our God, to vouchsafe unto each sufficiency of sustenance and to each and every one enough to satisfy his wants. xix.). Ber. is the "Birkat ha-Din," the petition for justice (Meg. cxlvi. No. 9; Gen. xlix. Visit Stack Exchange Tour Start here for quick overview the site Help Center Detailed answers. 5). 14 (comp. 186-197, Berlin, 1897; Elbogen, Die Gesch. Shmoneh Esrei - Halachipedia xvi., as well as in the Minah and the silent prayer, the fast-day appeal might be inserted. Next to the Shema, the Amidah is the most widely recited Hebrew in the world. It is a supplication that the preceding prayers may be answered: "Hear our voice, O Lord our God, spare and have mercy on us, and accept in mercy and favor our prayer. 17b): "Look but upon our affliction and fight our fight and redeem us speedily for the sake of Thy name: for Thou art a strong redeemer. ); when Jacob touched the gate of heaven they intoned ". 18; Ps. i., while 1b is the key-note of the prayer for Rosh ha-Shanah. 2 Shemoneh Esrei - First Blessing Part 1 Hashem Open My Lips - Prepering to pray On Sabbath-eve after the congregation has read the "Tefillah" silently, the reader repeats aloud the so-called "Me-'En Sheba'," or summary (Ber. 27a; Hor. In attitude of body and in the holding of the hands devotion is to be expressed (see Shulan 'Aruk, Ora ayyim, 95 et seq. xviii. ", "[Thou wilt] dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, Thy city, as Thou hast spoken [promised], and the throne of David Thy servant speedily in its midst [Thou wilt] establish, and build it an everlasting building soon in our days. after the words "from everlasting we have hoped in Thee." 18a), and is so entitled. On the morning of the Ninth of Ab the kohanim may not pronounce the blessing, nor may the precentor read it. Ber. In The World of Prayer (p.13), Rabbi Eliyahu Munk, citing the Zohar, explains that the Shemoneh Esrei is the climactic moment of tefillah. Buber, p. 2a; Yer. While the Germans quote in the prayer the language of the Pentateuch in reference to the sacrifices, the Sephardim omit it. The worshiper was bidden to remain at the place whither his three backward steps had brought him for the space of time which would be required for traversing a space of four ells, or, if at public prayer-service, until the precentor, in the loud repetition, intoned the "edushshah.". that of the high priest in Yoma 70a and Yer. cix. xiv. @WAF, ich wrde es nicht wissen - ich verstehe nicht viel von dem, was in dem von mir zitierten Text steht. should be kept in mind, as it proves that prayers for Jerusalem, and even for the Temple, were not unusual while both were still standing. That, even after the "Tefillah" had been fixed as containing eighteen (nineteen) benedictions, the tendency to enlarge and embellish their content remained strong, may be inferred from the admonition not to exaggerate further God's praises (Meg. Among observant Jews, it is referred to as HaTefillah, or "the prayer" of Judaism. 4; Isa. 15; Ps. In No. Shemoneh Esrei - Koren Publishers Home 2022 Shemoneh Esrei No. Texts Topics Community Donate. According to Zunz, the seventh benediction looks like a duplication and is superfluous: at all events it is misplaced. On an ordinary Sabbath the middle benediction, in a labored acrostic composition in the inverted order of the alphabet, recalls the sacrifices ordained for the Sabbath, and petitions for restoration in order that Israel may once more offer the sacrifices as prescribed, the prayer concluding with an exaltation of the Sabbath. The prayer book according to the Ashkenazi rite. Whenever there is a minyan (group of ten) present, the Amidah will be repeated aloud (by the cantor) in the synagogue, and the congregant responds "Amen" after each blessing has been recited. Again: (1) In Yer. iv.-xv. iii., "holy King," in place of "holy God" at the close; in No. xii. On. . It is during this tefillah, as we stand in silent prayer in the presence of G-d, that we reach the highest rung on the Heavenly ladder, the - the world of pure spirit. found the fondness for these abstracts so strong that he pronounced a curse upon those who should use them (ib.). No. Thou art surely believed to resurrect the dead. v. 2: "if no understanding, whence prayer?"). ("the sprout of David"). Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Shemoneh Esrei: Exploring the Fundamentals of Faith through the Amida Prayer. This latter opinion harmonizes with the usual assumption that the "men of the Great Synagogue" arranged and instituted the prayer services (Ber.33a). 3 is the reminder that only seventeen words (excluding "okmah") are admissible. v. 16], 'The Lord God is exalted in judgment, and the Holy God is sanctified in righteousness.' Understanding the Shemoneh Esrei; The Philosophy of Shemitta; Theological Issues in Sefer BeReishit; Jewish Political Theory - Hilkhot Melakhim; Meaning in Mitzvot; Philosophy of Halakha; Understanding the Practice and Meaning of Halakha; A River Goes Out of Eden A century later the Sadducees furnished the type, hence it came to be designated as the "Birkat ha-adduim" (but "adduim" may in this connection be merely a euphemism for "Minim"; Yer. "Keepest his faith" = "keepeth truth forever," ib. The verses of Ecclesiasticus make it certain that the Syrian oppressors were the first against whom this outcry of the poor, oppressed victims of tyranny was directed. "Kol Bo" gives the number of the words contained therein as thirty-two, which agrees with none of the extant recensions. 14, xxv. begins with "Et ema Dawid" (Meg. minhag - Al Hannisim for Yom Ha'atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim - Mi Yodeya ii. At these words, three steps backward were taken (see Ora ayyim, l.c. ii. The historical kernel in these conflicting reports seems to be the indubitable fact that the benedictions date from the earliest days of the Pharisaic Synagogue. 34a). 36; Ps. 3). As the prevailing use of the plural shows, the"Shemoneh 'Esreh" was first intended as a prayer in behalf of the congregation, which listened in silence and at certain points bowed with the reader (Tos. xvi. (3) In many of alir's compositionsstill used in the Italian ritualfor Purim, Hosha'na Rabbah, the Seventeenth of Tammuz, and the Tenth of ebet, in which he follows the sequence of the "Tefillah," this No. Ber. ); (4) the eighteen "commands" which are in the pericope "Peude" (Ex. 165, cxxv. after "our wounds" follows "our sicknesses." The following brief prayer, attributed to R. Eliezer, is for use in places where wild animals and robbers may be prowling about: "Thy will be done in heaven above, and bestow ease of mind upon them that fear Thee [on earth] below, and what is good in Thine eyes execute. In No. 29a), indicate that primarily the longer eulogies were at least not popular. lv. Fill our hands with Thy blessings and the richness of the gifts of Thy hands. Note that the blessings should be recited while standing, with quiet devotion and without interruption. Verse 3 is a summary of the "edushshah" = benediction No. 16b). "King who lovest righteousness and justice," Ps. xiv. The form in use is somewhat longer than that given in the Talmud, where it is called "a pearl" on account of its sentiment (Ber. : "Behold our distress," Ps. . "Have mercy on Thy holy city, Jerusalem, the place of Thy dwelling. The Shemoneh Esrei or Amidah is the central Jewish prayer, recited three times a day and even more on Shabbat and holidays. 1, and "Yad," Teshubah, iii. 3, 36; lxxxiv. The prayer has undergone since the days of Gamaliel many textual changes, as the variety of versions extant evidences. ("Shibbole ha-Lee," p. 18). ii. 115b; Yer. The anti-Sadducean protest in this benediction is evident. ], they who err against Thee to be [will be] judged [xi. the resurrection is replaced by "sustaining in life the whole" and by "redeeming the soul of His servants from death." The choice of eighteen is certainly a mere accident; for at one time the collection contained less, and at another more, than that number. ix., where Moses calls forth the benediction by receiving the knowledge of God's ineffable name). Shemoneh Esrei. Interruptions are to be strictly avoided ( ib. Blessed be Thou, O Eternal, who hearest prayer" (ib.). xv.). Shemoneh Esrei-Jewish Used Books The prayer consists of three parts: Praise; national and personal requests; and thanksgiving. It consists of an introductory portion, which on Sabbath has four different forms for the four services, and another short portion, which is constant: "Our God and God of our fathers! xv. 2d ed., ii. xix., before the end, "May we be remembered and inscribed in the book of life, of blessing, of peace, and of good sustenance, we and all Thy people, the whole house of Israel, yea, for happy life and for peace"; and the close (in the German ritual) is changed to "Blessed be Thou, O Lord, who makest peace." For a God that heareth prayers and supplications art Thou. ): "and Thou wilt take delight in us as of yore. : Zech. By joining the precentor in reading aloud, one became notorious (ib.). 200-204; Bickell, Messe und Pascha, 1872, pp. lix. at Jabneh. Rock of our life, Shield of our help, Thou art immutable from age to age. ", Verse 3. The number of words in No. xiii. xvii. is a prayer in behalf of Jerusalem: "To Jerusalem Thy city return Thou in mercy and dwell in her midst as Thou hast spoken, and build her speedily in our days as an everlasting structure and soon establish there the throne of David. No. 28a) and R. Simeon ben Yoai (Ab. 25a; Ber. iii. Repentance and forgiveness have the power to speed up the healing process of . In the additional and Minah services more verses might be spoken after the "Shema'" and before and after the "Tefillah." The "Ge'ullah," redemption, should be the seventh benediction (Meg. The connection between the last benediction and the priestly blessing is established (Meg. 28b); (3) the eighteen psalms at the beginning of the Book of Psalms (i.-ii. or "humiliates the arrogant" (Amram); in the former phrase Saadia and Maimonides replace the noun "enemies" by "evil-doers.". Blessed be Thou, O Lord, who hearest prayer" (Ber. 154 (comp. Hurl back the adversary and humiliate the enemy. 20. vii. The congregation then continues: "Shield of the fathers by His word, reviving the dead by His command, the holy God to whom none is like; who causeth His people to rest on His holy Sabbath-day, for in them He took delight to cause them to rest. The last part is modified on New Moon. Petitions - The next thirteen blessings (middle section): Da'at, Teshuvah, Selichah, Ge'ulah, Refu'ah . Literally, the name means "eighteen"; and its wide use shows that at the time it came into vogue the benedictions ("berakot") comprised in the prayer must have numbered eighteen, though in reality as fixed in the versions recited in the synagogues they number nineteen. The word, (2) In the middle, non-constant benedictions (Nos. "Save us, God of all, and lift up Thy fear upon all the nations. i.: "Blessed be Thou, our God and the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" recalls Ex. to Ber. The "pious and poor" of the Psalms were the ideal types which the Pharisees sought to imitate. 2 et seq.). 8 (comp. 17), of the "Shemoneh 'Esreh" with the "psalms of the poor" is in keeping with the Pharisaic-asidic emphasis of the benedictions. In the Rosh ha-Shanah prayer the thought of God's rulership is all the more strongly emphasized; and this fact suggests that the Rosh ha-Shanah interpolations are posterior to the controversies with the Jewish heretics and the Romans, but not to the time when Christianity's Messianic theology had to be answered by affirmations of the Jewish teaching that God alone is king. The latter were the freethinkers; the former, the Judo-Christians. 17; Jer. xvii.) Interruptions are to be strictly avoided (ib. 343), and again to "120 elders and among these a number of prophets" (Meg. 20, lx. xxviii. xv. In the final part of the benediction appears all introductory petition on the three joyous festivals: "Let us receive, O Lord our God, the blessings of Thy appointed times for life and peace, for gladness and joy, wherewith Thou in Thy favor hast promised to bless us." (For differences in the Musaf for Sabbath and New Moon see Dembitz, l.c. Who is like Thee, master of mighty deeds [= owner of the powers over life and death], and who may be compared unto Thee? ", Verse 6. In the time of R. Akiba the knowledge of the eighteen benedictions was not yet universal; for he advised that one who was familiar with the prayer should recite it, and that one who was not might discharge his duty by reciting a rsum (ib. 17b): "May Thy mercies, O Lord our God, be stirred over the righteous and over the pious and over the elders of Thy people, the House of Israel, and over the remnant of their scribes, and over the righteous proselytes, and over us, and bestow a goodly reward upon them who truly confide in Thy name; and assign us our portion with them forever; and may we not come to shame for that we have trusted in Thee. The "Shemoneh 'Esreh" is prefaced by the verse "O Eternal, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim Thy praise" (Ps. 29a; Yer. Teh.) 21. iv. for the Sabbath the Sephardim add on Friday evening lines which the Ashkenazim include only in the additional service (see Dembitz, l.c. has a second version, styled the "Modim de-Rabbanan" and reading as follows: "We confess this before Thee that Thou art immutable, God our God and the God of our fathers, the God of all flesh. 81 et seq. Hence the necessity of resorting to mnemonic verses in order to prevent too much varietya method employed even by very late authorities. The abstracts, however, throw light on what may have been the number of the benedictions before Gamaliel fixed it at eighteen by addition of the petition for the punishment of traitors ("wela-malshinim") The Babylonian Talmud has preserved one version; Yerushalmi, another (or two: a longer and a briefer form, of which the fragments have been combined; see J. Derenbourg in "R. E. 18a); or, as R. Johanan has it: "Whoever exaggerates the laudations of the Holy Onepraised be He!will be uprooted from the world" (ib.). cxxxii. On festivals (even when coincident with the Sabbath) this "Sanctification of the Day" is made up of several sections, the first of which is constant and reads as follows: "Thou hast chosen us from all the nations, hast loved us and wast pleased with us; Thou hast lifted us above all tongues, and hast hallowed us by Thy commandments, and hast brought us, O our King, to Thy service, and hast pronounced over us Thy great and holy name.". Blessed be Thou, O Lord, the holy God.". In praying for the new month the Portuguese ritual adds: "May this month be the last of all our troubles, a beginning of our redemption." i. Rabban Gamli'el says, "Every day, a man should say Shemoneh Esrei.". n Judaism the central prayer in each of the daily services, recited silently and standing. In the festival liturgy the request for the restoring of the sacrificial service emphasizes still more the idea that the Exile was caused by "our sins" ("umi-pene aa'enu"): "On account of our sins have we been exiled from our country and removed from our land, and we are no longer able [to go up and appear and] to worship and perform our duty before Thee in the House of Thy choice," etc. "As before their eyes Thou wert proved the Holy One in us, so before our eyes be Thou glorified in them. 66a), while "erut" = "freedom" is another late Hebrew term. shield of Abraham" (No. ii. ", Verse 9. No. This is apparent from the haggadic endeavor to connect the stated times of prayer with the sacrificial routine of the Temple, the morning and the afternoon "Tefillah" recalling the constant offerings (Ber. v.), in which sense the root is not found in Biblical Hebrew. xii. 1283 Attempts. Including it, there are a total of nineteen blessings, though the official name of this collection of blessings remains "Shemoneh Esrei", meaning "eighteen". Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates. No. ii. iii. ; 'Olam R. The above account seems to suggest that this "new" (revised) addition to the benedictions was not admitted at once and without some opposition. xii. viii. 5, xxxiii. PDF 011 shemoneh esreh O - Kakatuv xxix. and xviii. 3. O Thou Merciful Being, in Thy great mercy restore Thy Shekinah to Zion and the order of service to Jerusalem. . Bracha #8 - Refuah (Healing) - Shemoneh Esrei - OU Torah xv. No. in the rebuilding of Thy city and in the restoration of Thy sanctuary [xiv.]. 153. J." Ber. Note that the blessings should be recited while standing, with quiet devotion and without interruption. 28b). "Give us understanding, O Eternal, our God [= No. Again, "our sicknesses" takes the place of "our sores or wounds." AMIDAH Prayers in English - BiblicalHebrewTextAndAccents Amidah - Everything2.com 89 et seq.). This prayer is called the Amidah (because it is recited standing); the weekday version is also called Shemoneh Esrei, the Eighteen Benedictions (although a nineteenth has since been added). The editorship is ascribed to Samuel the Younger (Ber. Jol, "Blicke in die Religionsgeschichte," i. xxxiii. "Swing on high the hand against the strange people and let them behold Thy might.
