Amida

Koren Shalem Siddur·PDF 168-169·Amidah

עמידה

Reader Layers

3 layers visible · Sephardi transliteration defaults on

עמידה

THE AMIDA

The following prayer, until “in former years” on page 138, is said standing with feet together in imitation of the angels in Ezekiel’s vision (Ezek. 1:7). The Amida is said silently, following the precedent of Hannah when she prayed for a child (1 Sam. 1:13). If there is a minyan, it is repeated aloud by the Leader. Take three steps forward, as if formally entering the place of the Divine Presence. At the points indicated by “, bend the knees at the first word, bow at the second, and stand straight before saying God’s name.

Ps. 51

Hebrew

אֲדֹנָי, שְׂפָתַי תִּפְתָּח, וּפִי יַגִּיד תְּהִלָּתֶךָ.

English

O LORD, open my lips, so that my mouth may declare Your praise.

Sephardi

Adonai, sefatai tiftach, ufi yagid tehillatecha.

אבות

PATRIARCHS

Hebrew

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהוָה, אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, אֱלֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם, אֱלֹהֵי יִצְחָק, וֵאלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב, הָאֵל הַגָּדוֹל הַגִּבּוֹר וְהַנּוֹרָא, אֵל עֶלְיוֹן, גּוֹמֵל חֲסָדִים טוֹבִים, קוֹנֵה הַכֹּל, וְזוֹכֵר חַסְדֵי אָבוֹת, וּמֵבִיא גוֹאֵל לִבְנֵי בְנֵיהֶם לְמַעַן שְׁמוֹ בְּאַהֲבָה. בְּעֲשֶׂרֶת יְמֵי תְשׁוּבָה: זָכְרֵנוּ לְחַיִּים, מֶלֶךְ חָפֵץ בַּחַיִּים, וְכָתְבֵנוּ בְּסֵפֶר הַחַיִּים, לְמַעֲנְךָ אֱלֹהִים חַיִּים. מֶלֶךְ עוֹזֵר וּמוֹשִׁיעַ וּמָגֵן. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהוָה, מָגֵן אַבְרָהָם.

English

Blessed are You, LORD our God and God of our fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac and God of Jacob; the great, mighty and awesome God, God Most High, who bestows acts of loving-kindness, who creates all, who remembers the loving-kindness of the fathers and will bring a Redeemer to their children’s children for the sake of His name, in love. Between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur: Remember us for life, O King who desires life, and write us in the book of life — for Your sake, O God of life. King, Helper, Savior, Shield: Blessed are You, LORD, Shield of Abraham.

Sephardi

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu v'Elohei avoteinu, Elohei Avraham, Elohei Yitzchak, v'Elohei Yaakov, ha'El hagadol hagibor v'hanora, El Elyon, gomel chasadim tovim, koneh hakol, v'zocher chasdei avot, u'mevi go'el livnei veneihem l'ma'an shemo b'ahavah. Ba'aseret y'mei teshuvah: Zochreinu l'chayyim, Melech chafetz bachayyim, v'chotveinu b'sefer hachayyim, l'ma'ancha Elohim chayyim. Melech ozer u'moshia u'magen. Baruch Atah Adonai, magen Avraham.

// Commentary

The Amida is the summit of prayer: in it, we enter the holy of holies of religious experience. We say it standing because we are conscious of being in the unmediated presence of God. The name Amida is also related to its earliest setting: prayers said by the people of the Ma’amad, groups of laymen who, in Second Temple times, accompanied their local “watch” (mishmar) of priests who officiated in the Temple on a one-in-24-week schedule. The Ma’amad was one of the prototypes of congregational prayer.

According to tradition, the Amida in embryonic form dates back to the Great Assembly in the time of Ezra following the Jews’ return from Babylon. Several centuries later, it was canonized in a fuller form by Shimon HaPakuli in the days of Rabban Gamliel II (Berakhot 28b).

It is often called the Shemoneh Esreh, “Eighteen,” because it originally consisted of eighteen blessings (now, nineteen). It has a three-part structure: (1) praise (blessings 1–3), (2) requests (blessings 4–16), and (3) thanks (17–19). Each of these has a tripartite form. The first and last sections each contain three blessings. The middle section is composed of twelve blessings (4–15), six personal requests and six collective ones. The first three personal requests are for spiritual goods (wisdom, repentance and forgiveness). The second are for physical goods (deliverance, healing and livelihood). The first three national requests are for physical events (ingathering of exiles, justice, and an end to internal conflicts). The second three are for the nation’s spiritual needs (the righteous and pious, the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the restoration of the Davidic monarchy). One blessing, “Compassionate Father” (the sixteenth, last of the “request” blessings), stands outside this structure because it is a prayer about prayer itself. It is also the point at which individuals can add their personal requests.