Amida

Koren Shalem Siddur·PDF 480-481·Amidah

עמידה

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On Yom Tov (including one that falls on Shabbat) say the appropriate Amida on page 816.

עמידה

THE AMIDA

The following prayer, until “in former years” on page 420, is said silently, standing with feet together. Take three steps forward and 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 səpatay tiptach upi yaggid təhillateka

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. בְּשַׁבָּת שׁוּבָה: 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 and 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. On Shabbat Shuva: 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

baruk 'atta 'dny 'elohenu we'lohe 'abotenu 'elohe 'abraham 'elohe yitzchak we'lohe ya'akob ha'el haggadol haggibbor wəhannora' 'el 'elyon gomel chasadim tobim koneh hakkol wəzoker chasde 'abot umebi' go'el libne bənehem ləma'an shəmo bə'ahaba bəshabbat shuba zakərenu ləchayyim melek chapetz bachayyim wəkatəbenu bəseper hachayyim ləma'anka 'elohim chayyim melek 'ozer umoshia' umagen baruk 'atta 'dny magen 'abraham

// Commentary

On Shabbat and Yom Tov, the Amida, the “standing prayer,” consists not of nineteen but seven blessings (in Musaf of Rosh HaShana, nine). The first and last three are, with minor variations, the same throughout the year. The seventh (middle) blessing is dedicated to the special “sanctity of the day.” Uniquely on Shabbat, this blessing is different for each of the three services; evening, morning and afternoon (the Musaf prayer is in a category of its own). The quality of time on Shabbat is different from other days: like a symphony, it has several movements. On Friday evening, we speak of the Shabbat of creation; in the morning, of the Shabbat of revelation, as it was commanded on Mount Sinai; and in the afternoon, we look forward to the Shabbat of redemption. Thus in the evening, we think of the birth of time; in the morning, of historical time, the remembered past and the living present; and in the afternoon, of the culmination of time, and the World to Come of which Shabbat is the foretaste. Shabbat becomes a journey through the three phases of faith: God’s creation of the universe, His self-revelation to humanity, and His redemptive acts - collectively summoning us to build a world at peace with itself because it is at peace with God.

Another interpretation sees in the three stages of Shabbat the three parts of a wedding: first betrothal, kiddushin; then the marriage itself, symbolized by joy; then yihud, the coming together of the bride and groom (Abudarham). This idea, reflected in the language of the Amida, accords with the mystical understanding of Shabbat as a bride, and the day itself as a marriage of heaven and earth.