Amidah

The repetition's original purpose was to give illiterate members of the congregation a chance to participate in the collective prayer by answering "Amen".

[7] According to the Talmud, Rabban Gamaliel II, the first leader of the Sanhedrin after the fall of the Second Temple in 70 CE, undertook to codify uniformly the public service, directing Simeon HaPakoli to edit the blessings (probably in the order they had already acquired) and made it a duty, incumbent on everyone, to recite the prayer three times daily.

[11][12] The Talmud indicates that when Gamaliel undertook to codify the Amidah, he directed Samuel ha-Katan to write another paragraph inveighing against informers and heretics, which was inserted as the twelfth prayer in modern sequence, making the number of blessings nineteen.

[15] On regular weekdays, the Amidah is prayed three times, once each during the morning, afternoon, and evening prayer services that are known respectively as Shacharit, Mincha, and Ma'ariv.

After the Second Temple's destruction in 70 CE, the Council of Jamnia determined that the Amidah would substitute for the sacrifices, directly applying Hosea's dictate, "So we will render for bullocks the offering of our lips.

The nineteen blessings are as follows: The custom has gradually developed of reciting, at the conclusion of the latter, the supplication with which Mar son of Ravina used to conclude his prayer: My God, keep my tongue and my lips from speaking deceit, and to them that curse me let my soul be silent, and like dust to all.

[25] Three steps back are followed by a followup prayer: Mainstream Ashkenazi Orthodox Judaism also adds the following prayer to the conclusion of every Amidah: May it be your will, O my God and God of my fathers, that the Temple be rebuilt speedily in our days, and give us our portion in your Torah, and there we will worship you with reverence as in ancient days and former years.

The repetition's original purpose was to allow individual who did not know the prayer text to be included in the chazzan's Amidah by answering "Amen.

It is occasionally performed in Orthodox prayers (in some communities it is customary for mincha to be recited in this way), and more common in Conservative and Reform congregations.

The Talmud says that one who is riding an animal or sitting in a boat (or by modern extension, flying in an airplane) may recite the Amidah while seated, as the precarity of standing would disturb one's focus.

Halakha traditionally allows individuals with illnesses or disabilities that prevent them from standing during prayer to pray while seated or, if needed, lying on their side.

[43]The Talmud records the following baraita on this topic: A blind man, or one who cannot orient himself, should direct his heart toward his Father in Heaven, as it is said, "They shall pray to the Lord" (I Kings 8).

Sources disagree on whether or not it is necessary to calculate the direction precisely, and in any case, one should not face Jerusalem if it means turning their back to the Torah ark.

The Talmud understands this as a reminder of the practice in the Temple in Jerusalem when those offering the daily sacrifices would walk backward from the altar after finishing.

The reason for this procedure is that the Hebrew word for "blessed" (baruch) is related to "knee" (berech), and a verse in Psalm 146 states, "The Lord straightens the bent.

[55] Although this is a repetition intended to be recited by the leader alon, the common Ashkenazic practice (except for those who follow the Vilna Gaon is that the congregation recited the middle part aloud, and then the leader repeats it:[56] Shield of the fathers by His word, who revives the dead by His command, the holy God to whom none is like; who causes His people to rest on His holy Sabbath-day, for in them He took delight to cause them to rest.

The first section is constant on all holidays: You have chosen us from all the nations, You have loved us and was pleased with us; You lifted us above all tongues, and sanctified us with Your commandments, and brought us, O our King, to Your service, and pronounced over us Your great and holy name.A paragraph naming the festival and its special character follow.

On the Shabbat, festivals (i.e., on Yom Tov and on Chol HaMoed), and on Rosh Chodesh, a fourth Amidah prayer is recited, entitled Mussaf ("additional").

Between the holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Passover respectively,[61] God's "power of [providing] rain" (גבורות גשמים‎) is mentioned in the second blessing of the Amidah (Gevurot).

In the normative contemporary Sephardic tradition, which prohibits such additions, places them before the Mussaf Amidah; the exception is that Spanish and Portuguese communities follow the older custom to recite it during the repetition.

Preserve and save this year from all evil and from all kinds of destroyers and from all sorts of punishments: and establish for it good hope and as its outcome peace.

During the final recitation of the Amidah on Yom Kippur the prayer is slightly modified to read "seal us" in the book of life, rather than "write us".

On Tisha B'Av at Minchah, Ashkenazim add a prayer that begins Nachem ("Console...") to the conclusion of the blessing Binyan Yerushalayim, elaborating on the mournful state of the Temple in Jerusalem.

On Chol HaMoed and Rosh Chodesh, the prayer Ya'aleh Veyavo ("May [our remembrance] rise and be seen...") is inserted in the blessing of Avodah.

They attempted to fit the Ashkenazic liturgy with the rulings of the 16th century Kabbalist Isaac Luria, commonly known in Jewish religious circles as "Ha'ARI" ("The Ari")[70] The Ari formulated a text that was adapted from the Sepharadi text in accordance with his understanding of Kabbalah, and the Chasidim adapted Nusach Ashkenaz to fit with his rulings, making what became known as Nusach Sefard.

Following the Zionist declaration of the State of Israel, some Orthodox authorities proposed changes to the special Nachem "Console..." prayer commemorating the destruction of Jerusalem added to the Amidah on Tisha B'Av in light of these events.

Conservative and Reform Judaism have altered the text to varying degrees to bring it into alignment with their view of modern needs and sensibilities.

Conservative Judaism retains the traditional number and time periods during which the Amidah must be said, while omitting explicit supplications for restoration of the sacrificial offerings described and commanded in the Torah.

Both prayers have been modified within the siddur of Conservative Judaism so that, though they still ask for the restoration of the Temple, they remove the explicit plea for the resumption of sacrifices.

[71] This has also been identified by Martin Hengel in his book The Pre-Christian Paul, arguing that Saul/Paul was a teacher in the Hellenistic synagogues of Jerusalem prior to his conversion to Christianity.