What is the Amidah? The Jewish Standing Prayer

The heart of Jewish worship is a prayer referred to as the Amidah or standing prayer. In fact reciting the Amidah was synonymous with prayer itself to the ancient rabbis and is sometimes referred to in the Talmud simply as Tefillah the Amidah is the main course of Jewish prayer everything else is an appetizer or a side dish The Amidah is a chain of short blessings that are recited together while standing quietly at every occasion of formal Jewish worship although the Amidah is a prayer recited silently while standing in place were citing the Amidah is hardly a stationary experience and many worshipers develop unique ways to move their bodies while reciting the words of the Amidah some rush through the words at only a few minutes while others stand and quiet dialogue with God oblivious to the clock steadily marking the passage of time The Talmudic rabbis provided guidance for the basic structure of the Amidah The first three blessings should be occasions for praise of God the final three blessings comprise our expressions of gratitude as we take a leave of God's presence and the blessings in the middle are a chance to make specific requests the blessings in-between the first three and the final three blessings change according to the season during the week day 13 specific requests comprise the bulk of the Amidah these requests focus on practical needs of health and the ability to make wise choices as well as more lofty yearnings for redemption and a world transformed by justice On Shabbat and holidays when we pause to rest those 13 requests are replaced by one blessing that focuses on the sacred nature of the day Historically the prayer leader prayed out loud on behalf of the community today individuals have a chance to personalize their silent Amidah while joining the congregation in the communal Amidah although there are many different versions of the Amidah in use among contemporary Jewish communities they all share this overall structure and they share most words in common too. Once printed in a prayer book, the words of the Amidah cannot change but it is appropriate to add one's own personal words of prayer at the end of the Amidah or even in the middle of the Amidah when our own personalized prayers correspond to a theme of one of the standardized blessings, Each Amidah is a unique opportunity to disconnect from the world around us and its distractions and to use the words of the Amidah to remind us what is truly important. Each Amidah is a unique opportunity to cultivate a relationship with God Each Amidah is unique opportunity to serve God with our hearts

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Keywords: jewish videos, jewish educational media, judaism, jewish, jewish 101, judaism 101, jewish prayer, amidah, amidah prayer, prayer, jewish praying, praying, jewish standing prayer, amidah jewish prayer, tefillah, tefillot, shemonah esrai, shemoneh esrei, davenning, learn jewish prayers

Id: i0b58YpkHtQ

Length: 2min 54sec (174 seconds)

Published: Thu May 31 2018