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The Amidah Prayer Experience Handbook

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The Amidah Prayer Experience Handbook Table of Contents Overview.................................................................................................................................................2 Prologue. Preparing for a Conversation with G-d...........................................................................3 Introduction. Structured Prayer or Informal Expression?..............................................................6 Chapter One: The Introductory Berachot of Praise.......................................................................10 Forefathers............................................................................................10 – אבות .Berachah 1 G-d’s Might........................................................................................27 – גבורות .Berachah 2 Holiness of G-d’s Name..........................................................38 – קדושת השם .Berachah 3 Chapter Two: The Middle Berachot of Request.............................................................................47 Introduction to the Middle Berachot..................................................................................47 Insight.....................................................................................................50 – בינה .Berachah 4 Repentance.........................................................................................55 – תשובה .Berachah 5 Forgiveness..........................................................................................61 – סליחה .Berachah 6 Redemption..........................................................................................65 – גאולה .Berachah 7 Healing.................................................................................................69 – רפואה .Berachah 8 Year of Prosperity....................................................................76 – ברכת השנים .Berachah 9 Ingathering of the Exiles.......................................................84 – קיבוץ גלויות .Berachah 10 Restoration of Justice............................................................................90 – דין .Berachah 11 Against Heretics.....................................................................96 – ברכת המינים .Berachah 12 The Righteous................................................................................102 – צדיקים .Berachah 13 Rebuilding Jerusalem...........................................................106 – בנין ירושלים .Berachah 14 Davidic Reign.....................................................................115 – מלכות בית דוד .Berachah 15 Acceptance of Prayer ............................................................122 – שמע קולינו .Berachah 16 Chapter Three: The Concluding Berachot of Thankfulness.......................................................126 Introduction to the Concluding Berachot........................................................................126 Temple Service...............................................................................128 – עבודה .Berachah 17 Thanksgiving..................................................................................136 – הודאה .Berachah 18 Shalom..............................................................................................146 – שלום .Berachah 19 Chapter Four: Closing Prayers and Personal Requests (Elokai Netzor).....................................153 Conclusion: We Count Big-Time in G-d’s Master Plan..............................................................158 1 The Amidah Prayer Experience Companion Explaining the Blessings of the Shemoneh Esrei Overview Tefillah (prayer) is one of our most powerful spiritual connectors. In The World of Prayer (p.13), Rabbi Eliyahu Munk, citing the Zohar, explains that the Shemoneh Esrei is the climactic moment of tefillah. It is during this tefillah, as we stand in silent prayer in the presence of G-d, that we reach the .the world of pure spirit – עולם האצילות highest rung on the Heavenly ladder, the The wording of the Amidah, composed by Prophets and Sages, is far more profound than what anyone today could compose. Each word of these berachot bears great importance, and we invest valuable time expressing them and responding “amen” to their repetition daily. As such, this handbook comes to offer insight into each of the nineteen berachot, helping us appreciate them and heighten our overall prayer experience. The Amidah Prayer Experience Companion is divided into three chapters that lead us through the three main sections of the Shemoneh Esrei, as categorized by the Talmud and Rabbinic codifiers: (1) the opening three blessings of praise, (2) the thirteen middle blessings of requests, and (3) the three concluding blessings of thanks. Educators can print out the Companion in installments or in its entirety to pace their classes and/or chavrutah study. The Olami Morasha classes entitled “The Jewish View of Prayer,” “Overview of the Amidah I - The Establishment, Structure, and Purpose of the Amidah,” and “Overview of the Amidah II - The Way to Pray – In Thought and Action” are suggested prerequisites to this Companion. Rabbi Avraham Edelstein’s comprehensive Commentary on the Weekday Siddur informs much of the material in this Companion. To elucidate his Commentary, Rabbi Edelstein includes extensive quotations from the Talmud, Rishonim and Acharonim in Hebrew footnotes; we have often incorporated both, adding English translations to the Hebrew text. 2 Prologue Preparing for a Conversation with G-d I grew up in Milwaukee, which in those days was a minor-league town. But never mind, I still loved baseball. It cost a quarter to get in to Borchert Field. My hero was Ted Gullic, number 22. He batted cleanup and was known as “old reliable.” After the game we would rush down to catch the players before they went into the clubhouse and try to get an autograph. One time I actually caught Ted Gullic and asked for his autograph. “Will you hit a home run for me tomorrow?” I asked. Ted looked me over, noticing my yarmulke (skullcap) and said, “You pray for me, and I’ll hit for you.” The next day I listened to the game and waited for the announcer to say, “There he goes!” hailing Ted Gullic’s homer, but it didn’t happen. Ted got a double and a single that day, that’s all. In the postgame broadcast from the clubhouse, called Tenth Inning, Ted said, “I tried my hardest. I guess the kid that prayed for me didn’t pray hard enough.” I have never forgotten Ted Gullic’s reprimand. Today I pray for things much more important than a home run, such as for sick people to get well, and since I believe in the power of prayer, I try to pray even harder. This incident was a defining moment in my spirituality; it taught me that people do count on our prayers and that it matters to pray with all your heart for the person who needs you. (Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D., Do Unto Others, Andrews McMeel Publishing, pp. 163-164.) Whether our heartfelt prayers are for others or ourselves, one thing is true: It’s all about having a conversation with G-d. And creating dialogue with G-d takes work. 1. Rabbi Reuven Leuchter, Creating Dialogue with Hashem, pg. 7 – Because of the times we live in, we are not used to the spiritual work that proper prayer requires. Our day and age can aptly be described as an era of unprecedented scientific and technological advancements. While many of these advancements have benefited mankind, they have also spoiled us somewhat by fostering an “instant everything” mentality. We have become accustomed to getting things instantly, from global travel and communications to microwaves and fast-food chains to instant pain relief. Our attention span, patience and imagination have dwindled, to the point where we mistakenly believe that the end result is infinitely more significant than the process it took to get there. As a result, we’ve lost the meaning of what it means to “work.” A young child growing up these days does not know all the mechanics involved in, say, operating an elevator – he learns that by simply pushing a button, the elevator takes him where he wants to go. This example can be taken as a metaphor for how ignorant we are about what it means to work hard; we push buttons, and are oblivious to the effort which should be exerted. This is antithetical to the spiritual work ethic of Judaism. We are rewarded – and held accountable – for the effort we exert in something, regardless of its outcome. The Mishnah (Avot 5:27) states, l’fum tza’ara agra, “the reward is given according to the effort exerted.” We are here to work, as the verse in Iyov/Job (5:7) states, adam l’amal yulad, “man was created to toil.” The process 3 is just as important as – if not more than – the end result. Part of this process is learning to expand our perspective. 2. Ibid., pg. 8 – Praying correctly demands that we look beyond ourselves and realize that we are part of a larger picture. …With the advent of so many innovations in telecommunications, it is very easy to send out messages to anyone and everyone, harder still to hear – and listen to – what anyone else has to say. There is such a cacophony of information out there that we don’t know how to receive the messages intended for us – specifically, the messages G-d sends us through His world. Meaningful prayer requires us to take some time out from our fast-paced lives, to rise above our “me”-ness and to connect to a higher plane, and to recognize that our needs, and the role we play in this world, are an integral part of a much larger picture: G-d’s Master Plan. Once we see ourselves as part of a
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