Amidah (religion)

The Amidah is an important prayer in the Jewish tradition. From the Hebrew word la-amod, meaning "to stand," the name Amidah means "standing prayer" and refers to the preferred position for offering the prayer. It is also known as the Shemonah Esreh, or "the Eighteen," because in its original form, the Amidah is said to have included eighteen blessings. It is also sometimes referred to as the HaTefillah, meaning "the prayer" because it is a core prayer said at every worship service, holiday, and celebration. Devout Jews offer the Amidah daily and have done so for about 2,500 years.

Background

The origins of the Amidah and other standardized forms of prayer in Judaism are a matter of some discussion among Jewish scholars. Early Jews did not have formalized prayers and each person offered their own individual prayers to God. Some sources attribute the development of formalized Jewish prayer practices to a group of 120 prophets and elders mentioned in the Palestinian and Babylonian versions of the Talmud, a book of Jewish law, ethics, biblical commentary, customs, and traditions. The books do not specify who these people were or exactly when they lived, however. Others believe Judaic prayer practices can be traced to about the fifth century BC when the Jewish people were returning to their former homeland in Israel after the Babylonian exile (586-538 BCE). In the time of the exile and the period of transition afterward, the Jews were exposed to and intermixed with people from other cultures. Their language became mixed as well and it was harder for people to understand the prayers of others. It was also difficult for Jewish people to gather together for communal worship because the First Temple was destroyed prior to the exile.

According to some Jewish scholars, a group of learned men known as the Men of the Great Assembly decided the solution to these problems was to establish some formal prayers and patterns for praying. They believed that this more uniform and shared type of prayer would help maintain the faith and traditions of Judaism and unite the people of Israel. The Men of the Great Assembly established fixed times for daily prayer and created a siddur, or Jewish prayer book. This book included the Amidah.

Not all scholars accept the specifics of the various theories of how the Jewish prayer traditions that include the Amidah began. Regardless of how the practices came into being, the creation of a specific schedule and standard prayer book meant Jewish people could pray together in the same language and with the same words wherever they were. They could also, if necessary, pray alone with the assurance that others in different locations were praying the same prayers at the same time. The uniform language and common prayer practices served to both unify the Jewish people and to create equality among them, since all said the same prayers regardless of level of education, wealth, language, or any other factor.

Structure and practice

Although the Amidah is known as the Eighteen, another version exists that includes nineteen blessings. Scholars also differ on when the extra blessing was added, with the most prevalent theory stating it was added in the first to second century CE under the guidance of Rabbi Gamaliel the Elder. Much of what is definitively understood about the Amidah can be attributed to the historical detective work of Leopold Zunz (1794-1886), a German scholar who divided the nineteen blessings into three categories: praise, petition, and thanksgiving.

The first section contains three forms of praise of God: for the covenant with the Jewish ancestors, for His power, and for His holiness. The second section includes thirteen petitions. These requests ask God for wisdom, repentance, forgiveness, deliverance, healing, "years" (a way of asking for fertile growing seasons), gathering the exiles, restoration of justice among judges, punishment for heretics (those who ignore or flaunt the requirements of the faith), reward of the righteous, the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem and the temple, the coming of the Messiah, and for God to be attentive to prayers. The petition for the punishment of heretics is generally considered the nineteenth blessing allegedly added by Rabbi Gamaliel. The third and final section of the Amidah includes thanksgiving for three particular gifts: worship, gratitude, and peace.

Praying the Amidah follows a prescribed practice. It is to be said three times a day and is included in all four formal prayer services of the Jewish faith, shacharit or morning prayer, mincha or afternoon prayer, maariv or evening prayer, and mussaf or additional prayer. A person praying the Amidah should stand with feet together and face Israel, or, if in Israel, face the Temple Mount. The prayer is to be said softly and may not be interrupted except in a serious emergency, since it is considered a conversation with God. Tradition calls for the person praying to take three small steps forward, and to bow and then stand erect during the initial address to God. Personal petitions for healing or other needs can be inserted in several places during the Amidah, especially during the petition for healing and in the petition for God to hear the prayers of the people. The prayer is concluded by taking three small steps backward while bowing.

Tradition and practice call for several variations of the prayer depending on the time of day and type of service when it is being prayed. In addition, during a public prayer service the Amidah will be prayed quietly by individual members of the assembly and then repeated aloud by a cantor or prayer leader. In this way, those who are unable to pray it in a proper manner individually may still meet the requirement to pray the Amidah by hearing and responding to the public prayer. Orthodox and Reformed traditions differ in some practices.

Jewish practice also acknowledges that in some circumstances, it may not be possible to stand for the prayer (during a plane flight, for instance) and that, at times, a person may not be able to include the full eighteen benedictions. When necessary, the prayer can be offered from a seated position. A shortened form of the Amidah exists for emergency situations. This prayer is similar to the Christian invocation known as the Lord's Prayer or the Our Father. Many scholars believe the Amidah is the basis for the Lord's Prayer. The Christian New Testament Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 6:9-13) says this prayer was taught to the apostles by their Jewish teacher, Jesus, who would have prayed the Amidah regularly.

Bibliography

"The Amidah Prayer." Oral Roberts University, web.oru.edu/current‗students/class‗pages/grtheo/mmankins/drbyhmpg‗files/GBIB766RabbLit/Chapter8Amidah/Chapter8Amidah.html. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.

"The Amidah Prayer." Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2016/09/23/the-amidah-prayer/32290. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.

Bivin, David. "The Amidah Prayer." Christian Broadcasting Network, 12 Oct. 2022, cbn.com/article/prayer/amidah-prayer. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.

Bloom, Dov. "What Is the Amidah?" Chabad, www.chabad.org/library/article‗cdo/aid/3834226/jewish/What-Is-the-Amidah.htm. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.

Hoffman, Lawrence A. My People's Prayer Book: The Amidah. Jewish Light Publishing Corporation, 1997.

"Jewish Prayers: The Amidah." The Jewish Virtual Library, www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-amidah. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.

Medwed, Karen R. "Prayers and Practices of the Weekday Amidah." Exploring Judaism, www.exploringjudaism.org/every-day/prayer/amidah/prayers-and-practices-of-the-weekday-amidah. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.