Amida

amidah

עמידה

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Israeli: ' marks a reduced vowel that Israeli speech drops (b'rachah); when the vowel is pronounced it is written e (lefanecha). - separates syllables that would otherwise run together.

How to read the transliterations

קדושת השם

HOLINESS

Hebrew

אַתָּה קָדוֹשׁ וְשִׁמְךָ קָדוֹשׁ
וּקְדוֹשִׁים בְּכָל יוֹם יְהַלְלוּךָ סֶּלָה
כִּי אֵל מֶלֶךְ גָּדוֹל וְקָדוֹשׁ אָתָּה.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה, הָאֵל הַקָּדוֹשׁ. / בעשרת ימי תשובה: הַמֶּלֶךְ הַקָּדוֹשׁ. /

Israeli

atah kadosh veshimcha kadosh
ukdoshim b'chol yom yehalelucha selah
ki El melech gadol vekadosh atah.
baruch atah Adonai, ha-El hakadosh. / בעשרת ימי t'shuvah: hamelech hakadosh. /

If forgotten, repeat the Amida.

דעת

KNOWLEDGE

Hebrew

אַתָּה חוֹנֵן לְאָדָם דַּעַת
וּמְלַמֵּד לֶאֱנוֹשׁ בִּינָה.
חָנֵּנוּ מֵאִתְּךָ חָכְמָה בִּינָה וָדַעַת.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה, חוֹנֵן הַדָּעַת.

Israeli

atah chonen le-Adam da-at
umelamed le-enosh binah.
chanenu me-itcha chochmah binah vada-at.
baruch atah Adonai, chonen hada-at.

תשובה

REPENTANCE

Hebrew

הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ אָבִינוּ לְתוֹרָתֶךָ
וְקָרְבֵנוּ מַלְכֵּנוּ לַעֲבוֹדָתֶךָ
וְהַחֲזִירֵנוּ בִּתְשׁוּבָה שְׁלֵמָה לְפָנֶיךָ.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה, הָרוֹצֶה בִּתְשׁוּבָה.

Israeli

hashivenu avinu letoratecha
vekarevenu malkenu la-avodatecha
vehachazirenu bitshuvah sh'lemah lefanecha.
baruch atah Adonai, harotzeh bitshuvah.

Commentary

דעת Blessing 4: Knowledge. This is the first of the "request" blessings. King Solomon, when asked by God to name the thing he most desired (1 Kings 3:5-15), asked for wisdom; so do we. Knowledge is prior to emotion, because "the heart is deceitful above all things" (Jer. 17:9). Untutored emotion can be misdirected, even destructive.

This paragraph replicates the structure of the Amida as a whole. It begins with praise ("You grace humanity with knowledge"), proceeds to request ("Grace us with the...knowledge"), and ends in acknowledgment ("Who graciously grants knowledge").

תשובה Blessing 5: Repentance. Knowledge and understanding allow us to see where we have drifted from the right path of life. So we ask God to help us find the way back to repentance.

קדושת השם Blessing 3: Holiness. The threefold reference to holiness ("You are holy and Your name is holy, and holy ones praise You daily") mirrors the threefold declaration of the angels in Isaiah's vision: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts." Kadosh, "holy," means "set apart, distinct." When used of God, it refers to His transcendence, the fact that He stands outside nature, creating and sustaining it. When used of Israel, it means that we too are summoned to stand apart from the idols of the age, living instead in close and continuous proximity to God.

The first three paragraphs of the Amida (excluding the Kedusha), form a composite unit. The first speaks of the beginning of covenantal time in the days of the patriarchs. The second is about the end of time: resurrection. The third is about holiness, beyond space and time.