Amida

amidah

עמידה

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 יְהוָה, 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.

Israeli

atah chonen le-Adam da-at, umelamed le-enosh binah.

On Motza'ei Shabbat and Motza'ei Yom Tov add:

Hebrew

אַתָּה חוֹנַנְתָּנוּ לְמַדַּע תּוֹרָתֶךָ, וַתְּלַמְּדֵנוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת חֻקֵּי רְצוֹנֶךָ, וַתַּבְדֵּל
יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחֹל, בֵּין אוֹר לְחֹשֶׁךְ, בֵּין יִשְׂרָאֵל לָעַמִּים, בֵּין יוֹם
הַשְּׁבִיעִי לְשֵׁשֶׁת יְמֵי הַמַּעֲשֶׂה. אָבִינוּ מַלְכֵּנוּ, הָחֵל עָלֵינוּ הַיָּמִים הַבָּאִים
לִקְרָאתֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם, חֲשׂוּכִים מִכָּל חֵטְא וּמְנֻקִּים מִכָּל עָוֹן וּמְדֻבָּקִים בְּיִרְאָתֶךָ. ו

Israeli

atah chonantanu lemada Toratecha, vatlamedenu la-asot chukei retzonecha, vatavdel
Adonai Eloheinu bein kodesh lechol, bein or lechoshech, bein Yisra-el la-amim, bein yom
hashvi-i lesheshet yemei hama-aseh. avinu malkenu, hachel aleinu hayamim haba-im
likratenu leshalom, chasuchim mikol chet umenukim mikol avon umedubakim b'yiratecha. ו

Hebrew

חָנֵּנוּ מֵאִתְּךָ חָכְמָה בִּינָה וָדַעַת.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהוָה, חוֹנֵן הַדָּעַת.

Israeli

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 יְהוָה, הָרוֹצֶה בִּתְשׁוּבָה.

Israeli

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

Commentary

In nature there are no sharp boundaries. Day shades gradually into night; winter into spring; life into sentience. According to the Torah, what links man to God is our ability to separate, classify and name, and thus to see order amidst seeming chaos. As we begin the working week, we acknowledge the divine order of creation as the necessary prelude to human acts of creation.

אַתָּה חוֹנַנְתָּנוּ You have graced us: From Talmudic times, this paragraph has been the way of marking Havdala - the transition between holy and secular time - within the Amida prayer. Havdala is repeated as a separate ceremony in the synagogue after prayer, and then again at home. Its positioning here, in the prayer for knowledge, indicates the essential connection between the human mind and the ability to make distinctions ("If there is no knowledge," says the Talmud Yerushalmi [Berakhot 5:2], "how can there be distinction?").