Berakhot 076

24:
Our survey of the rest of the Amidah must be relatively brief. After the first subsection, which is constant in its contents, comes a middle section. The contents of the middle section vary. On weekdays this middle section contains thirteen relatively short berakhot, each one requesting a boon – either personal or national (from the Jewish point of view). In order they request:

Knowledge, True Repentance, Forgiveness, Redemption, Healing, Prosperity, Ingathering of the Dispersed, Restoration of National Institutions of Justice, Deliverance from the Schemes of the Wicked, Blessing on the Righteous, Restoration of the Divine Presence to Jerusalem, Restoration of the Davidic Dynasty, and a general petition for the acceptance of our prayers.

On Shabbat and Holidays, when we should not be concerned with such mundane affairs, the whole of this middle section is replaced with one sole (but more lengthy) berakhah which is termed Kedushat ha-Yom [Sanctity of the Day].

25:
The last sub-section of the Amidah also consists of three berakhot whose contents are unchanging. The first berakhah in this sub-section is termed Avodah [Temple Ritual] and contains a plea for the restoration of the Bet Mikdash and its ritual. Most Conservative prayer-books use a slightly altered text here so that the request will be for the restoration of the fabric of the Bet Mikdash, but not for the ritual of animal sacrifice that used to be practiced in it. (One can expect that just as our present form of worship – prayer and study – may be seen as a development over the ancient ritual of animal sacrifice, so when the Bet Mikdash is rebuilt it will house a ritual that is a development over our present format. Orthodoxy still expects a restoration of animal sacrifice.)

26:
The second berakhah of this sub-section is termed Hoda'ah [Gratitude] and in it the worshipper thanks God for the miracles associated with continuing daily life. The last berakhah of the Amidah is termed Birkat Kohanim [Priestly Blessing], and is a petitionary elaboration on the last word of the Blessing of the Priests Shalom [Peace]. (Many assume, in error, that the Aaronic blessing recited by the Priests or the Cantor in the Amidah is an addition to Hoda'ah; it is prefaced to the last berakhah.) The Amidah is followed by a short personal meditation, one of several examples given in the Gemara [Berakhot 16b].

27:
The preceding outline, however long, has perforce actually been very brief. Further study can be pursued through the books of Munk, Donin, and others. Since these works are orthodox in their ambience I shall be pleased to briefly answer any specific questions concerning the contents of the Amidah that participants may wish to send me.

28:
It is not clear whether the Amidah was originally intended to be a unit of corporate communal worship that subsequently also became private (as is the opinion of liturgical scholars) or whether it was originally intended to be a unit of private devotion that subsequently also became public and corporate (as is the opinion of the sages in the Talmud). One thing is clear: for approximately the past two thousand years the Amidah has been initially recited by each individual worshipper as private communion and after that – if there is a minyan [public quorum] present – the Amidah is repeated out loud by the Cantor as an item of corporate communal worship. This matter is discussed in the Gemara [Rosh ha-Shanah 34b – 35a]. In the mishnah [folio 33b] the sages state that "Just as the Cantor must [recite the Amidah] so must each individual worshiper". Rabban Gamli'el demurs: "The Cantor [by his recitation of the Amidah out loud] enables the public to fulfill their duty [by answering 'Amen' to his berakhot]". The sages object [34b]: "According to you, why does the public recite the Amidah at all" [if the Cantor can do this for them]?. His response: "Their recitation [prior to his own] affords him an opportunity to rehearse his prayer beforehand" – remember that the Cantor had to pray extempore, making up the text as he went along according to the general rubrics set out by the tradition (and outlined by me briefly above). Rabban Gamli'el now attacks: "According to your claim [that each individual must recite his own Amidah], why does the Cantor recite it at all?" Their response: "He does so in order to enable those who cannot recite the Amidah by themselves [because of lack of skill] to fulfill their duty". He retorts: Just as he can enable to unskillful to perform his duty so can he enable the skillful to do so!'

To be continued.