Tefillah 063

95:
The sixth benediction of the Amidah is called by the sages Hodayah, which means 'Thanksgiving', and the title is most apt because the theme of the benediction is our gratitude to God for all the good things that God has done for us.

96:
Rambam explains in his great halakhic code, Mishneh Torah [Tefillah 5:10]:

This requires some explanation. The first benediction, Avot, contains twice the b^erakhah formula Barukh attah Adonai (these two times are the 'beginning and end' to which Rambam refers. As one says the word barukh one bends one's knees; as one says the word attah one bows one's back with as deep a bow as possible; as one says God's Name, Adonai, one stands upright again. In the case of our present benediction, Hodayah, the situation as regards the beginning of the benediction is not clear, since the three initial words are not Barukh attah Adonai but Modim anaĥnu lakh, 'We thank You'. Logic suggests that as one says the word modim one should bend one's knees; as one says the word anaĥnu one should bow one's back as deeply as possible; and as one says lakh one stands upright again. The Hodayah benediction concludes with a b^erakhah, and the procedure is as already described.

97:
The Hodayah benediction praises God for all the daily miracles performed for us that we take for granted: our very continuance in life is a biological miracle; then there is the spiritual part of our make-up, which we call the soul; and there are countless other benificences that are showered on us every day without us even realising it.

98:
Siddur Sim Shalom [page 118] gives the following (partial) translation of this benediction:

This translation is misleading. The phrase "evening, morning and noon" is from the bible. Psalm 55:18 reads:

Clearly, here as in many other places in the Amidah, the sages were including a quote from scripture. The sages understood the verse from psalms as referring to the three times every day when a person is expected to pray. For this reason a better rendition of the passage would be:

99:
The concluding b^erakhah of this benediction is linguistically problematic. Even when one translates it into English the problem is quite apparent:

'Selah' is a mysterious word that appears most often in the book of Psalms, where the general consensus is that it is some kind of musical instruction or indication. Clearly, that will not fit in our present context. Some suggest that the rabbis who formulated the text of the Amidah used the term in the sense of 'for ever'; but truly its appearance in the passage quoted above is a mystery. (In the parallel version of this benediction in the liturgy of ancient Eretz-Israel the word does not appear.)

The phrase "the Deity, our deliverance and our help" is clearly awkward. Perhaps the words "You are" are to be understood as coming before the phrase.

Lastly, the text of the actual b^erakhah, as it now stands, is quite untranslatable. It is possible that the addition of the words "Your Name" is an unsuccessful attempt to make sense of the b^erakhah. If we look at the version of this b^erakhah that has survived from the ancient ritual of Eretz-Israel we can possibly see light at the end of the tunnel. Actually, the complete text of this benediction in the ancient ritual of Eretz-Israel is quite as beautiful as it is short:

The Hebrew word ha-tov is a quaint way of saying she-tov. In Babylon, clearly, they did not understand this and tried to emend the text to make sense of it. And they failed.

To be continued.

I am concerned that it is now many weeks since I have received any questions or comments from participants about the material we are studying. I really cannot believe that my explanations are so lucid that they leave nothing unclear. Apart from that, I enjoy reading your questions and comments.