The Shemoneh Esrei In Depth

In this class we look at the origins of set prayer and the history and evolution of the text of the Amida, or Shemoneh Esrei.

We trace the history of a set text from the Men of the Great Assembly to Rabban Gamliel and Yavneh, and look at sources that state there were 17, 18 or 19 blessings in the Amida.

Why do we stand for the Shemoneh Esrei prayer (which is called “Amida” — standing prayer)?
When do we bow?
How do we bow?

This shiur focuses on Avot, the first blessing of the Amida.
We look at why we begin with the patriarchs, how they received blessings from God, and how each of them perceived God in his own way.

The second blessing describes God as God of nature and the One who resurrects the dead. In this class we look at the relationship between rain (nature) and resurrection. And consider whether the prime focus of this prayer was initially against the belief of the Sadducees.

When reciting the kedusha prayer, should we look upwards or downwards? Eyes open or closed? Where is G-d’s “place”? And what is holiness anyway?

In this class we move from sacred to profane (in the words of Rav Kook, based on the Talmud), from kedusha to chol.

We look at the importance of knowledge to distinguish between holy and profane, between Shabbat and weekday.

The Talmud connects knowledge to the creation of fire (reminiscent of Prometheus, the fire-giver who’s name means “forethought.”)

Knowledge means morality, knowing right from wrong. And it leads to the ultimate knowledge of Gd.

The fifth blessing is for repentance. However, the blessing raises several deep theological questions.
In this class, we will attempt to answer some of the following questions:

Why does the blessing say “cause us to return” to the Torah, rather than “come to the Torah”?

Why does it say “bring us near” and not bring us all the way?

And most fundamentally, Repentance is up to us, not God. Doesn’t this entire blessing contradict the concept of free will?

The sixth blessing of the Amida is for atonement. We ask “Selach Lanu” — forgive us our Father.

In this class I ask the following questions, and answer some of them:

Why do we switch between “Our Father” and “Our King”?
What is the difference between “sinned” and “transgressed”?
Repentance on Yom Kippur takes a whole month and an entire day. How can we sincerely ask for repentance three times a day?
Why do we recite this prayer even in maariv immediately after Yom Kippur?
Why is it in the plural? How can I atone for someone else’s sins?

The prayer for redemption is not for the ultimate messianic redemption — because we pray for that later in the amida. Rather it is for personal redemption and national redemption while in exile.

In this class we look at some examples of suffering and redemption from suffering, to gain a deeper understanding of the blessing of redemption — geulah

This class is about the blessing of healing, in the Shemoneh Esrei (Amida).

In it, I attempt to answer some of the following questions:

* If it is God’s will that someone should be ill, why pray for God to heal them?
* Is this prayer for everyone, for myself or for specific people?
* Why do we mention the mother’s name when praying for the sick?
* How sick must someone be before we should pray for them?
* Should we pray for someone on their deathbed to recover? What if they signed a DNR?
* If we believe that prayer is effective, is there any need to go to a doctor?
* If prayer is effective, why did the Talmud give cures for certain diseases?

In this class we discuss the following issues:
* Why our prayers for rain are based on the agricultural cycle of ancient Iraq.
* How we ended up with December 5th outside Israel.
* What do people in the southern hemisphere do?
* Why do people in Israel still wait two weeks, when there are no longer thousands of people who have to return on foot to Babylon after visiting the Temple for the festival?
* And what should we do it we do not need rain from December 5 until Pesach?

In this class we cover the next two blessings of the Amida — ingathering of the exiles and establishing courts and justice

We attempt to answer these and other questions:

* If the prayers were established by the Men of the Great Assembly at the beginning of the Second Temple period, why did they ask for ingathering of exiles?
* We already asked for redemption in an earlier blessing. Why do we repeat it?
* Why do we ask for God to rule over us alone? Do we not want a king or mashiach?
* If we want God to rule over us, why do we need judges?
* Why does the prayer say, “Remove sorrow and sighing from us”?

The blessing which begins Velamalshinim…

Some of the questions I’ll attempt to answer:

* Why was there a need for this extra blessing?
* Who was Shmuel Hakatan and why was he the only one who could write this text?
* When we say this prayer nowadays, who are we talking about?

Some of the questions we will consider as we learn about the 13th blessing of the Amida (Shemoneh Esrei):

• What is the difference between the pious, the elders and the remnant of the scholars?
• Why are converts explicitly mentioned – are they not included in the other categories of righteous?
• If we are praying for the righteous, why do we include ourselves?

In this class we will look at the 14th and 15th blessings of the Shemoneh Esrei (Amida).

I answer these questions and more:

• Both blessings refer to Mashiach. Why are they two separate berachot?
• Why were the Men of the Great Assembly praying for Jerusalem if they had just returned to Jerusalem?
• Are we supposed to act on this prayer and rebuild Jerusalem ourselves?
• Who is the Messiah?

In this class we will look at the 16th and 17th blessings of the Shemoneh Esrei (Amida).

I investigate the relationship between prayer and sacrifices and also answer the following questions (and more)

• Why do we need a prayer about prayer? Isn’t it redundant?
• Did they pray for the sacrifices when the Temple stood?
• Did they pray when the Temple stood?
• Why do we end the prayer “Return the Shechina to Zion” if the Divine Presence never left the Western Wall?

In this class we will look at the 18th blessing of the Shemoneh Esrei (Amida).

We will answer some of these questions:

• What is the connection between sacrifice and thanksgiving?
• What does “Modim” mean?
• Why do we bow during Modim?
• Why does the congregation recite something different only for this blessing?
• Why is that called Modim d’Rabbanan?
• Why do we thank God for being able to thank God?

In a pre-Chanukah special, this class will look at the Al Hanisim prayer, added on Chanukah and Purim (but we will focus on the Chanukah one this time and leave the Purim one for a few months).

• Who was “the Hasmonean”?
• How did the Greeks make the Jews “forget Your Torah”?
• I understand why it is miraculous to deliver the strong into the hand of the week, and the numerous into the hands of the few, but why does purity, righteous or diligent students affect success in war?
• Why does the prayer not mention that the menorah burned for eight days?

This is the first of a two-part shiur on the Priestly Blessing, Birkat Cohanim. In it, we look at:

• The importance of Birkat Cohanim
• The verses relating to the Priestly Blessing
• The reason this blessing comes between thanksgiving and peace
• Who is blessed in this blessing
• How should the cohanim conduct themselves while giving the blessing

This is the second shiur on Birkat Cohanim. In it, I address:

• How do the Cohanim give the blessing?
• Why do Levi’im wash the hands of the Cohanim?
• What does the Shaliach Tzibbur do?
• What does the congregation do?
• How sure does he have to be that he is a Cohen?
• Can non-Cohanim give the blessing?
• When do we recite the Priestly Blessing — daily? On festivals?
• Other uses of the Priestly Blessing

This class is about the final blessing of the Amida, the blessing of peace.

• Why are there two forms of this blessing, “Sim Shalom” and “Shalom Rav”?
• Why does it follow Birkat Cohanim?
• Why is this the last blessing?
• Why do we say “peace on us” even when praying alone?

This is the final section of the Amida, after the conclusion of the 19 blessings.

In this class I will answer some of these questions:

• Who wrote this prayer?
• Why is this prayer in the singular, not plural?
• Why is the focus on speaking evil (lashon hara)?
• What is the relationship between sacrifices and prayers?

This class is about the addition for Rosh Chodesh and Festivals, Ya’aleh veyavo.

I try to answer these questions:

• Why do we only say Ya’aleh veyavo on Rosh Chodesh and Festivals, but not on Shabbat or Chanukah or Purim?
• Why is there such a long thesaurus of words at the introduction of the prayer?
• What is the connection between remembrance and Rosh Chodesh or Festivals?

I spend quite a bit of time going through the Vilna Gaon’s commentary on Ya’aleh veyavo, where he shows the connection between the words of the blessing and the seven heavens.

In this pre-Purim shiur, I look at the words of Al Hanism that we recite in the Amida on Purim.

I try to answer some of these questions:

• Why do we say, “In the days of Mordechai and Esther” rather than in the days of Achashverosh and Haman, or in the days of the Babylonian exile?
• Why do we specify Shushan, when the Purim miracle was the saving of all the Jews, throughout the kingdom?
• Why do we specify “on one day”?
• Why do we mention the date – we don’t mention the date in the prayers of any other festival?
• Why do we specify that Haman was hanged on a tree?
• Why are his sons mentioned, when they were very tangential to the story of Purim?