Amidah

The Amidah (Hebrew: תְפִלָת הַעֲמִידָה, romanized: Tefilat HaAmidah, lit. 'the Standing Prayer'), also called the Shemoneh Esreh (שְׁמוֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה, 'Eighteen'), is an important prayer in Judaism. Religious Jews recite the Amidah during each of the three services prayed on weekdays: Morning (שַׁחֲרִית, Shacharit), afternoon (מִנחָה, Mincha), and evening (מַעֲרִיב, Ma'ariv; also called עַרבִית, Arvit). On Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh (ראש חודש, 'Head [of the] Month'), and Jewish holidays, after the morning Torah reading, a fourth Amidah is recited during Mussaf ( (מוּסָף). Once annually, a fifth Amidah is recited during the Ne'ila (נְעִילָה) service of Yom Kippur. Due to the importance of the Amidah, in the Rabbinic literature it is referred to only as "ha-tefila" (הַתְּפִילָה, 'the prayer').

A precise dating of the Amidah's formalization is not possible. However, Rabban Gamaliel is recorded in tractate Berakhot 28b:12 of the Talmud saying, "Each and every day, a person recites the prayer of eighteen blessings" (i.e., the Shemoneh Esreh), suggesting that the Amidah likely had a fixed formula before the end of the Mishnaic period (c. 220 CE). Furthermore, in Berakhot 28b:23, the Talmud records the formalization of the contemporary nineteen-blessing Amidah by the tanna Shmuel ha-Katan during the same period. Given that the Amidah includes a petition for the reconstruction of the Temple, the Second of which was destroyed in 70 CE, the Amidah's fixing likely occurred between then and the end of the Tannaitic era. Accordingly, in Judaism, to recite the Amidah is a mitzvah d'rabbanan (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: מִצְוָה דְּרַבָּנָן, lit. 'commandment of [the] Rabbis'), or a commandment of Rabbinic origin.

Although "Shemoneh Esreh" refers to the original number of component blessings in the prayer, the typical weekday Amidah actually consists of nineteen blessings. Among other prayers, the Amidah can be found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book. The prayer is typically recited standing with feet firmly together, preferably while facing Jerusalem. During public worship in Orthodox Judaism, the Amidah is typically first prayed quietly by the congregation and then repeated aloud by the hazzan (cantor); it is not repeated during Ma'ariv. The repetition's original purpose was to give illiterate members of the congregation a chance to participate in the collective prayer by answering "amen". Conservative and Reform congregations sometimes abbreviate the public recitation of the Amidah according to their customs. When the Amidah is modified for specific prayers or occasions, the first three blessings and the last three remain unchanged, framing the Amidah used in each service. In comparison, the middle thirteen blessings are replaced by blessings (usually just one) specific to the occasion.