Eighteen supplication

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The eighteen supplication prayer (also eighteen prayer ) ( Hebrew שמנה עשרה Schemone Esre , German 'eighteen' ), often Amida (עמידה from עמד 'Standing' ) or Tefilla (תפילה Called 'prayer' ) is the main prayer in Jewish worship .

designation

Schemone Esre is the name common in the Ashkenazi tradition, which goes back to the number of requests in the version from Eretz Israel for the days of the week. Since the prayer in the today usual, originally Babylonian version, counts 19 requests, the term Amida , which is mostly used in Sephardic Judaism , has established itself . This refers to the fact that the prayer is always said while standing. In the Talmud , prayer is simply referred to as Tefilla , "prayer", because it represents prayer par excellence.

Content and structure

The amida consists of an initial part with three brachot (blessings)

  • Avot "patriarchs",
  • Gewurot " Mannerweise " and
  • Kedushat ha-Shem "sanctification of God",

a main part that relates to specific issues of the day. On weekdays it consists of 13 requests for a Jewish life, on the Sabbath it consists of a request for a good day of rest, and on festive days for the respective festival. In Mussafgebet on the Sabbath and holidays, it contains the victim provisions in Mussafgebet on Rosh Hashanah three sections about God's kingdom, God's remembrance and the shofar .

The ending again consists of three brachot

  • Avoda "temple service",
  • Hoda'a "thanks" and
  • Birkat Schalom “ Priest's blessing and request for peace”.

The first and last three blessings are always the same.

Number
(working day)		 Hebrew working day Sabbath Number
(sabbath)
1 Awot "Patriarchs" "Patriarchs" 1
2 Gewurot "By power" "By power" 2
3 Kedushat ha-Shem "Sanctification of God" "Sanctification of God" 3
"Holiness of the Day" 4th
4th Binah Insight
5 Teshuvah return
6th Selichah forgiveness
7th Geulah salvation
8th Refuah Healing / sanctification
9 Birkat ha-Shanim blessed year
10 Galujot (Collection of) the scattered
11 Birkat ha-Din dish
12 Birkat ha-Minim against defamation
13 Tzaddikim the righteous
14th Bo'ne Jerushalayim Builder of Jerusalem
15th Birkat David Reign of David
16 Tefillah (Hearing of) prayer
17th Avoda "Temple Service" "Temple Service" 5
18th Hoda'a "Thanks" "Thanks" 6th
19a Birkat Shalom " Priest's blessing " "Priest's blessing"
19b Birkat Shalom "Peace request" "Peace request" 7th

origin

The oldest evidence for the text of the Amida comes from the 9th century (Seder Raw Amram Gaon ). The Mishnah (around 200) mentions the themes of the brachot . Only the subjects of the requests were stipulated by religious law, their formulation was free. The fixation began in the 9th century, in the prayer books of various Jewish denominations the Amida is not identical today.

Adding an additional request

According to a now outdated scientific theory, which essentially goes back to the liturgical scholar Ismar Elbogen (history of Jewish worship, Berlin 1913) and is based on a legend in the Talmud tract Berachot , the fact was explained that an "18-petition prayer" consists of 19 petitions, as follows: After the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple , Vespasian allowed the Jews to establish an academy in Javne . In the academy, the school of the rabbinical scholar Hillel became decisive. So the twelfth request was given the following wording:

" The detractors had no hope, and all the wicked might be lost in the moment, all the enemies of your people may be pulled quickly and easily uproot the defiant, zerschmettre and humble. Praise be to you, Eternal One, who break your enemies to pieces and humiliate defiant ones. ”
Quoted from: Sidur Sefat Emet, Victor Goldschmidt Verlag Basel 1964, p. 43

In the meantime, however, ancient manuscripts with the text of the Amida have been found in the Cairo Geniza , and it has been established that the text documents of the Palestinian tradition contain 18 requests, while those of the Babylonian tradition contain 19. According to the Babylonian view, a request may only have one content. The 14th request of the Amida was originally about the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the coming of the Messiah. This request is divided in the Babylonian versions: Request 14 requests the rebuilding of Jerusalem, Request 15 the coming of the scion of David, the Messiah. The Babylonian variant prevailed and with it 19 requests in weekday prayer.

See also

Web links