Atah Chonantanu: Havdalah in the Amidah

Ask for nothing until you separate

The Talmud Yerushalmi is the version of the Gemara (the rabbis' discussions built on the Mishnah) from the Land of Israel. It compares two rules. You may not do work on Saturday night until you make Havdalah, and in the same way a person may not ask for his needs until he makes Havdalah. Abudarham (a commentary on the prayers, Spain, about 1340) uses this to explain the spot. This blessing is the first request in the Amidah, so Havdalah goes here, before any other request.

Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi needed four words

Pesachim 103b tells of Rava (a sage of the Gemara) making Havdalah at home and saying the whole list of separations. A guest objects that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi (the sage who edited the Mishnah) used only the first one, "Who separates holy from ordinary." Rava answers with a rule: no fewer than three separations, no more than seven. But you said neither three nor seven, says the guest. Rava replies that the last, "between the seventh day and the six work days," does not count. It is there to echo the closing line.

Three separations, three verses

Abudarham ties the first three separations to verses. Holy and ordinary: "to tell apart the holy and the ordinary" (Vayikra 10:10). Light and darkness: "God separated the light from the darkness" (Bereishit 1:4). Israel and the peoples: "I have separated you from the peoples to be Mine" (Vayikra 20:26), and Shabbat is a sign between God and Israel (Shemot 31:13). He calls these the three that belong to Saturday night. The fourth is not counted. It echoes the closing, and was kept in the Amidah too.

Same spot, a different wish

The Rambam (Maimonides, the great medieval codifier) wrote this prayer differently. After "You graciously give a person knowledge," he goes straight to "You separated holy from ordinary," with no mention of Torah. Then he adds a request: just as You separated holy from ordinary, so save us from every kind of destruction and disaster that is stirring to come into the world, and guard us from everything. Our text asks for a week of peace instead.

The wish for the week is ancient

The line asking that the coming days meet us in peace is already in the Talmud Yerushalmi, where a sage says you must say it. Another sage adds a request to hear joy and gladness in those days. Abudarham explains the same words in a prayer that opens Havdalah over the cup. He reads "begin" (hachel) two ways: start, or come down on, like the curse "let it fall on the head of Yoav" (Shmuel II 3:29). He thinks the second is right. For "toward us" he points to Shemot 4:14, where Aharon "is coming out to meet you."

One separation, in three places

After "holy and ordinary," this prayer names three more separations: light and darkness, Israel and the peoples, the seventh day and the six work days. The Sefat Emet (Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, a Chassidic rebbe in Poland in the late 1800s) says they are the same separation in three places: light and darkness in the world, Israel and the peoples in the soul, the seventh day in the year. Then he adds that the main thing depends on the person. Now read "between holy and ordinary" again.

אור וחושך בעולם. ובנפש בין ישראל לעמים. ובשנה בין יום השביעי לששת ימי המעשה. אבל העיקר תלוי בנפש האדם

Why it is hard to fall asleep on Saturday night

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (a Chassidic master in Ukraine, who taught in the early 1800s) explains why it is hard to fall asleep on Saturday night. He gives several reasons. One connects to this prayer. The Yerushalmi (the Gemara of the Land of Israel) says: "If there is no da'at, how can there be Havdalah?" Da'at means knowing, or understanding. So Saturday night, when we make Havdalah, is a time of da'at. And sleep, he says, is da'at going away.

כִּי אִם אֵין דַּעַת... הַבְדָּלָה מִנַּיִן... כִּי הַשֵּׁנָה הוּא הִסְתַּלְּקוּת הַדַּעַת

Take Shabbat with you into Monday

Near the end of this prayer we ask that the coming days be "held back from all sin" and "clinging to awe of You." Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin (a Chassidic thinker in Poland in the 1800s) explains both. First, we ask that the holiness of Shabbat help the weekdays too, so we are saved from the accusations of the evil inclination (the inner pull toward doing wrong). Second, on Shabbat Jews are called "those who fear My Name." So we ask that the weekdays stay attached to Shabbat's quality, which is awe.

שיועיל קדושת השבת לימי המעשה ג"כ להנצל מקטרוג יצה"ר... ומבקשים על ימי המעשה שיהיו מדובקים במדת השבת שהוא יראה

Knowing is not the goal

The Sefat Emet says the main thing in Torah is what you do, not how much you know. At Sinai Israel said "we will do" before "we will hear," he writes, because the deed is what counts. Then he points to this prayer. The knowledge of Torah we thank God for here is the one that comes with the next words: "and You taught us to do the laws of Your will." It is meant to lead to good action, "which is the main thing."

וזהו דעת התורה שע"ז מברכין אתה חוננתנו כו' ותלמדנו לעשות חוקי רצונך שיבוא לידי מעשה הטוב שזה העיקר

Can I eat or do work after I say this?

Work yes, food no. The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law, from the 1500s) rules that once you have made Havdalah in the Amidah, work is allowed, even though you have not yet made it over the cup. Eating and drinking still wait. The Mishnah Berurah (a central commentary on daily law, from around 1900) says that once you have prayed Maariv, even early, you may not eat until Havdalah over the cup. Water is allowed.

I already made Havdalah at home. Can I skip this part?

No. The Mishnah Berurah rules that even if you happened to make Havdalah over the cup earlier, you still say it in the prayer. The Arukh HaShulchan (a code of law by Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein, around 1900) explains the pattern: just as Kiddush is said in the prayer and over a cup, Havdalah was set up the same way, in the prayer and over a cup.

Do girls say this too?

The Shulchan Aruch rules that women are obligated in Havdalah, just as in Kiddush, and notes one view that disagrees. The Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles, who added Ashkenazi practice to the Shulchan Aruch) writes about women who do not say Havdalah in the Amidah. He says to teach them to say "Hamavdil bein kodesh lechol" ("Who separates holy from ordinary") before doing work. The Mishnah Berurah explains that most women did not usually pray Maariv on Saturday night.

I remembered in the middle of the blessing. Where do I add it?

It depends how far you got. The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch rules: if you remember before saying Hashem's name at the end of the blessing, say it right where you are and continue with the line that starts Vechonenu. If you remember after that, finish the blessing and do not go back, since you will make Havdalah over the cup. Until then, do no work and eat nothing. The Shulchan Aruch rules that if you ate first, you pray again and say it.

What if I forgot it and I will not have a cup for Havdalah?

Then you pray again. The Shulchan Aruch rules that if you forgot, have no cup at night, and expect to have none tomorrow either, you must repeat the Amidah. The Mishnah Berurah adds: if you expect a cup tomorrow, you can rely on it. If you are still in the Amidah, go back to Atah Chonen, unless you have not yet reached Shema Koleinu, where you say it instead. If you already finished and stepped back, start the Amidah over.

I missed Maariv on Saturday night. Do I say this in the morning?

Only in one case. The Mishnah Berurah rules that you then pray Shacharit (the morning prayer) twice. If you already made Havdalah over the cup, leave Atah Chonantanu out of both. If you never made Havdalah, say it in the second Amidah, the make-up one, and still make Havdalah over the cup. The Arukh HaShulchan mentions a view that you must say it even when you had a cup, but says the first view is the main one.

Is it the same at the end of a holiday?

Yes. The Shulchan Aruch rules that at the end of Yom Tov (a holiday like Pesach or Sukkot), whether the next day is a regular day or the middle days of the holiday, Havdalah goes in the prayer just as on Saturday night. If a holiday begins on Saturday night, you add Vatodienu ("You made known to us") inside the holiday blessing Atah Bechartanu ("You chose us") instead. The Mishnah Berurah says forgetting it is treated like forgetting Atah Chonantanu: you do not repeat the prayer.