Draft. This siddur is waiting for a rav's review. For a halachic question, ask your rav.
Hebrew, then English. Open "What it means" under any line for the explanation.
The verse that closes the Amidah itself. Say it first. The private prayer below comes next, and the verse returns at its end.
יִהְיוּ לְרָצוֹן אִמְרֵי פִי וְהֶגְיוֹן לִבִּי לְפָנֶיךָ יְיָ צוּרִי וְגוֹאֲלִי.
May they be accepted the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart before You, Hashem my Rock and my Redeemer
May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be accepted before You, Hashem, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Rabbi Yehudah, son of Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi, says David wrote this verse after eighteen chapters of Tehillim (Psalms), so the Sages placed it after the eighteen blessings. The Gemara (the rabbis' recorded discussions) points out that it is chapter 19, then solves it: chapters 1 and 2 count as one.
Berakhot 9bYour own private prayer, before the three steps back:
אֱלֹהַי נְצוֹר לְשׁוֹנִי מֵרָע וּשְׂפָתַי מִדַּבֵּר מִרְמָה
My God guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking deceit
The Gemara gives this prayer to Mar, son of Ravina, who said it when he finished praying. The Tur (an early code of Jewish law) calls it one of the requests after the prayer. Abudarham (a commentary on the prayers, Spain, about 1340) says some individuals said it before the three steps back, and ties its first line to Tehillim 34:14.
Berakhot 17a; Tur, Orach Chaim 122; Abudarham, Weekday Prayers, Amidahוְלִמְקַלְלַי נַפְשִׁי תִדּוֹם וְנַפְשִׁי כֶּעָפָר לַכֹּל תִּהְיֶה
and to those who curse me, my soul will stay silent and let my soul be like dust to everyone
To those who curse me, may my soul stay silent, and may my soul be like dust to everyone.
פְּתַח לִבִּי בְּתוֹרָתֶךָ וְאַחֲרֵי מִצְוֹתֶיךָ תִּרְדּוֹף נַפְשִׁי
Open my heart to Your Torah and let my soul chase Your commandments
וְכָל הַקָמִים וְהַחוֹשְׁבִים עָלַי רָעָה מְהֵרָה הָפֵר עֲצָתָם וְקַלְקֵל מַחֲשַׁבְתָּם.
And all who rise up and plan harm against me quickly cancel their plan and wreck their schemes
And all who rise up against me and plan harm, quickly cancel their plan and wreck their schemes.
עֲשֵׂה לְמַעַן שְׁמֶךָ, עֲשֵׂה לְמַעַן יְמִינֶךָ, עֲשֵׂה לְמַעַן תּוֹרָתֶךָ, עֲשֵׂה לְמַעַן קְדֻשָּׁתֶךָ.
Act for the sake of Your Name Act for the sake of Your right hand Act for the sake of Your Torah Act for the sake of Your holiness
לְמַעַן יֵחָלְצוּן יְדִידֶיךָ הוֹשִׁיעָה יְמִינְךָ וַעֲנֵנִי.
so that Your beloved ones may be rescued save with Your right hand and answer me
These words are a verse, Tehillim 60:7, repeated in 108:7. In 60:7 the written letters spell "and answer us," but the traditional reading is "and answer me." Tehillim 108:7 writes "me" outright. The siddur has "me."
Tehillim 60:7 and 108:7Say the verse again, to close your private prayer:
יִהְיוּ לְרָצוֹן אִמְרֵי פִי וְהֶגְיוֹן לִבִּי לְפָנֶיךָ יְיָ צוּרִי וְגוֹאֲלִי.
May they be accepted the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart before You, Hashem my Rock and my Redeemer
May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be accepted before You, Hashem, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Bowing, take three steps back, left foot first. Turn your head left and say (from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur: "oseh hashalom"):
עֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם בִּמְרוֹמָיו
He who makes peace in His heights
Turn your head to the right:
הוּא יַעֲשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם עָלֵינוּ
may He make peace for us
Bow forward, like a servant taking leave of his master:
וְעַל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן.
and for all Israel and say: Amen
The Mishnah Berurah (a standard commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, about 1900) says the words "and on all Israel" belong to this forward bow. They are not said while you are still turned to the right.
Mishnah Berurah 123:5; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 123:1Then a closing request, for the Temple and for Torah:
יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ שֶׁיִּבָּנֶה בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ בִּמְהֵרָה בְיָמֵינוּ וְתֵן חֶלְקֵנוּ בְּתוֹרָתֶךָ.
May it be Your will Hashem our God and God of our ancestors that the Temple will be built quickly in our days and give us our share in Your Torah
May it be Your will, Hashem our God and God of our ancestors, that the Temple be rebuilt quickly in our days, and give us our share in Your Torah.
וְשָׁם נַעֲבָדְךָ בְּיִרְאָה כִּימֵי עוֹלָם וּכְשָׁנִים קַדְמוֹנִיּוֹת.
And there we will serve You with awe as in the days of old and in earlier years
וְעָרְבָה לַייָ מִנְחַת יְהוּדָה וִירוּשָׁלָםִ כִּימֵי עוֹלָם וּכְשָׁנִים קַדְמוֹנִיּוֹת.
and may it be pleasing to Hashem the offering of Judah and Jerusalem as in the days of old and in earlier years
And may the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasing to Hashem, as in the days of old and in earlier years.
This line is Malachi 3:4, from the last book of the Prophets. The verse before it says the descendants of Levi, who served in the Temple, will be purified like gold and silver, so they can bring offerings in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing "as in the days of old."
Malachi 3:3-4Stay where your three steps end. The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) says to wait there until the chazan (the prayer leader) reaches Kedushah, or at least starts the repetition aloud.
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 123:2Mar's opening is almost word for word Tehillim 34:14: "Guard your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceitfully." In the verse, someone tells you to do it. In the prayer, you ask God to do it. The Gemara has a rabbi who used this verse as an answer. Rabbi Alexandri would announce, "Who wants life?" When the crowd gathered and said, "Give us life," he gave them this verse.
Tehillim 34:14; Avodah Zarah 19bThe next verse goes on: "Turn from evil and do good." The Gemara sees a danger. A person might say, "I guarded my tongue, so now I can go to sleep." So "good" means Torah. Abudarham (a commentary on the prayers, Spain, about 1340) says Mar's next lines follow this: open my heart to Your Torah, and let my soul pursue Your commandments. Pursuing commandments, he adds from Tehillim 119, cancels the pursuit by those who hate you. That is why the request about people who plan evil comes next.
Tehillim 34:15; Avodah Zarah 19b; Abudarham, Weekday Prayers, AmidahHe is a rabbi of the Gemara who shows up in many places. Pesachim 68b says he sat fasting all year, except for Shavuot, Purim and the day before Yom Kippur. At his son's wedding, he saw the rabbis celebrating too wildly, so he broke an expensive cup in front of them, and they grew serious. About this prayer the Gemara says only that he said it "when he finished his prayer." It was his own habit, not a text given to everyone.
Pesachim 68b; Berakhot 30b to 31a; Berakhot 17aThe Tur (a law code from Spain, 1300s) rules that once you finish the Amidah's blessings, even before Elokai Netzor, you may answer Kedushah, Kaddish and Barchu. The reason: Elokai Netzor is not part of the Amidah itself. It is only "the requests that come after the prayer." He also quotes Rav Amram Gaon (head of an academy in Babylonia, 800s): once the Amidah is over, do not go on reciting God's praises. But a confession, or any request you choose, you may say.
Tur, Orach Chaim 122Our siddur adds four lines: "Act for the sake of Your Name. Act for the sake of Your right hand. Act for the sake of Your Torah. Act for the sake of Your holiness." The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) says whoever is used to saying these four merits to greet the Divine Presence. The Tur says the Aggadah (the rabbis' non-legal teachings) credits this to a rabbi named Shmuel.
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 122:3; Tur, Orach Chaim 122Yoma 53b gives the law: take three steps back, then give peace. If you do not, "it would be better had he not prayed." It gives no reason. The Beit Yosef (Rabbi Yosef Karo's commentary on the Tur) lists several. One, from Shibbolei HaLeket (an Italian law book, 1200s), citing the Geonim (heads of the Babylonian academies): in prayer you stand in a holy place, and the steps take you out. Another, from Rav Hai, a Gaon: prayer replaced the daily offerings, and the priest stepped down three stone steps by the altar.
Yoma 53b; Beit Yosef, Orach Chaim 123Step back with the left foot first, says the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (a short guide to daily Jewish law, 1860s). People start walking with the right, so starting with the left shows how hard it is to leave God's presence. Then, still bowing, turn left for "He who makes peace," and right for "may He make peace for us." In Yoma 53b, Rava saw Abaye turn right first. Rava told him: I meant your left, which is God's right, since you are facing Him.
Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 18:12; Yoma 53bTaken alone, the line sounds like a request to be walked on: "To those who curse me, may my soul be silent, and may my soul be like dust to everyone." So it is worth asking what the Gemara means by dust, and by silence.
In Chullin 89a, the rabbis compare Avraham, who said "I am dust and ashes," with Moshe and Aharon, who said "What are we?" The Gemara calls the second greater. Then Rabbi Ile'a says the world stands only in the merit of someone who holds himself back during a quarrel.
Shabbat 88b says something close. It speaks of people who are insulted and do not insult back, who hear their shame and do not answer. About them the Tanach says that those who love God are like the sun coming out in its strength.
Notice what the line asks and what it leaves out. It asks for silence toward people who curse me, not agreement with them. Abudarham reads it as a step up: not only do I ask not to insult anyone first, I ask for the strength to bear an insult, as in Shabbat 88b.
On dust he gives a picture: everyone walks on it, yet it ends up on their heads, and in the end everyone needs it. So, he says, whoever lowers himself in this world will be at the head in the next. And a few lines later the prayer asks God to cancel the plans of people who plan evil against me. It is not giving up. It is holding your tongue and asking for help.
Tosafot (Gemara commentaries from France and Germany, 1100s and 1200s) add a second meaning of dust. Dust never comes to an end. So "like dust" can also be a hope that my descendants never come to an end, as in "your descendants will be like the dust of the earth."
Where the line falls between holding back and being a pushover, none of these sources says. They describe someone who hears the insult and chooses not to answer, not a rule for every case.
Chullin 89a,Shabbat 88b,Abudarham, Weekday Prayers, Amidah,Tosafot on Berakhot 17a,Bereishit 28:14The Amidah (the standing prayer) has 19 blessings. They are fixed: set blessings in a set order, the same for everyone. Elokai Netzor is the opposite. It began as one man's own words.
Berakhot 16b and 17a list several rabbis who each said something personal when they finished praying. Rava said: "My God, before I was formed I was not worthy. Now that I have been formed, it is as if I was not formed. I am dust while I live, and even more when I die." Rav Sheshet, while fasting, asked that the fat and blood he had lost to hunger count as if he had offered them on the altar. Mar's words are one more in that row. No two are alike.
The Mishnah Berurah (a central commentary on daily Jewish law, written around 1900) notes that in his region everyone was used to saying Elokai Netzor. So Mar's words became the shared version. But the same book quotes the Chayei Adam (a law guide by Rabbi Avraham Danzig, Vilna, early 1800s), who says it is proper and fitting for every person to pray each day, in particular, about their own needs and livelihood.
So the answer is the Gemara's own picture. After the fixed words, rabbis added words of their own, and each one is different. The siddur keeps Mar's, and the spot after it is still open for yours.
Berakhot 28b,Berakhot 16b and 17a,Mishnah Berurah 122:1 and 122:8The last request is that "the Temple be rebuilt speedily in our days." After a prayer about my own mouth and my own enemies, that can feel like a jump.
The Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles, Poland, 1500s) explains why it sits here. Prayer stands in the place of the Temple service, so we ask for the Temple, so that we can do the actual service. The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (a short guide to daily Jewish law, 1860s) repeats his words. The idea goes back to Berakhot 26b, where Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says the prayers were set to match the daily offerings. Another rabbi there says the patriarchs set them, so the Gemara does not give only one origin.
You can see what the Temple meant to one rabbi on the same page as Mar. Right after Mar comes Rav Sheshet, finishing a fast. When the Temple stood, he says, a person who sinned brought an offering. Only its fat and blood were offered, and he was forgiven. Now I have fasted, and my own fat and blood have shrunk. May it be Your will that this count as if I offered them on the altar. He is asking to be treated as if he had what the altar once gave.
Our line asks for a second thing too: "give us our share in Your Torah." The Rabbi Yishmael prayer ends with the same request and shows its shorter form in Pirkei Avot 5:20. Our version ends with words from the prophet Malachi, "as in the days of old and as in years long past."
The Rambam (Maimonides, Egypt, 1100s) rules that the Messiah will rebuild the Temple and that sacrifices will be offered again. Why God would want sacrifices at all is a hard question of its own, and the Tamid prayer takes it up. The sources here explain what this line asks and why it sits at this spot. They do not tell you how to feel about it.
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 123:1 (Rema),Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 18:12,Berakhot 26b,Berakhot 17a,Pirkei Avot 5:20,Malachi 3:4,Rambam, Laws of Kings 11:1Short ideas from the Chassidic masters, the Kabbalah and the Mussar teachers.
The Zohar (the central book of Kabbalah) notices that the last line of this prayer, from King David, names two different things. "The words of my mouth" are the words that were spelled out. "The thoughts of my heart" are the hidden ones, the things a person cannot say out loud, which stay in the heart. The line asks God to welcome both. Now read it again.
וְהֶגְיוֹן לִבִּי, אִלֵּין מִלִּין דִּסְתִימָן דְּלָא יָכִיל בַּר נָשׁ לְפָרְשָׁא לוֹן בְּפוּמֵיהּ
Zohar, Parashat VayishlachRebbe Nachman of Breslov (a Chassidic master who taught in the early 1800s) reads "my soul like dust to all" as advice for when people are against you. Do not answer in kind. Be like the earth: everyone tramples it, and it gives them food, gold, silver and gems. He adds a picture. If someone tunnels under your house and you tunnel back, he gets through easily. If you stand inside and pile earth against him, his plan fails.
וְנַפְשִׁי כְּעָפָר לַכֹּל תִּהְיֶה ... כְּמוֹ הֶעָפָר שֶׁהַכֹּל דָּשִׁין עָלֶיהָ, וְהִיא נוֹתֶנֶת לָהֶם כָּל הַטּוֹבוֹת
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, Likutei Moharan I:277Reshit Chokhmah (a guide to loving and fearing God, written in Tzfat in the 1500s by Rabbi Eliyahu de Vidas) asks why the prayer says "my soul" be silent, when "let me be silent" would do. His answer: you can say nothing back and still keep the hatred stored in your heart, the way Esav hated Yaakov in his heart. So the prayer asks that the soul itself be silent.
כי כבר איפשר שלא ישיב על חרפתו וישאר לו השנאה שמורה בלבו
Reshit Chokhmah, Gate of Humility 3:57In the prayer, "my soul like dust" is followed at once by "open my heart to Your Torah." Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (the founder of Chabad Chassidut, who wrote around 1800) connects them. The Gemara says that if you make yourself like a wilderness that everyone walks on, the Torah is given to you as a gift. That is why, he says, Torah was given on low Mount Sinai, not on taller mountains like Tabor and Carmel. He adds that you still need some lift in your heart, or you would never start.
אם משים אדם עצמו כמדבר שהכל דשין בו ופרש״י שאין לו גסות תורה ניתנה לו במתנה וכמאמר ונפשי כעפר לכל תהיה ואזי דוקא פתח לבי בתורתך
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, Likkutei Torah, Discourses for Shavuot (printed in the Bamidbar volume)The practical laws. For a final ruling, ask your rav.
Yes. The Gemara (the Talmud, the main record of Jewish law and its debates) says whoever prays must step back three steps and only then give the farewell greeting. If he did not, it would have been better for him not to pray. The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) says to bow and take all three steps within that one bow, left foot first. Each step is at least the length of a foot, toe beside heel, and ideally no bigger. Taking more than three counts as arrogance.
Yoma 53b; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 123:1, 123:3-4After the three steps, still bowed, turn your head left at "oseh shalom bimromav" and right at "hu yaaseh shalom aleinu." Then bow forward. The Mishnah Berurah (a central commentary on daily Jewish law, written around 1900) says to do this after the steps, not while stepping as some do. He explains the order: you picture God facing you, so your left is God's right.
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 123:1; Mishnah Berurah 123:3-4Not right away. The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) says to stay where your steps ended until the prayer leader reaches Kedushah, or at least until he starts the repetition aloud. The Gemara says walking straight back looks like a student who says goodbye to his teacher and returns at once, and compares it to a dog going back to its vomit. The Mishnah Berurah says if the room is tight, or piyutim (added poems) are being said, you may return as the leader begins.
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 123:2; Yoma 53b; Mishnah Berurah 123:7, 123:10Wait. The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (a short guide to daily law, from the 1860s) says do not take your steps back, since that means passing in front of a person who is praying. The Mishnah Berurah says you may not step within four cubits (an old measure of distance) of them. It adds that if you are stuck this way after finishing, you may stop and answer Amen.
Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 18:21; Mishnah Berurah 123:14, 122:4Not before the first "Yihyu leratzon": the Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) says that verse is still part of the Amidah. After it, you may answer Kaddish and Kedushah. The Mishnah Berurah (a central commentary, written around 1900) says that since everyone says Elokai Netzor as a habit, it is treated like the blessings of the Shema: stop for Kaddish, Kedushah and Barchu, not for an ordinary Amen. The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch allows any Amen after the verse. If you can, say the verse and step back first.
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 122:1; Mishnah Berurah 122:1; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 18:14-15The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) says to say the verse right after the Amidah, before any personal requests, and you may say it again after them. The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (a short guide, from the 1860s) says saying it before and after Elokai Netzor is the right way. Some, he reports, say a verse from Tanach that starts and ends with the letters of your name before "Yihyu leratzon" (Eliyahu Rabbah, a commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, citing a manuscript). He says it goes before the second one.
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 122:2; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 18:15Yes. The Mishnah Berurah (a central commentary on daily Jewish law, written around 1900) quotes the Chayei Adam (a book of daily law): it is right for everyone to pray each day for their own needs. If you cannot speak elegant Hebrew, he says, speaking from the heart in Yiddish beats Hebrew without feeling, since prayer works in any language. The Mishnah Berurah says to place these after the 18 blessings, so you can still answer Kedushah, and to say "Yihyu leratzon" before and after them.
Mishnah Berurah 122:3, 122:8; Chayei Adam 24:19מר בריה דרבינא כי הוה מסיים צלותיה אמר הכי אלהי נצור לשוני מרע ושפתותי מדבר מרמה ולמקללי נפשי תדום ונפשי כעפר לכל תהיה
When Mar, the son of Ravina, finished his prayer, he would say: My God, guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking deceitfully. To those who curse me, may my soul be silent, and may my soul be like dust to everyone.
נצר לשונך מרע ושפתיך מדבר מרמה
Guard your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceitfully.
מכריז רבי אלכסנדרי מאן בעי חיי... הב לן חיי אמר להו מי האיש החפץ חיים וגו' נצור לשונך מרע וגו'
Rabbi Alexandri would announce: Who wants life? ... They said to him: Give us life. He said to them: Who is the man who wants life... guard your tongue from evil.
כי רדיפת המצות מועלת לבטל רדיפת השונאים. ולכך אומר מיד וכל החושבים עלי רעה מהרה הפר עצתם וקלקל מחשבותם
Pursuing the commandments helps cancel the pursuit by those who hate us. That is why he says right away: all who plan evil against me, quickly cancel their plan and wreck their schemes.
אמר רבי אילעא אין העולם מתקיים אלא בשביל מי שבולם את עצמו בשעת מריבה
Rabbi Ile'a said: The world stands only in the merit of someone who holds himself back during a quarrel.
תנו רבנן עלובין ואינן עולבין שומעין חרפתן ואינן משיבין... עליהן הכתוב אומר ואהביו כצאת השמש
The rabbis taught: Those who are insulted and do not insult, who hear their shame and do not answer... about them the verse says: Those who love Him are like the sun going out.
ולאחר שסיים י"ח ברכות קודם אלהי נצור יכול לענות קדושה קדיש וברכו שאלהי נצור אינו אלא מתחנונים שלאחר תפלה
After finishing the Amidah, before Elokai Netzor, one may answer Kedushah, Kaddish and Barchu, because Elokai Netzor is only requests that come after the prayer.
המתפלל צריך שיפסיע שלש פסיעות לאחוריו ואחר כך יתן שלום ואם לא עשה כן ראוי לו שלא התפלל
One who prays must take three steps back, and after that give peace. If he did not do so, it would have been better had he not prayed.
כי התפלה במקום העבודה ולכן מבקשים על המקדש שנוכל לעשות עבודה ממש
Because prayer is in place of the service, we ask for the Temple, so that we can do the actual service.
בזמן שבית המקדש קיים אדם חוטא ומקריב קרבן ואין מקריבין ממנו אלא חלבו ודמו ומתכפר לו
Rav Sheshet said: When the Temple stood, a person sinned and offered a sacrifice. Only its fat and blood were offered, and he was forgiven.
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