Retzeh and Ya'aleh Veyavo

A blessing with this name in the Temple

The Emet Veyatziv prayer tells how the Temple priests said three blessings each morning. The Mishnah (the earliest book of the Oral Torah) names one Avodah, "service," and gives no words. Rashi (the main commentator on the Gemara, died 1105) suggests two wordings. One is: "Be pleased, Hashem our God, with the service of Your people Israel, and accept the fire-offerings of Israel and their prayer with favor. Blessed is the One who accepts the service of His people Israel with favor."

Why the kohanim walk up here

Where kohanim (priests) bless the congregation, they leave their places for the platform as the chazan (the prayer leader) starts this blessing. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi (a sage of the Gemara) says a kohen who does not go up during the "service" blessing may not go up at all. He learns it from Aharon, who blessed the people and then came down from bringing the offerings. The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) says a kohen must start moving when the chazan begins Retzeh, even if he arrives after it ends.

Six verbs, six verses

Ya'aleh Veyavo has eight verbs: rise, come, reach, appear, be desired, be heard, be counted, be recalled. Machzor Vitry (an early prayer book from France, around 1100) ties six of them to verses. Rise: "if I do not raise Jerusalem above my greatest joy." Come: "when you come to war... you will be remembered." Reach: "happy is the one who waits and reaches." Appear: "on Hashem's mountain He will appear." Be desired: "remember me when You favor Your people." Be heard: "Hashem listened and heard."

Two phrases with a past

Abudarham (a Spanish commentator on the prayers, 1300s) traces two phrases. For "look with favor on their prayer," he points to Hevel's offering: Hashem "looked with favor" on it, with the same verb. For "the dvir of Your house," he points to King Shlomo building the Temple and preparing a dvir inside it for the Ark. Radak (a commentator on Tanach, Provence, around 1200) says the dvir is the Holy of Holies, the innermost room.

Where does the comma go?

"And the fire-offerings of Israel and their prayer" can be read three ways, all listed by the Tur (a law code, Spain, 1300s). One: with no offerings today, we ask that prayer, their stand-in, be accepted. Two: a Midrash says the angel Michael offers the souls of the righteous on a heavenly altar. Three: the phrase goes with the line before ("restore the service and the fire-offerings"), and "their prayer" starts a new line. The Vilna Gaon (Lithuania, 1700s) calls the third the main reading. Our comma follows it.

Why Rosh Chodesh is mentioned in this blessing

The Gemara quotes a teaching: on days with an extra offering in the Temple, Rosh Chodesh and Chol HaMoed, say a passage about the day in the service blessing. Rashi explains it asks for mercy on Israel and Jerusalem, so the service returns and the day's offerings can be brought. For a Shabbat that is also Rosh Chodesh, Rabbi Eliezer wanted it in Modim, the next blessing. The first opinion won.

Why service follows "hear our prayer"

The blessing before this one asks God to hear our prayer. The Gemara says the order comes from a verse: once prayer arrives, the service arrives. Yeshayahu says that on God's mountain, "their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be welcome on My altar," and calls the Temple "a house of prayer." The Hebrew for "welcome" there is ratzon, from the same root as this blessing's first word, Retzeh.

Why prayer is greater than offerings

The Gemara says that prayer is greater than the offerings in the Temple. Rav Kook (the first Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel, who died in 1935) explains why. A person fights two battles: against bad pulls inside himself, and against outside circumstances. Prayer is work of the heart, and it makes the good inside stronger. Offerings help the inner side win over the outside. A person's worth is measured by the inner win, so prayer is greater. He adds that even a prayer that falls short still does some good.

התפילה, שהיא עבודה פנימית שבלב, מגברת את הטוב שבכחות הפנימיים עצמם. הקרבנות מגבירים את הכחות הפנימיים על הכחות המפריעים שמחוץ לגופו ונפשו של אדם

The inner room is about speech

The word dvir, the Temple's inner room, shares a root with dibur, speech. Rabbi Shlomo Rabinowicz of Radomsk (a Chassidic rebbe who died in 1866), in his book Tiferet Shlomo, hears that here. He says the Mishkan (the portable Temple in the desert) was built from people's willing hearts, and the future Temple will be too. Whoever aims everything at God's honor builds his own share of it by his good will. So he reads "restore the service to the dvir of Your house" as asking that the speech of our prayer be only for Your house, for God's honor.

והשב את העבודה לדביר ביתך שיהי' הדיבור של התפלה רק עבור ביתך לכבוד הש"י

Who are the fire offerings?

The Gemara says that in heaven there is an altar, and the angel Michael offers a sacrifice on it. Tosafot (medieval commentators on the Gemara) say the old teachings disagree about what he offers: the souls of the righteous, or lambs made of fire. They connect this to our line "and the fire offerings of Israel." Rabbi Shlomo of Radomsk follows the first view and says this phrase is about the souls of Israel rising up. Now read "the fire offerings of Israel" again.

מדרשות חלוקין יש מי שאומר נשמותיהן של צדיקים ויש מי שאומר כבשים של אש והיינו דאמרינן בשמונה עשרה בעבודה ואשי ישראל ותפלתם

I forgot Ya'aleh Veyavo on Rosh Chodesh. Now what?

At Shacharit or Mincha, where you are decides. The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) rules: before Modim begins, say it right there. Once Modim begins, go back to Retzeh. After you finish the Amidah, start it over. The Mishnah Berurah (a central commentary on daily Jewish law, written around 1900) explains: the last three blessings count as one unit. Finished means you have said the closing yihyu leratzon verse. Maariv has its own rule.

I already finished the closing blessing. Is it too late?

The Mishnah Berurah says you can still say it as long as Modim has not begun, even if you finished that blessing. If you already said Hashem's name to close the blessing, he says it is better to add "lamdeni chukecha" ("teach me Your laws"), say Ya'aleh Veyavo, then say "vetechezena" again. The added words make it a verse from Tehillim, so the name is not said for nothing. Some printed Sefard siddurim are stricter: once that blessing is finished, go back to Retzeh.

I'm not sure if I said it. Do I repeat?

The Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles, who added Ashkenazi custom to the Shulchan Aruch) writes that if you are unsure, you do not repeat. The Mishnah Berurah says almost all later authorities disagree: you are used to praying without it, so assume you skipped it. The Arukh HaShulchan (a code of law from around 1900) splits the cases: if you knew when you started that it was Rosh Chodesh, do not repeat. If it was not on your mind, repeat.

What if I forget it at night, in Maariv?

Do not repeat the Amidah. The Shulchan Aruch rules that on Rosh Chodesh, Shacharit and Mincha get repeated but Maariv does not, because back when a court declared each new month, it never did so at night. This is true on both nights when Rosh Chodesh is two days. You can still add it before you finish the closing blessing. Once you finish it, leave it out.

Is it the same on Chol HaMoed? And at bentching?

In the Amidah, yes, and here Maariv counts too. On Chol HaMoed, the Shulchan Aruch says that if you left it out of Maariv, Shacharit or Mincha, you go back. That is different from Rosh Chodesh, where Maariv is not repeated. In Birkat Hamazon (the blessings after eating) you also add it, but if you forgot, you do not repeat. The Mishnah Berurah gives the reason: you cannot skip davening, but you did not have to eat bread. You could have eaten meat or fruit instead.

Do girls go back too?

Yes. Peninei Halakhah (a modern guide to Jewish law by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed) states that these laws are the same for women and men: wherever a man must pray again, so must a woman. A woman who forgets it at Maariv on Rosh Chodesh does not repeat, same as a man. A footnote cites Halikhot Shlomo (rulings of Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach): a woman who does not pray regularly and forgets it on Rosh Chodesh may choose whether to go back.

I only remembered after Musaf. Do I redo Shacharit?

The Mishnah Berurah reports a split. The Kenesset HaGedolah (an early commentary on the Shulchan Aruch) says you are covered after the fact, since Musaf mentions the day. Others, quoting the Rashba (a medieval Spanish rabbi), say an individual always repeats, and one adds to stipulate it counts as voluntary if not needed. If you remember in Musaf's first three blessings, finish that Amidah as Shacharit, then pray Musaf. The Arukh HaShulchan: no repeat needed, but you may pray Mincha twice.