וַאֲנַחְנוּ לֹא נֵדַע
A chain of verses that begins with "we do not know what to do."
Also said at Mincha.
Draft. This siddur is waiting for a rav's review. For a halachic question, ask your rav.
King Yehoshafat of Judah. He was told that a huge army was coming against him, and the text says he was afraid. He called a fast, and people came from all over Judah, children included. He stood in the Temple in front of them and prayed. His prayer ends: we have no strength against this crowd, we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.
You say it after sitting for the psalms, standing for the Amidah, and putting your head on your arm. The sources say you have now prayed in every way a person can, so what is left is to look to God.
Divrei HaYamim II 20:1-12; Abudarham, Weekday Prayers, Post Amidah; Mishnah Berurah 131:9Hebrew, then English. Open "What it means" under any line for the explanation.
Many people sit for the first three words and stand up for "what will we do":
וַאֲנַחְנוּ לֺא נֵדַע מַה נַּעֲשֶׂה כִּי עָלֶיךָ עֵינֵינוּ.
And we do not know what we will do but our eyes are on You
These are the last words of a prayer by King Yehoshafat of Judah. A huge force of enemies was coming at him. He said his people were powerless, did not know what to do, and were looking to God. The next verse says all Judah stood there, even the little children.
Divrei HaYamim (Chronicles) II 20:12-13זְכֹר רַחֲמֶיךָ יְיָ וַחֲסָדֶיךָ כִּי מֵעוֹלָם הֵמָּה.
Remember Your compassion Hashem and Your kindnesses for they are from forever
Remember Your compassion, Hashem, and Your kindnesses, for they have been here from forever.
"From forever" has two readings. Rashi (the classic commentator, France, died 1105) says it goes back to Adam. God had said Adam would die on the day he ate from the tree, but gave him one of God's own days instead, which is a thousand years. Radak (Rabbi David Kimchi, Provence, about 1200) says it goes back to the womb.
Rashi and Radak on Tehillim 25:6יְהִי חַסְדְּךָ יְיָ עָלֵינוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר יִחַלְנוּ לָךְ.
May Your kindness be Hashem, on us just as we have hoped in You
May Your kindness be on us, Hashem, just as we have hoped in You.
The last verse of Tehillim 33. Four verses earlier it says Hashem's eye is "on those who wait for His kindness," with the same word as "we have hoped" here. Radak: may Your kindness be on us at all times, as we have hoped.
Tehillim 33:18 and 33:22; Radak on Tehillim 33:22אַל תִּזְכָּר לָנוּ עֲוֹנוֹת רִאשׁוֹנִים מַהֵר יְקַדְּמוּנוּ רַחֲמֶיךָ כִּי דַלּוֹנוּ מְאֹד.
Do not remember against us the earlier sins quickly let Your compassion come to meet us for we have fallen so low
Do not hold the earlier sins against us. Quickly, let Your compassion come to meet us, for we have fallen so low.
Who are the "earlier ones"? Ibn Ezra (a Spanish-born commentator of the 1100s) says many take "earlier" as describing the sins: our own past sins. He prefers "the sins of the earlier fathers." Radak reads sins from earlier days, in youth. The Hebrew allows both, so the English here says "the earlier sins."
Ibn Ezra and Radak on Tehillim 79:8עֶזְרֵנוּ בְּשֵׁם יְיָ עֹשֵׂה שָׁמַיִם וְאָרֶץ.
Our help is in the name of Hashem, maker of heaven and earth
The last verse of Tehillim 124, a song about escaping. Just before it: "We escaped like a bird from the hunters' trap. The trap broke." Radak: the One who made heaven and earth has power above and below, so He can get us out of the trap, which Radak says is exile.
Tehillim 124:7-8; Radak on Tehillim 124:8חָנֵּנוּ יְיָ חָנֵּנוּ כִּי רַב שָׂבַעְנוּ בוּז.
Be gracious to us, Hashem, be gracious to us, for we have had more than enough contempt
In Tehillim 123 the verse just before this one says: "As servants' eyes are on their master's hand, so our eyes are on Hashem our God, until He is gracious to us." Our eyes on God is the first line of this prayer. The verse after says the contempt comes from the comfortable and the proud.
Tehillim 123:2-4בְּרֺגֶז רַחֵם תִּזְכּוֹר. בְּרֹגֶז עַקֵדָה תִּזְכּוֹר, בְּרֹגֶז תְּמִימוֹת תִּזְכּוֹר.
In anger, remember compassion. In anger, remember the binding. In anger, remember wholeness.
In anger, remember compassion. In anger, remember the Akedah. In anger, remember wholeness.
The first "in anger" line is from the prayer of the prophet Chavakuk (Habakkuk). Rashi reads it "remember to have compassion." Ibn Ezra reads "remember Your compassion." The next two lines copy the pattern but are not part of his verse.
Chavakuk 3:1-2; Rashi and Ibn Ezra on Chavakuk 3:2יְיָ הוֹשִׁיעָה, הַמֶּלֶךְ יַעֲנֵנוּ בְיוֹם קָרְאֵנוּ.
Hashem, save us may the King answer us on the day we call
Radak says this was the shout of soldiers going into battle, and that "the King" is God. Ibn Ezra mentions a reading that joins "the King" to "save," as "save the king," and rejects it because the verse puts a pause mark on "save".
Radak and Ibn Ezra on Tehillim 20:10כִּי הוּא יָדַע יִצְרֵנוּ זָכוּר כִּי עָפָר אֲנָחְנוּ.
For He knows how we are formed and remembers that we are dust
For He knows how we are formed. He remembers that we are dust.
Two readings of "how we are formed." Metzudat David (a commentary from the 1700s): what we were made from, dust, so we cannot fully escape the body's pulls. Radak: our urges, which come from the animal side of a person. Rashi: God remembers and has not forgotten that we are dust.
Tehillim 103:14, with Metzudat David, Radak and Rashiעָזְרֵנוּ אֱלֺהֵי יִשְׁעֵנוּ עַל דְּבַר כְּבוֹד שְׁמֶךָ וְהַצִּילֵנוּ וְכַפֵּר עַל חַטֹּאתֵינוּ לְמַעַן שְׁמֶךָ.
Help us, God of our rescue, for the glory of Your name. Save us and forgive our sins for the sake of Your name
Tehillim 79:9, the verse right after "do not remember the earlier sins." On Mondays and Thursdays you also said it at the end of the "God of Israel, turn from Your anger" section. Radak: God's name is dishonored among the nations, and it will be honored once God helps us.
Tehillim 79:9; Radak on Tehillim 79:9Many say "we do not know" sitting and "what will we do" standing, both out loud, as the Magen Avraham (a commentary on the Shulchan Aruch) brings from the Shelah (a book from the 1600s). The reason, from the Tur (a law code from the 1300s): we have prayed sitting, standing, and falling on our face.
Tur, Orach Chaim 131; Magen Avraham 131:4; Mishnah Berurah 131:9The first word, Va'anachnu, means "And we." The prayer starts in the middle of a sentence. King Yehoshafat of Judah told God: "We have no strength before this huge crowd that is coming at us, and we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You." The siddur keeps only the second half. It is from Divrei HaYamim II (Chronicles), a book of the Tanach that retells the history of the kings of Judah.
Divrei HaYamim II 20:2-12"In anger, remember mercy" is from Chavakuk (Habakkuk) 3:2. The word for mercy there is rachem. The Gemara (the rabbis' huge record of discussion and law) notices that rachem adds up to 248, the same as cherem, a ban. Reish Lakish says a ban enters all 248 organs of the body when it is announced, and leaves all 248 when it is lifted. Radak (Rabbi David Kimchi, a commentator about 800 years ago) adds a midrash-style hint: rachem also adds up to Avraham.
Moed Katan 17a; Radak on Chavakuk 3:2The Machzor Vitry (a prayer book from northern France, around 1100) has a shorter version. It ends "For He knows how we are made, remember that we are dust," then Kaddish. It has no line about the Akedah (the binding of Yitzchak), and no "Help us in the name of Hashem" or "Hashem, save." Abudarham (a commentary on the prayers, Spain, about 1340) quotes Rav Amram Gaon (a Babylonian sage of the 800s): in the early-morning pleas between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, this line came last, then Kaddish.
Machzor Vitry, Order of Shacharit 93; Abudarham, Rosh Hashanah, PrayersNefilat Apayim is the prayer where you rest your head on your arm. The Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles, whose notes on the Shulchan Aruch, the main code of Jewish law, give Ashkenazi practice) says that afterward you lift your head and plead a little while sitting, and the widespread custom is to say this. Sefer HaMachkim (a medieval book of prayer customs, from the 1200s) gives the meaning: we prayed sitting, standing, and falling on our faces, but in this we trusted: our eyes are on You.
Rema, Orach Chaim 131:1; Sefer HaMachkim 85"Hashem, save! May the King answer us on the day we call" is from Tehillim 20. Radak says people used to say it and shout it in war, and that "the King" means God, the King of the world, who has the power to save. Ibn Ezra, a medieval Spanish commentator, mentions another reading, "Hashem, save the king," and says it is wrong because the cantillation mark on "save" marks a pause. Siddur Sefard also puts a comma after "save."
Radak on Tehillim 20:10; Ibn Ezra on Tehillim 20:10; Siddur SefardAbudarham says this is one verse from Divrei HaYamim plus "scattered verses from Tehillim." Count them: eight from Tehillim, one from Chavakuk, one from Divrei HaYamim. Then come two lines that are not verses: "In anger, remember the Akedah" and "In anger, remember temimot" (wholeness), which copy the pattern of the Chavakuk line. The Ashkenaz siddur on Sefaria has neither of those, nor "Help us in the name of Hashem" or "Hashem, save."
Abudarham, Weekday Prayers, Post Amidah; Siddur Sefard and Siddur AshkenazIt does sound odd. By this point you have sat through the psalms of praise, stood for the Amidah (the main prayer), and put your head on your arm for Nefilat Apayim. Then you say: we do not know what to do.
The answer starts with Moshe. When he went up the mountain, the Torah describes three postures: "I sat on the mountain," "I stood on the mountain," and "I fell down before Hashem." The Mishnah Berurah (a central commentary on daily Jewish law, written around 1900) says that is the reason for this line. We have prayed in every way a person can, sitting, standing, and falling on our faces, as Moshe did. So we say: we do not know what to do.
Abudarham matches each posture to the service. We sat for the psalms at the start, stood for the Amidah, and fell on our faces after it. From then on, he writes, we do not know how to pray in any other way.
One detail: in the Torah those three verses come in a different order. Moshe sits (Devarim 9:9), falls (9:18), and stands (10:10). Abudarham lists them as sitting, then standing, then falling, to match the order of the service. The Mishnah Berurah lists the three without saying which came first.
Sefer HaMachkim ends the thought differently: we prayed sitting, standing, and falling, "but in this we trusted: our eyes are on You." Read this way, the line is not "we are lost." It is "we have used every way we know, and now we look to You."
The custom follows the words. The Mishnah Berurah, quoting the Shelah (Rabbi Yeshayahu Horowitz, who died in 1630) and later authorities, says it is fitting to say "we do not know" sitting and "what shall we do" standing. The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (a short guide to daily Jewish law from the 1860s) says the same. If you see people stand up in the middle of the sentence, that is why.
Mishnah Berurah 131:9,Abudarham, Weekday Prayers, Post Amidah,Devarim 9:9, 9:18 and 10:10,Sefer HaMachkim 85,Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 22:3The sentence is older than the prayer book, and it was said in a real emergency. In Divrei HaYamim II (Chronicles) chapter 20, King Yehoshafat of Judah is told that a huge army is coming against him. The text says he was afraid. He called a fast, and people came from all over Judah, children included.
He stood in the Temple in front of them and prayed. He began with God's power, then described the situation: we have no strength against this crowd, and we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You. The Malbim (a 19th-century commentator) points out how complete the admission is. The king is telling God not to think that Judah will come up with its own plan and its own strength. They have neither.
Then a Levite named Yachaziel spoke up from the crowd, as the spirit of God came on him: "The battle is not yours but God's." He told them they would not have to fight it. But he did not tell them to stay home. He said: "Tomorrow, go out to meet them."
Early the next morning they went out. Yehoshafat told the people, "Trust in Hashem your God and you will stand firm." He put singers at the front of the army, singing "Thank Hashem, for His kindness is forever." When the singing began, the enemy armies turned on each other. When Judah reached the lookout, no one was left. On the fourth day they gathered in a valley to bless God, and it was named the Valley of Blessing.
So this line comes from a prayer that said "we have no plan" and then walked out the door the next morning. The siddur borrows only the sentence, not the ending.
Divrei HaYamim II 20:1-26,Malbim on Divrei HaYamim II 20:12These words were not first said about you. They are from the prophet Chavakuk (Habakkuk). Chapter 3 of his book is "a prayer of Chavakuk the prophet." Radak says he had heard a prophecy of a long exile and was afraid, so he asks God to keep the people alive through those years and, in anger, to remember mercy.
Who is angry at whom? Even the classic commentators read it two ways. Rashi (the main medieval commentator on the Torah, who lived in France about 900 years ago) says "in anger" means God's anger at the wicked, and the prayer asks God to remember to have mercy on Israel. Radak says the time of anger is the exile itself, and asks God to remember the love of Israel's ancestors. Neither one stops to ask what anger means when it is said about God.
The Ribono Shel Olam prayer, earlier in the morning, asks that question and gives the Rambam's answer.
Chavakuk 3:1-2,Radak on Chavakuk 3:2,Rashi on Chavakuk 3:2Short ideas from the Chassidic masters, the Kabbalah and the Mussar teachers.
Rabbi Gershon Henoch Leiner of Radzin (a Chassidic master in 1800s Poland) writes that the rescue from Egypt came through a cry from the heart, and that such a cry is closer to God than a prayer. A person can reach God this way even when he cannot put a prayer into words, because he finds no strength for it in himself. His second example is King Yehoshafat of Judah, who faced a huge army and said the words of this prayer: we do not know what to do, our eyes are on You.
שאינו מוצא בעצמו כח תפלה, ורק מאמונה ממעמקי הלב מעורר רצון העליון
Rabbi Gershon Henoch Leiner of Radzin, Sha'ar HaEmunah VeYesod HaChasidut (introduction to the Beit Yaakov)The Zohar (the central book of Kabbalah) says God judges Israel Himself, and when He does, He is filled with compassion like a father with his children. Still, it says, many accusers stand ready above. If mercy did not reach Israel before the judging began, Israel could not survive. That is why we say "let Your mercy come to meet us quickly," and then give the reason: "we have fallen so low," which the Zohar reads as poor in good deeds. Now read "quickly" again.
ואלמלא דאקדים קודשא ב"ה רחמים עלייהו דישראל, עד לא ישגח בדיניהון, לא יכלין לקיימא בעלמא
Zohar, Parashat VayechiThe verse says God knows our nature and remembers that we are dust. Rabbi Natan of Breslov (the main student of the Chassidic master Rebbe Nachman) reads this as being about place. Dust is the most physical place there is, and each person came down into this world at his own spot. God knows the place of every single person, so He always judges us with the benefit of the doubt, and He has mercy. Now read "He knows our nature" again.
כל אחד ירד למקום שירד כפי מקומו וה' יתברך שהוא יודע מקום של כל אחד ואחד... על כן הוא דן אותנו לכף זכות תמיד ומרחם עלינו
Rabbi Natan of Breslov, Likutei Halakhot, Choshen Mishpat, Laws of Emissaries 4:5The line asks that the King answer us "on the day we call." Rabbi Ze'ev Wolf of Zhitomir (an early Chassidic master) asks why the day matters. His answer: the word for prayer means connection, and when a person manages to join his inner thoughts to God, there is no greater answer than that. So the first answer is to the calling itself, being able to pray as it should be done. After that, he says, what you asked for will come on its own, some day.
וכיון שזוכה האדם לתפלה כזו אין לך עניה גדולה מזה
Ohr HaMeir, Rosh Hashanah 9The prayer says, in anger, remember mercy. It comes from the prophet Chavakuk, and it is asked of God. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (a Chassidic master who died in 1810) says a person can do the same. When you get angry, he teaches, do not act cruelly because of it. Do the opposite and soften the anger with mercy, as in that verse. Now read the three "in anger" lines again.
כשבא אדם לכלל כעס, לא יפעל בכעסו שום אכזריות, ואדרבא, ימתיק הכעס ברחמנות, בבחינת: ברגז רחם תזכור
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, Likutei Moharan I:18The practical laws. For a final ruling, ask your rav.
The sources call it fitting. The Mishnah Berurah (a leading commentary on daily Jewish law, from around 1900) says to say "va'anachnu lo neda" (we do not know) sitting and "ma na'aseh" (what to do) standing. The reason: you have prayed sitting, standing and falling on your face, and have no other way left. The Magen Avraham (a commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, the main code of Jewish law, from around 1670) adds that both parts are said out loud. Both cite the Shelah, a book from about 400 years ago.
Mishnah Berurah 131:9; Magen Avraham 131:4; Arukh HaShulchan, Orach Chaim 131:9The law books call it a custom. The Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles, who added Ashkenazi practice to the Shulchan Aruch) writes that the widespread custom is to say it after falling on your face, then Half Kaddish. The Shulchan Aruch HaRav (the code of law by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the first Chabad Rebbe) says the same. The Rambam (Maimonides, about 850 years ago) already wrote that the people had the custom of pleading with these verses, though his list of verses differs from ours.
Shulchan Aruch and Rema, Orach Chaim 131:1; Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Orach Chaim 131:2; Rambam, Order of Prayer 2:35The sources show different customs. The Tur (a law code from about 700 years ago) quotes an earlier authority who has the leader stand and say Avinu Malkeinu, then this prayer, and the Tur says the leader says it. The Kaf HaChaim (a Sephardic law commentary from the early 1900s) says the leader says it out loud, and some places have him say all of it from Avinu Malkeinu out loud. Machzor Vitry (a French prayer book, about 900 years ago) has the congregation and leader stand and say it quietly. It all follows local custom, Kaf HaChaim says.
Tur, Orach Chaim 131; Kaf HaChaim, Orach Chaim 131:36; Machzor Vitry, Order of Mincha 100At Mincha, yes. The Tur says that after the Amidah and the leader's repetition they fall on their faces, say this prayer, then say Full Kaddish. The Mishnah Berurah quotes him. The Sefard siddur we checked (the Metsudah edition) prints it in the Mincha service too, followed by Full Kaddish. At night there is no falling on the face (Shulchan Aruch 131:3), and that siddur has no such passage at Maariv, the evening service. In the morning, the Rema has Half Kaddish after it.
Mishnah Berurah 234:7 (quoting the Tur); Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 131:3; Siddur Sefard, Weekday Mincha, TachanunNo. The Sefard siddur says that on days with no Tachanun, the leader goes straight to Half Kaddish, and this prayer sits between the two. The Shulchan Aruch and Rema skip falling on the face on days such as Rosh Chodesh, Chanukah, Purim, Lag BaOmer, all of Nisan, and in a mourner's house or when a groom or a bris is in the synagogue. The Sefard siddur goes further in two seasons: from the day before Yom Kippur until after Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, and from Rosh Chodesh Sivan to the 13th of Sivan.
Siddur Sefard, Weekday Shacharit and Mincha, Tachanun notes; Shulchan Aruch and Rema, Orach Chaim 131:4, 6-7כִּי אֵין בָּנוּ כֹּחַ לִפְנֵי הֶהָמוֹן הָרָב הַזֶּה הַבָּא עָלֵינוּ וַאֲנַחְנוּ לֹא נֵדַע מַה־נַּעֲשֶׂה כִּי עָלֶיךָ עֵינֵינוּ
We have no strength before this huge crowd that is coming at us, and we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.
וכן עשינו אנחנו בתחלה פסוקי הזמירות בישיבה ואחר כך שמונה עשרה בעמידה ואחר כך נפילת אפים ומעתה אין אנו יודעים להתפלל בענין אחר וזהו ואנחנו לא נדע.
So we did the same: first the psalms of praise sitting, then the Amidah standing, then Nefilat Apayim, falling on our faces. From now on we do not know how to pray in any other way. That is the meaning of "we do not know."
לפי שהתפללנו בכל ענין שיוכל אדם להתפלל בישיבה ובעמידה ובנפילת אפים כמו שעשה משה רבינו... וראוי לומר ואנחנו לא נדע בישיבה מה נעשה בעמידה
Because we have prayed in every way a person can pray: sitting, standing, and falling on the face, as Moshe did... And it is fitting to say "we do not know" sitting, and "what shall we do" standing.
ונופל על פניו ובקומו יאמר ואנחנו לא נדע מה נעשה... כי התפללנו מיושב ומעומד ומנפילה על פנים אך בזה בטחנו כי אליך עינינו.
He falls on his face, and when he gets up he says "we do not know what to do"... because we prayed sitting, standing, and falling on our faces, but in this we trusted: our eyes are on You.
ולא תאמר שאנחנו בעצמנו נכין עצה וגבורה למלחמה, שאין לנו גבורה, כי אין בנו כח לפני ההמון הרב הזה. ולא עצה, כי אנחנו לא נדע מה נעשה, רק עליך עינינו
Do not think that we ourselves will prepare a plan and strength for the war. We have no strength, because we have no power before this great crowd. And no plan, because we do not know what to do, only that our eyes are on You.
ואנחנו לא נדע מה נעשה כי עליך עינינו... ברוגז רחם תזכור: כי הוא ידע יצרנו זכור כי עפר אנחנו: קדיש עד דאמירן
We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You... In anger remember mercy. For He knows how we are made, remember that we are dust. Kaddish.
כשהיא נכנסת דכתיב והיתה העיר חרם חרם בגימטריא מאתים וארבעים ושמונה הוו כשהיא יוצאה דכתיב ברוגז רחם תזכור רחם בגימטריא הכי הוו
When a ban comes in, as it is written, "the city shall be a ban (cherem)": cherem adds up to 248. When it goes out, as it is written, "in anger remember mercy (rachem)": rachem adds up to the same.
ברוגז רחם תזכור. בזמן הרוגז והאף שהוא זמן הגלות תזכור להם אהבת אבותם... ודרך הדרש רח"ם בגימטריא אברהם חשבון זה כזה כלומר זכור להם ברית אברהם
"In anger remember mercy." In the time of anger, which is the time of exile, remember for them the love of their ancestors... And by way of teaching, rachem adds up to Avraham, the same count, meaning: remember for them the covenant of Avraham.
זהו שהיו אומרים וצועקים במלחמה... ופרוש המלך: האל, שהוא מלך העולם, ובידו להושיענו
This is what they would say and cry out in war... And "the King" means God, who is King of the world, and it is in His hand to save us.
Torah Tech is a beit midrash in Tel Aviv built for personal and professional growth: Torah learning at the center of every day, and internships at Israeli startups. It is the year a future Jewish leader realizes who he can become, and chooses to become it.