R. Gamliel dice: Uno recita diciotto benedizioni (shemoneh esreh) ogni giorno. R. Yehoshua dice: Cos'è simile a diciotto benedizioni. [Nella gemara, alcuni spiegano che recita ciascuna delle benedizioni centrali in breve e si conclude con la benedizione per ognuna; e altri, che dice: "Fa sì che tu, o Dio nostro, conosca le tue vie" (havinuinu), che è una benedizione che incarna tutte le benedizioni di mezzo dello shemoneh esreh, e conclude: "Beato te , O L-rd, che ascolta la preghiera. "] R. Akiva dice: Se (lo shemoneh esreh) è" abituale "in bocca, [se gli viene" insegnato "e parla fluentemente], recita shemoneh esreh ; in caso contrario, recita ciò che è simile ad esso. [E l'halachah è secondo R. Akiva, che se uno non è fluente in esso, o è duro, recita le prime tre benedizioni e le ultime, e "Havineinu", nel mezzo, Havineinu che incarna tutte le benedizioni di mezzo (ad eccezione della stagione delle piogge, quando non recita Havineinu, essendo necessario per lui recitare la richiesta di pioggia nella benedizione degli anni; e con l'eccezione della conclusione di Sabbath e festival, quando egli deve recitare l'havdalah a Chonen Hada'ath.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
מעין שמונה עשרה – There are those explain in the Gemara that a person recites a shortened form of each of the middle blessings in the Amidah and recites the concluding blessing for each one. And there are those who say [the prayer] “הביננו – O Lord our God, Cause Us to Understand [and to] Know Your Ways” which is one blessing which has an abstract of each of the middle blessings of the Shemoneh Esreh and we conclude this with the blessing, “Praised are You, who hearkens to prayer.”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
Introduction
This and the next mishnah are perhaps the most important mishnayot in the two chapters concerning the Tefillah. Here we see that there was some rabbinic opposition to the institution of fixed prayers. We should recall that in biblical times there were no fixed prayers, by which I mean prayers fixed in time and wording. Rather, all prayers are spontaneous.
The transition from spontaneous to fixed prayer seems to have been part of the transition to a post-Temple world. While there may have been some attempts to fix prayer formulas while the Temple still stood, they don’t seem to have attained much prominence in the literature. The sacrificial service seems to have been sufficient to fill people’s spiritual needs.
As always occurs when there is innovation, not all agree as with the innovation or with its particular details.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
שגורה בפיו – learned and fluent in it. And the Halakha is like Rabbi Akiva – for an individual whose prayer is not fluent in his mouth or is in a hurry , should recite the first three blessings [of the Amidah] and the last three blessings [of the Amidah] and the “הביננו” prayer in the middle , which is an abstract of all the middle [blessings], except for [the Amidah] during the rainy season since a person should not recite הביננו"” because he must mention the “request for rain” [“ותן טל ומטר לטובה – provide dew and rain for a blessing”] in the “blessing of the years” and also except for Saturday evenings and the conclusion of holy days where he needs to recite the Havdalah prayer in the [fourth] blessing, "חונן הדעת" – who grants knowledge.”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
Rabban Gamaliel says: every day a man should pray the eighteen [blessings]. Rabban Gamaliel seems to have held a position of political leadership among the rabbis and it is he who directs a liturgist to compose the Tefillah. He therefore mandates that every person recite these eighteen blessings three times a day. Note that this would not have been easy in a time when they did not have siddurim (prayerbooks). The first siddurim were not composed until the Geonic period (8th-11th centuries). Nevertheless, Rabban Gamaliel mandates that each individual recite the entire Tefillah.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
Rabbi Joshua says: an abstract of the eighteen. Rabbi Joshua says that he need not recite the full eighteen but rather may recite an abbreviated form. There are two different explanations to this. Both explanations hold that he must recite the first three and last three blessings in their normal fashion. These are the blessings that are part of every Tefillah, even those on Shabbat and holidays. One explanation holds that he recites the 12 intermediate blessings but abbreviates each one of them. The other explanation is that he combines the themes of all 12 blessings into one blessing. In either case, while Rabbi Joshua agrees that one should recite these blessings every day, he doesn’t require the full formula.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
Rabbi Akiva says: if he knows it fluently he prays the eighteen, and if not an abstract of the eighteen. Rabbi Akiva tries to mediate between the two previous opinions. If he is capable of reciting the full Tefillah, then he should do so. If, however, he is not capable because he is not familiar enough with it, then he may recite the shorter version.
