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אין עומדין...מתוך כובד ראש – surrender and fear/awe, as it is written (Psalms 2:11), “Serve the LORD in awe;” and this “service” is prayer.

Introduction This mishnah deals with the mental/spiritual preparation one is supposed to have before one prays the Tefillah.

שוהים שעה אחת – at the place where they came to pray.

One should not stand up to say Tefillah except in a reverent state of mind. Today the introductory Psalms, called Psukei D’zimrah are supposed to fulfill the function of preparing a person to recite the Tefillah in a “reverent state of mind”, at least at the Shacharit (morning) service. In mishnaic times the idea of reciting specific Psalms before the Tefillah did not exist. The m

אפילו המךל שואל בשלומו – and specifically a Jewish king, but a king who worships idols and constellations, you interrupt [yourself] so that he would not kill you.

The pious men of old used to wait an hour before praying in order that they might direct their thoughts to God. The pious men, the “Hasidim” (no connection to the modern group with the same name) seem to be a group of especially fervent rabbis/Pharisees. They took the commandment to pray not as a rote commandment to be fulfilled mechanically but as an opportunity to communicate with God. To prepare themselves so that they would be in the right frame of mind and that they would know exactly what they were going to say, they would wait an entire hour before they began to pray.

אפילו נחש כרוך על עקבו – specifically a snake which most of the time does not bite, but a scorpion or a viper from the things that do indeed bite and kill, you interrupt [your recitation of the Amidah].

Even if a king greets him [while praying] he should not answer him: even if a snake is wound round his heel he should not stop. I don’t believe that these statements are meant to be taken literally. Rather they are meant to teach us how hard one should concentrate on Tefillah, so much so that he tunes out the rest of the world. The Talmud is adamant that if one’s life is in real danger, either from a king not greeted or from a threatening snake, then one must interrupt the prayer and protect one’s life. For me the task of concentrating comes not when a snake is wrapped around my leg but when one (or more) of my children is. As an aside, if your child is making noise while other people are davening the Amidah and this will disturb their Tefillah, you have permission to interrupt your Tefillah and take the child out. This is preferable to leaving the child to disturb everyone.

מזכירין גבורות גשמים – The words “Who Causes the Wind to blow” is not the language of a request, but rather the language of mentioning and praise, and because the rains are one of the powers of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written (Job 5:9-10), “Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed…Who gives rain to the earth” – and because of this, we call it the “גבורות גשמים/the Power to cause the rain to fall.”

Introduction This mishnah deals with three additions made to the basic Tefillah.

ושאלה – [The words] “who causes dew and rain to fall for a blessing” is a request.

They mention [God’s] power to bring rain in the blessing for the resurrection of the dead. We mention God’s power to bring rain in the second paragraph of the Tefillah, the paragraph that ends “mehayeh hametim.” Into this paragraph we insert the phrase, “mashiv haruah umorid hageshem” “He causes the wind to blow and the rain to come down.” This paragraph contains praises of God’s powers and as such it is a fitting blessing in which to mention a power which is traditionally considered one of God’s most significant powers, the bringing of rain.

בברכת השנים – Since these (in this blessing) are for sustenance, [the Rabbis] established their request in the blessing of sustenance.

And they ask for rain in the blessing for [fruitful] years. We petition God for rain in a different paragraph from the one in which we mention rain. We petition for rain in the blessing in which we ask God for a good year, a year with a bountiful harvest. This blessing ends, “mevarech hashanim.” Into it we insert, “veten tal umatar” “grant dew and rain.” We should note that these two insertions only go into the Tefillah during the winter, which is the rainy season in Israel. It does not rain at all in Israel during the summer. We don’t ask God for the unusual, just that the world should work as “it is supposed to work.”

והבדלה – on Saturday night (after Shabbat is over)

And havdalah in “Who grant knowledge.” Rabbi Akiva says: he says it as a fourth blessing by itself. Rabbi Eliezer says: in the thanksgiving blessing. Havdalah, the prayer that separates Shabbat or festivals from the rest of the week, is recited as part of the Tefillah, even though it is also recited independently afterwards. According to the first opinion, it is part of the fourth blessing, the one that begins, “Atah honen daat,” “You grant knowledge.” Havdalah is about having the knowledge to distinguish between different things, between that which is holy and that which is not holy. That is why it is appropriate to be stated here. Rabbi Akiva says that Havdalah is an independent blessing, one which comes right before “Atah Honen Daat” on Saturday night and at the end of festivals. Rabbi Eliezer holds that it is recited as part of the “thanksgiving” blessing, which is the blessing that begins, “Modim.” It seems that Rabbi Eliezer’s objection with the other two opinions is that Havdalah is not a petition, as are the middle 13 blessings of the Tefillah. Rather it is an expression of gratitude, so it should be placed in the blessing in which we show our gratitude.

בחונן הדעת – [Chonen HaDaat] which is the first blessing of the weekday. And in the Jerusalem Talmud, they asked: Why was Havdalah established to be recited in “"חונן הדעת (the fourth blessing of the Amidah)? For if there is no knowledge, how can one know about Havdalah (the ceremony that separates between the conclusion of the Sabbath and the beginning of the workweek)? And this is the Halakha.

על קן צפור יגיעו רחמיך – Just as Your mercy reached the bird and you decreed (Deuteronomy 22:6), “Do not take the mother together with her young,” so too should God have compassion upon us as well.

Introduction The first section of this mishnah deals with a person who adds in potentially heretical statements to his Tefillah. The second half of the mishnah deals with a person who makes a mistake while leading the Tefillah in public.

משתקין אותו – [We silence him] for making the Holy One, blessed be He’s attributes ones of mercy, and they are none other than decrees of the King upon his servants.

The one who says, “On a bird’s nest may Your mercy be extended,” [or] “For good may Your name be blessed” or “We give thanks, we give thanks,” they silence him. This section was also found, word for word, in Megillah 4:9. My commentary here is the same as my commentary there (so it should sound familiar). There are three “heretical” saying in this mishnah. I’ll try to explain them one at a time. The mishnah says that for each “they silence him.” This implies that the mishnah is describing one who “passes before the ark,” meaning one who leads the Amidah prayer. If he tries to enter in one of these prayers they remove him as prayer leader. ““May Your mercy reach the nest of a bird:” This line is explained in the Talmud in several different ways. One is that he is complaining to God saying, “Your mercy is on the nest of this bird” but not on me. God commanded shooing away the mother bird before taking the young, an act of mercy for the mother (Deuteronomy 22:6). The person praying complains that God has not shown similar mercy to him. A different explanation is that this saying understands God’s commandments as being only about mercy, when really they are decrees which we are to obey without questioning their reasoning. Another explanation is that he says “Your mercy reaches only to this nest” but cannot extend any further. In such a way he limits God’s power. “May Your name be mentioned for the good:” This implies that God’s name should not be connected with the bad or the evil. As in the first section, this might imply some sort of dualism we thank God for the good and don’t mention the evil because its source is a different god. “We give thanks, we give thanks:” Again the problem seems to be one of dualism giving thanks twice sounds like it is being given to two different gods. However, in this section the dualism may not be of a good god and a bad god, but simply two gods. There were ancient sects of Jews (including Christians) who while professing monotheism, gave divine roles to other characters, such as God’s word (the Logos), God’s spirit or Jesus.

על טוב יזכר שמך – Implying on Your [God’s] goodness (alone) we give thanks to you, but we do not thank Him [God] on the bad things , and yet we are obligated to bless God on the bad things as we do on the good things (see Tractate Berakhot, chapter 9, Mishnah 5).

One who was passing before the ark and made a mistake, another should pass in his place, and he should not be as one who refuses at that moment. This refers again to a person leading public prayer, one who passes before the ark. If he makes a mistake, for instance he loses track of what blessing he was reciting, or he says the wrong elements within a blessing, another person should replace him. We should remember that in the time of the Mishnah they did not have prayer books. The Tefillah would have been recited by memory. Hence someone who made a mistake would probably have had a great difficulty getting back on track. He couldn’t just look at his book, or be shown the place. The best option seems to have been to replace him. Normally, when a person is asked to lead prayer he should be modest and politely refuse, saying that there are others more worthy of him to lead the prayer. However, in this case he shouldn’t refuse because the rest of the community is waiting.

מודים מודים – which [when you repeat the word “Modim/We thank you,” it appears like one is accepting upon oneself multiple deities, and the Jerusalem Talmud explains that this when it is recited by the community, whereas for an individual [worshipper], they are [words of] supplication.

Where does he begin? At the beginning of the blessing in which the other made a mistake. The second person picks up from the blessing where the first person began to go wrong. Even if the first person began to make a mistake at the end of the blessing, the second guy must begin that whole blessing over again.

ולא יהא סרבן באותה שעה – In the manner of those who descend before the Ark [to lead the service] that they must refuse once, but he should not refuse when they [the members of the congregation] tell him, “go down,” because it is shameful that the Prayer is interrupted so much.

לא יענה אחר הכהנים אמן – at the conclusion of each blessing such as the rest of the congregation does (i.e. After the Kohanim, at the prompting of the שליח ציבור/emissary of the congregation, recites each word in Hebrew of – “May the LORD bless you and guard you” – the congregation would answer “Amen.”).

Introduction Towards the end of the next to last blessing of the Tefillah the priests raise their hands and bless the people with the “priestly blessing” (birkat hakohanim) from Numbers 6:24-26 (see also Sotah 7:6). Our mishnah contains several rules regarding the priestly blessing and the one who is “passing before the ark” i.e. leading the Tefillah.

מפני הטירוף – that he (the שליח ציבור/emissary of the congregation) would not be confused and err since the שליח ציבור/emissary of the congregation would need to begin the second blessing and recite it to them (the Kohanim), word by word, and if he would answer “Amen,” (following the completion of the recitation of the blessing by the Kohanim), he would not be able to concentrate and return to his prayer speedily , and to begin the blessing in the appropriate manner that he should begin.

The one who passes before the ark should not respond Amen after [the blessings of] the priests because this might confuse him. After each of the three sections of the priestly blessing the congregation responds by saying Amen. The person passing before the ark should not respond Amen because that might confuse him and he might lose track of where he is in the Tefillah. We should note how concerned they were with the prayer leader losing track of his place because they didn’t have siddurim.

לא ישא את כפיו – Lest he is unable to concentrate and return to his prayer (repetition of the Amidah and to begin “שים שלום/Grant peace” (the concluding blessing of the Amidah), as his mind would be confused due to his fear of the congregation.

If there is no priest there except himself, he should not raise his hands [to recite the priestly blessing], but if he is confident that he can raise his hands and go back to his place in his prayer, he is permitted to do so. If the person leading the Tefillah is the only priest he should not recite the priestly blessing unless he is sure that it won’t confuse him. However, if there are other priests he should let them do the priestly blessing and he should remain quiet. I should note that this is a practical issue in many congregations in Israel where the priestly blessing is recited every day. The normal practice is that when the person leading the service is the only priest, he does recite the priestly blessing. There are debates about whether he recites the blessing even if there are other priests present.

ואם הבטחתו – that is if he is self-assured that he won’t become confused from the fear of the congregation.

אם שגורה תפלתי – ordered/arranged well in my mouth, that is acceptable and I would not stumble in it.

Introduction This mishnah continues to deal with making mistakes while reciting the Tefillah.

שהוא מטורף – that the infirm individual would be rejected (bound to die), such as (Genesis 44: 28), “alas, he was torn by a beast. ” Another explanation: it is the language (Tractate Berakhot 5b) of: “his prayer is thrown in his face” (i.e. rejected); that is to say, the prayer that they prayed for him is rejected and troubled and not accepted.

One who is praying and makes a mistake, it is a bad sign for him. And if he is the messenger of the congregation (the prayer it is a bad sign for those who have sent him, because one’s messenger is equivalent to one’s self. Making a mistake while reciting the Tefillah is considered to be a bad omen, both for the person himself and if he is acting as prayer leader (the “one who goes before the ark”) then for the congregation as well. Again, we must keep in mind that they did not have siddurim back then. Reciting the Tefillah required one to know the Tefillah by heart. It seems that they conceived of the Tefillah as flowing through the person reciting it as if it was coming from God, as if it was prophecy. If the prayer flows well, then it is a sign of God’s presence and favor. If the prayer does not flow well, it is a sign of disfavor.

They said about Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa that he used to pray for the sick and say, “This one will die, this one will live.” They said to him: “How do you know?” He replied: “If my prayer comes out fluently, I know that he is accepted, but if not, then I know that he is rejected.” The story in this section shows the magical/prophetic powers that they attributed to prayer and how well one recites it. Rabbi Hanina believed that the flow of his prayer through him was an omen, for good or for bad, for the sick person over whom he was praying.