The shape of the Amidah

One prayer, three movements

The Amidah is the standing prayer at the center of our daily services. A berakhah, or blessing, is a unit of prayer addressed to Hashem. The weekday Amidah has nineteen blessings, arranged in three groups. Start with this shape before trying to learn every blessing.

Just before the first blessing, we say “My Lord, open my lips.” Now follow the prayer that comes after it.

1. Praise · first three blessings

   We turn toward the God of our ancestors, praise his power to give life, and declare his holiness. We begin by attending to whom we are addressing.

2. Requests · thirteen middle blessings

   We ask for understanding, repentance, forgiveness, healing, sustenance and redemption, among other needs. The prayer gives us words for the needs of our people as well as our own.

3. Thanks · final three blessings

   We close with the restoration of divine service, thanksgiving and peace. Modim, “We give thanks,” stands in the middle of this closing group.

Learn the order from our sages

In Berakhot 34a, the Gemara pictures prayer as an encounter with a master. Rabbi Hanina compares the opening blessings to a servant arranging praise before the master, the middle blessings to asking for a gift, and the closing blessings to taking leave after receiving it.

Rambam names the three groups as praise, requests and thanksgiving in Laws of Prayer 1:4. The sequence draws our attention beyond what we want. We recognize Hashem’s greatness, ask for his help, and end with gratitude. Praise does not purchase a favorable answer; it helps us remember before whom we stand.

Notice the whole movement

“Praise, requests, thanks” names the broad movement, not every sentence. The closing group still contains requests: for the restoration of divine service and for peace. Look at a blessing’s place and main purpose rather than sorting it by a single word.

On Shabbat, the Amidah at Maariv, Shacharit and Minchah keeps the first three and last three blessings. A single middle blessing about the holiness of Shabbat replaces the thirteen weekday requests. These prayers have seven blessings. Find the appropriate Amidah in your siddur rather than carrying the weekday middle section into Shabbat.

Try the map

Place each theme in the weekday Amidah: opening, middle or closing. These are theme summaries, not quotations from the siddur.

1. Hashem gives us understanding.
2. We give thanks for our lives in Hashem’s care.
3. The God of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.

Explore the sources

Berakhot 34a: the servant’s approach, request and leave-taking. Rambam, Laws of Prayer 1:4: praise, requests and thanksgiving. Laws of Prayer 2:1–2, 5: the weekday blessings and the Shabbat middle blessing.