First Beracha of the Amida (אבות) – Part 1 of 5
The text that serves as the grounding for my understanding of tefilah is a Gemara in Masechet Yoma about the four words at the center of the first beracha of the עמידה (Amida). In chapter ten of Devarim, Moshe Rabbeinu outlines what he thinks God asks of each of us. Moshe then presents some basic ideas about how God interacts with our world1.The first beracha of the Amida quotes a small portion of this section and refers to God with the following four words:
The Lord who is great, mighty and awesome (Deut. 10:17)
The rabbis attend to this phrase and note that a similar version appears in other places in Tanakh. Jeremiah and Daniel each use three of these four words, which leads to a fascinating debate. …