First Beracha of the Amida (אבות) – Part 2 of 5 – Humility
The next slice of the first beracha of the Amida I would like to look at is also a citation of a Biblical verse. However, the phrase is so commonplace that we don’t always realize that it first appeared in the Torah. The opening beracha describes God as:
The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob
אֱ-לֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם אֱ-לֹהֵי יִצְחָק וֵא-לֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב
This exact phrase appears twice in the third chapter of Shemot (verses 6 and 15) and then once in the fourth chapter (verse 5).1 When God first speaks from the burning bush and calls Moshe’s name, Moshe’s immediate response is “הנני – here I am” (3:4). However, in the next two verses God tells Moshe to remove his sandals because he is standing on holy ground and then introduces God’s-self and says: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Shmot 3:6). …