The Surprising Secrets of the Shemoneh Esreh Prayer: 7 Things You Didn't Know

In his book "Illumination of Prayer," Rabbi Uri Weisblum explains the essence of the Shemoneh Esreh prayer. He begins by explaining seven important points about prayer: What is the essence of prayer? What should prayer look like? What does prayer accomplish? How should we approach prayer? What is the transformative power of Shemoneh Esreh? Who composed the Shemoneh Esreh prayer? How is this prayer structured?

Rabbi Weisblum develops answers to these fundamental questions from the following foundational texts: Mesillat Yesharim, Chovot Halevavot, Kuzari, Nefesh Hachaim, and Netivot Olam.

1. What is prayer?

The Ramchal writes in Mesillat Yesharim (Chapter 19): "A person needs to think while praying... that he is praying before the King of kings..." Likewise, the Tanna cautions: "When you pray, know before Whom you are praying" (Berachot 28). To achieve this reverence, a person must observe and carefully contemplate three things: 

"First, that he truly stands before the Creator, blessed be His name, and speaks with Him, even though the human eye cannot see Him. You will see that this is the most difficult thing to truly visualize in one's heart, since the senses do not help with this at all. However, a person with sound intellect, with a little contemplation and attention, can establish in his heart the truth of the matter - that he comes and literally speaks with Hashem, and before Him he pleads, and from Him he requests, and He, blessed be His name, listens and pays attention to his words, as when a person speaks to his friend, and his friend listens and hears him."

2. What should prayer time look like?

The Kuzari (Article 3, 5) describes the prayer of a pious person who has control over his limbs: "The power of will directs all the organs that serve it, with alacrity, diligence, and joy. And they stand during the Amidah (Shemoneh Esreh) without laziness, and all the organs stand as if startled, fearful to fulfill the commands of their leader, and they do not feel any discomfort or loss if they have it... and he does not utter his prayer out of habit and nature like the starling... but with every word, thought, and intention."

3. What does prayer accomplish?

The Kuzari continues: "And that time [spent in prayer] becomes the heart of his time and its fruit." Just as the heart pumps vitality to all organs, so too, the time spent in prayer pumps spiritual vitality to all parts of the day. And just as the fruit is the main thing, so too, the time spent in prayer is like the fruit, and other times are like the peel. And his other times are like paths leading to that time, he yearns for its nearness, for in it he resembles spiritual beings and distances himself from animal-like qualities, and the fruit of his day and night are those three prayer times, and the fruit of the week is Shabbat, for it is designated to connect with the Divine matter, and his service is with joy, not with submission, as has been explained. And this order for the soul is like the order of food for the body, he prays for his soul and nourishes his body. And the blessing of prayer continues upon him until the next prayer time, like the endurance of the power of the day's meal until he dines at night."

From his words, we can sense that prayer is spiritual nourishment. Just like breakfast satisfies us until noon, and lunch until evening, and dinner until morning, the morning prayer serves as spiritual nourishment until noon, the afternoon prayer until evening, and the evening prayer until morning.

The Kuzari adds: "And the further the prayer time is from the soul, it [the soul] becomes darker with what it encounters from worldly affairs. And at prayer time, he purifies his soul from all that preceded it and prepares it for the future... And impurities that darken the soul's merit accumulate over the week, and they cannot be purified and cleansed except through constant service on a day [a day of rest dedicated to Divine service], etc., and it is as if on that day it heals from a previous illness and prepares for what will repel illness in the future."

4. How should we approach prayer?

The Chovot Halevavot explains (Chapter 3 of the Gate of Self-Examination): "Know that words are to the tongue like a shell, reflection on the words is like the heart, prayer is like a body, and contemplation like a spirit... And when one prays with his tongue while his heart is preoccupied with matters other than prayer, the prayer becomes a body without a spirit and a shell without a heart, because his body is present but his heart is not with him. And when a person thinks about any worldly matter, whether permitted or forbidden, and then concludes his prayer saying 'and the meditation of my heart before You' – isn't this a great disgrace, to claim that he spoke with his God in his heart and inner thoughts – when his heart was not with him?"

5. What is the transformative power of Shemoneh Esrei?

The "Nefesh HaChaim" explains (Gate 2, 13): "For truly, in the deep inner intention of prayer, none of us knows what it is. For what has been revealed to us of some prayer intentions from our early masters, the holy supreme ones, and until the last one, the holy rabbi, the awesome man of God, the Ari z"l, who did wonders with amazing intentions – they are not even like a drop in the ocean compared to the inner depths of the intentions of the Men of the Great Assembly, who established the prayer... And anyone who understands will understand that no human being on earth can establish such a wonderful and awesome tikkun (remedy) to include and conceal in the fixed prayer arrangement in one format, the tikkunim of all worlds and that each time we pray new tikkunim are caused, so that from the time they established it until the coming of the redeemer, there was not and will not be any prayer similar to the one before or after it at all."

We are like a small child who comes to a great palace that has buttons at the entrance. Each button activates an entire system within the palace, and each time the child pushes a button, he activates the system without even knowing what he accomplishes with each press.

6. Who established the Shemoneh Esreh prayer?

The Gemara states (Megillah 17): "One hundred and twenty elders, including several prophets, established eighteen blessings in order."

7. What is the structure of the Shemoneh Esreh prayer?

The sages explain in Tractate Berachot (34): "Rav Yehudah said: A person should never ask for his personal needs in the first three blessings nor in the last three, but in the middle ones. For Rabbi Chanina said: The first blessings are like a servant arranging praise before his master, the middle ones are like a servant requesting a reward from his master, and the last ones are like a servant who received a reward from his master and is taking leave."

We bow four times in Shemoneh Esreh, as the Gemara explains in Tractate Berachot: "These are the blessings in which a person bows: In avot (the first blessing) at the beginning and end, and in hodaah (thanksgiving) at the beginning and end." When saying "baruch" one kneels, and when saying "atah" one bows down. What is this kneeling and bowing?

The Gemara (Niddah 30) describes the way the fetus lies in its mother's womb and notes: "His two heels are on his two buttocks and his head is placed between his knees." The Maharal explains (Netivot Olam, Path of Righteousness) that the form of the child in its mother's womb indicates its purpose. Since its mother's womb is its world, its form teaches us about man's purpose in his world. "His two heels on his buttocks" is the form of a person kneeling, because man's purpose in this world is to be a servant to the Creator. In fact, at Moshe's death, the Torah notes: "And Moshe, servant of Hashem, died there' (Devarim 34:5), because even though Mohse accomplished many important things in his lifetime, this [being a 'servant of God'] was his purpose. Therefore, when we kneel while saying 'baruch,' we should awaken in our hearts the purpose of life - to be His servants, blessed be He. "And his head is placed between his knees" is the form of a person bowing. This is to indicate that a person should not show himself off in this world, because he received all his powers from the blessed Creator. Therefore, when we bow at "atah," we should feel submission to Him, blessed be He, and recognize that all our powers and what we have, we received from Him, blessed be He. That is why one stands straight when saying "Hashem," because Hashem straightens the bent, and all of our exaltedness is from Him, blessed be He.