The Amidah — Standing Before God
The Amidah (Standing Prayer) is the central prayer of Jewish liturgy — recited three times daily, it structures the relationship between the individual, the community, and God through 19 blessings.
The Amidah (Standing Prayer — from 'amad' to stand) is called Tefillah (prayer) in the Talmud — the prayer. Consisting of 19 blessings (originally 18 — Shmoneh Esreh), it is recited standing, in silence, three times daily. Its structure mirrors the structure of audience with a king: three blessings of praise (entering the divine presence), thirteen requests (the substance of the petition), and three blessings of thanks (departing from the divine presence). The thirteen requests cover the full range of human need: wisdom, repentance, forgiveness, healing, prosperity, ingathering of exiles, justice, the end of wickedness, the righteous, Jerusalem, the Davidic king, and acceptance of prayer. The Amidah may be prayed in any language but is ideally recited in Hebrew — and the tradition requires genuine kavvanah (intention) at least for the first blessing. The silent individual prayer is followed by the chazzan's (cantor's) repetition aloud, enabling those who cannot read to fulfill the obligation through hearing.
Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise.
The Amidah is still called Shemoneh Esrei ('eighteen') though it now holds nineteen blessings: the Talmud (Berakhot 28b) records that Shimon HaPakuli arranged the blessings in order before Rabban Gamliel at Yavneh, and that the nineteenth was added there — yet the original name endured.
Siddur