Amidora

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Upon Entering Synagogue

Sefard · Weekday · Upon Arising · Upon Entering Synagogue

Nusach
Sefard
Edition
Translation based on the Metsudah linear siddur, by Avrohom Davis, 1981

Upon Entering Synagogue

Before beginning the Morning Prayers you should say the following:

I hereby accept upon myself the positive commandment to love my fellow Jew.

The following verses from Scriptures are recited upon entering the synagogue, as though asking permission of God to enter and pray in His Holy place.

How good are your tents, Jacob: your dwelling places, Israel. As for me, through Your abundant kindness I will enter Your House; I will prostrate myself toward Your Holy Sanctuary in awe of You. Adonoy, I love the Dwelling, Your House, and the place where Your glory resides. I will prostrate myself, and bow, I will kneel before Adonoy, my Maker. May my prayer to You Adonoy be at a favorable time; God, in the abundance of Your kindness answer me with the truth of Your deliverance.

Numbers 24:5. The Talmud (Maseches Sanhedrin 105a) relates that this verse contains Billam’s prophetic allusion to Jewish houses of study and worship.

Psalms 5:8.

Psalms 26:8.

These are three distinct degrees of worship, representing various levels of subjugation before God.

Psalms 69:14.

This hymn has been attributed to R' Shlomo ibn Gabirol who lived in Spain during the eleventh century. While praising God's omnipotence and providence, it clarifies the meaning of the name Adonoy so that before proceeding to pray, each worshiper understands the significance of the God he is addressing.

Master of the Universe Who reigned before any creature was created.

At the time when all was made by His will, then was His Name proclaimed King.

And after all things shall cease to be the Awesome One will reign alone.

He was, He is, and He shall be in glory.

He is One, and there is no second to compare to Him, to associate [with Him].

Without beginning, without end, power and dominion are His.

He is my God and my ever-living Redeemer, the Rock of my destiny in times of distress.

He is my flag and my refuge; He is the portion of my cup on the day I call.

It is to Him that I rally and through Him that I am identified.—Etz Yosef

He answers me.

Into His hand I entrust my spirit [both] when I sleep and when I awaken.

And with my spirit my body [too], Adonoy is with me, I shall not fear.

This hymn, written by Daniel ben Yehuda, who was a Dayan in Rome about 1300, is based on Maimonides' 13 principles of Judaism. According to Maimonides, failure to believe in a single one of these principles places one outside the pale of Judaism.

1) the existence of God

Exalted is the living God, and praised He exists, and His existence transcends time.

2) God is One

He is One, and there is no unity like His, He is invisible, His unity is infinitive.

3) God is uncorporeal

He is unlike the corporeal or even the non-corporeal, His holiness is beyond comparison.

God can also not be compared to the angels.

4) God is Eternal

He preceded every being that was created, He was First, and there was no genesis to His beginning.

5) God alone must be worshipped

He is Master of the Universe to every creature, (all) proclaim His greatness and His majesty.

6) Truth of Divine Prophecy

The fullness of His prophecy, He bestowed on those He treasured, and in whom He gloried.

7) Moses was the greatest of all prophets

There never arose in Israel another like Moses, a prophet who beheld God's image.

8) Divine revelation of the Torah

The Torah of truth the Almighty gave to His people through His prophet, the trusted one of His house.

9) The Torah is immutable

The Almighty will not exchange nor alter His Law. Never will He offer any alternative.

10) God knows the acts and thoughts of man

He scrutinizes and knows our secrets. He beholds the end of a thing at its beginning.

11) Divine reward and punishment

He rewards man with kindness according to his deeds. He sends evil to the wicked according to his wickedness.

The word “deed” is not applied to the wicked man. Since Divine reward and punishment are distributed with kindness, reward is granted to man not only for his deed, which may itself be insignificant, but also for the long range effect of that deed. He is punished, however, only for his act of wickedness, not for the consequences of his deed.—Etz Yosef

12) Belief in the coming of the Messiah

He will send our Messiah at the end of days, to redeem all who await His final deliverance.

13) Divine resurrection of the dead

The Almighty will revive the dead because of His abundant kindness: Blessed forever is His praised Name.

Where it comes in the siddur

Texts and sources

Every prayer text in Amidora comes from openly licensed editions published on Sefaria. Only editions released under CC-BY, CC0 or the public domain are included.