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DAAT · LEVEL 1 — INTRODUCTION

Siman קי״ט · Adding requests in the Amida

דין הרוצה להוסיף בברכות — one who wishes to add in the berakhot : in each middle berakha a request מעין הברכה (a sick person in רפאנו, parnassa in ברכת השנים), and in שומע תפלה all one s needs; for an individual need לא יאריך; one who skipped or erred in a berakha חוזר לראש הברכה; the sheliach tzibbur who forgot עננו
סימן קי״ט · ד׳ סעיפים
דין הרוצה להוסיף בברכות
🌱 Introductory level · Beginners
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This siman teaches how to add personal requests in the Amida: in each middle berakha a request מעין הברכה (of the same theme) — a sick person in רפאנו, parnassa in ברכת השנים — and in שומע תפלה all one s needs, for it includes every request; for an individual need — לא יאריך (one does not lengthen); one who skipped or erred in a berakha returns לראש הברכה; and the sheliach tzibbur who forgot עננו. Hebrew text, fluent English translation and explanation of the ד׳ seifim, with a section of practical cases.

Topic: Adding in the berakhot — מעין הברכה, שומע תפלה, לא יאריך, דילג או טעה, עננו
Source: שולחן ערוך אורח חיים סימן קי״ט · ד׳ סעיפים

Compiled by: רב יוסף חיים סממה
DAAT · daattorah.com

Our Sages taught (עבודה זרה ח.): שואל אדם צרכיו בשומע תפלה — a person may ask for his personal needs in the berakha of שומע תפלה. The siman explains where and how to add: a request מעין הברכה in each middle berakha, any need in שומע תפלה, the measure (לא יאריך), and the conduct upon an error. We study here at the level of principle; for personal conduct, one refers to the custom and to the ruling of the Rav.

📑 Study outline

A. The ד׳ seifim — מעין הברכה and שומע תפלה (séif 1), לצורך יחיד לא יאריך (séif 2), דילג או טעה בברכה (séif 3), ש״צ ששכח עננו (séif 4)
1. Practical case — asking for a sick person in רפאנו, or for parnassa in ברכת השנים
2. Practical case — erring in a middle berakha: return לראש הברכה
3. Practical case — the sheliach tzibbur who forgot עננו: לא יחזור, בשומע תפלה כיחיד
+ Comprehension questions and going further

A. Adding in the berakhot — the ד׳ seifim

הָרוֹצֶה לְהוֹסִיף בַּבְּרָכוֹת — one who wishes to add in the berakhot — the Amida has a fixed form (מטבע) instituted by the Sages, yet one may insert a personal request in its proper place: in each middle berakha a request of the same theme (מעין הברכה), and in שומע תפלה any need, for it includes every request. Hence the measure of the addition (לא יאריך), the return upon an error (חוזר לראש הברכה), and the particular case of the sheliach tzibbur who forgot עננו.

Séif 1 — מעין הברכה: adding a request of its own theme

אם רצה להוסיף בכל ברכה מהאמצעיות מעין הברכה — מוסיף. כיצד? היה לו חולה — מבקש עליו רחמים בברכת רפאנו; היה צריך פרנסה — מבקש עליה בברכת השנים; ובשומע תפלה יכול לשאול כל צרכיו, שהיא כוללת כל הבקשות.
Séif 1: if he wishes to add in each of the middle berakhot a request of the same theme as the berakha (מעין הברכה) — he adds. How? If he has a sick person — he asks mercy for him in ברכת רפאנו; if he needs subsistence — he asks in ברכת השנים; and in שומע תפלה he may ask all his needs, for it includes every request (שהיא כוללת כל הבקשות).
Each middle berakha admits a request of its theme: a sick person in רפאנו (healing), parnassa in ברכת השנים (the crops). And שומע תפלה, which "hears the prayer", is the place open to any need, "for it includes every request". Rama: when he adds, he first begins the berakha then adds (the מטבע remains primary); for all Israel he speaks in the plural and at the end of the berakha, but for a real personal need (a sick person at home) he may ask even in the middle, in the singular.

Séif 2 — לא יאריך: not lengthening for an individual need

יש מי שאומר שכשמוסיף בברכה לצורך יחיד — לא יאריך.
Séif 2: there is one who says that when he adds in a berakha for an individual need — he should not lengthen (לא יאריך).
The personal request is permitted, but with measure: for an individual need, one asks briefly and does not lengthen. The form instituted by the Sages must remain primary, and the personal addition stays secondary (טפל). One therefore asks in a few words, without turning the berakha into a long private supplication.

Séif 3 — דילג או טעה בברכה: returning to the head of the berakha

אם דילג או טעה בברכה אחת מהאמצעיות — אינו צריך לחזור אלא לראש הברכה שטעה או שדילג, ומשם ואילך יחזור על הסדר.
Séif 3: if he skipped or erred in one of the middle berakhot — he need not return except to the head of the berakha in which he erred or skipped (לראש הברכה שטעה או שדילג), and from there he resumes in order (על הסדר).
Unlike the קריאת שמע, he does not restart the whole Amida: he returns only to the head of the berakha in which he erred, then resumes in order the following berakhot. Why? Because the order of the middle berakhot is required (מעכב): saying them out of order does not suffice, but the error touched only one berakha, hence the return to its head and not to the very beginning.

Séif 4 — ש״צ ששכח עננו: the sheliach tzibbur who forgot עננו

שליח צבור שגמר גואל ישראל ושכח ולא אמר עננו — לא יחזור, אפילו אם עדיין לא גמר רק רפאנו, שאם חזר ברכה לבטלה היא; אלא יאמר עננו בשומע תפלה כיחיד.
Séif 4: a sheliach tzibbur (ש״צ) who concluded גואל ישראל and forgot to say עננו (on a fast day) — does not go back, even if he has only finished רפאנו, for going back would be a ברכה לבטלה (a blessing in vain); rather he says עננו in שומע תפלה as an individual (כיחיד).
On a fast day the sheliach tzibbur inserts עננו as a berakha of its own between גואל ישראל and רפאנו. If he forgot it and already concluded גואל ישראל, he does not go back to say it in its place, for that would force him to repeat רפאנו — a ברכה לבטלה. He then acts as an individual: he includes עננו in שומע תפלה, the berakha that admits every request (séif 1).
The siman in one sentence: one may add in each middle berakha a request מעין הברכה (a sick person in רפאנו, parnassa in ברכת השנים), and in שומע תפלה any need; for an individual need לא יאריך; if he skipped or erred in a middle berakha he returns לראש הברכה and resumes על הסדר; and the sheliach tzibbur who forgot עננו does not go back but says it in שומע תפלה כיחיד.

Practical cases

Case 1 — Asking for a sick person or for parnassa

Situation: he has a relative who is ill, or he is going through a difficulty of parnassa. May he add it in the Amida, and where?
Conduct: he may add a request of the berakha s theme: for the sick person in רפאנו, for parnassa in ברכת השנים; and for any need, in שומע תפלה. He first begins the berakha then adds, briefly, in the singular. For the exact wording, one follows one's Rav.

Case 2 — Erring in a middle berakha

Situation: he realizes he skipped or confused a middle berakha of the Amida. Must he start over entirely?
Conduct: he does not restart the whole Amida: he returns to the head of the berakha in which he erred, then resumes in order to the end (the order of the middle berakhot is required). For cases noticed later, or touching the first three / last three berakhot, one follows one's Rav.

Case 3 — The sheliach tzibbur who forgot עננו

Situation: on a fast day, the sheliach tzibbur concluded גואל ישראל and realizes he forgot עננו. Does he go back?
Conduct: he does not go back — even if he has only finished רפאנו — for it would be a ברכה לבטלה. He says עננו in שומע תפלה, as an individual (כיחיד). For the details of the chazarat ha-shatz and the other laws of עננו, one follows one's Rav.

Comprehension questions

Check your understanding:
  1. Where does one add a request for a sick person, and for parnassa (séif 1)?
  2. Why can שומע תפלה admit any need?
  3. What does לא יאריך mean and to which kind of need does it apply (séif 2)?
  4. One who erred in a middle berakha, where does he return and why not to the very beginning (séif 3)?
  5. The sheliach tzibbur who forgot עננו: why does he not go back, and where does he say it (séif 4)?

Going further

If you wish to deepen this siman:
Continue to the next simanSiman 120 →
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DAAT · רב יוסף חיים סממה

סימן קי״ט · ד׳ סעיפים · Level 1 — Introduction
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