List of Jewish prayers and blessings

Listed below are some Hebrew prayers and blessings that are part of Judaism that are recited by many Jews. Most prayers and blessings can be found in the Siddur, or prayer book. This article addresses Jewish liturgical blessings, which generally begin with the formula:

Transliteration: Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam...

Translation: "Blessed are You, our God, King of the universe..."

Pronunciation
In the transliterations below, ' is used to refer to the sh'vah, which is similar/equivalent to ə; a mid-word aleph, a glottal stop; and a mid-word ayin, a voiced pharyngeal fricative ʕ similar/equivalent to Arabic ع. Whenever ` is used, it refers to ayin whether word-initial, medial, or final. 'H/h' are used to represent both he, an English h sound as in "hat"; and ḥes, a voiceless pharyngeal fricative ħ equivalent to Arabic ح. Whenever 'ḥ' is used, it refers to ḥet. Resh is represented by an 'r,' though it's equivalent to Spanish 'r,' Spanish 'rr,' or French 'r,' depending on one's dialect. In all other regards, transliterations are according to the modern Hebrew pronunciation, based on the Sephardi tradition.

Pesukei d'zimra
This portion of the prayers acts as an introduction to the morning prayers. The following is the order of Nusach Ashkenaz:

Shema and its blessings
The Shema prayers is said every day in Shacharit and Maariv. There are always two blessings before the Shema, but after the Shema in the day there is only one blessing, and at night there are two (or three in some communities).

Amida
The "standing [prayer]", also known as the Shemoneh Esreh ("The Eighteen"), consisting of 19 strophes on weekdays and seven on Sabbath days and 9 on Rosh haShana Mussaf. It is the essential component of Jewish services, and is the only service that the Talmud calls prayer. It is said three times a day (four times on Sabbaths and holidays, and five times on Yom Kippur). The source for the Amida is either as a parallel to the sacrifices in the Temple, or in honor of the Jewish forefathers.

The prayer is divided into 3 sections, blessings of praise for God, requests for our needs (or exalting the holiness of the day for Shabbat and Yom Tov) and finally blessings of thanksgiving.

Middle blessings
On a regular weekday there are 13 blessings that ask God for our needs. A small number of rabbis, such as David Bar-Hayim based on fragments from the Cairo Geniza say only 12 blessings here.

On fast days in the times of the Talmud there were a number of additional blessings, and in communities today a 14th blessing is added to the Chazzan's repetition on fast days.

On Shabbat and Yom Tov there is only a single blessing.

During Mussaf of Rosh HaShana there are 3 blessings in the middle, each built around 10 verses from the Tanach around a particular theme.

Kaddish
An Aramaic prayer which focuses on the idea of magnification and sanctification of God's name. There are five versions of kaddish for different purposes.

Shabbat
These blessings are also relevant to the festivals with some minor changes to the wording.

Holiday blessings
When any of these blessings are done for the first time that year, the blessing of she'he'cheyanu is said.

N'tilat Yadayim (Ritual washing of hands)
The hands are ritually washed before partaking of certain staples of life.

In the Ashkenazic tradition and some Sephardic and other communities, it is done before eating bread. In some Sephardic rites and in the German community originating in Frankfurt it is done before drinking wine and or eating bread, alone or with the wine (such as would be done before a Sabbath or festive meal) at which time this blessing is said:

After washing but before drying the hands, the following blessing below is said.

After the meal
The combined blessing of Birkat Hamazon is made only after eating a meal containing bread (including matza) made from one or all of wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt.

After Birkat Hamazon, many Sephardic Jews of the Spanish and Portuguese rite recite Ya Comimos or sing Bendigamos. These prayers are similar in content to Birkat Hamazon.

Blessings on special occasions
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Blessing for surviving illness or danger
Torah reading links here The Birkhat HaGomel blessing is said after surviving illness, childbirth, or danger (including a hazardous journey or captivity).

Mizrahi Jews recite the following Biblical verse before the blessing:

Among Mizrahi Jews, the Congregational Response at the end begins as follows:

This prayer has its origins in the Talmud:
 * Rav Judah said, in the name of Rav, There are four person who have to offer thanksgiving: (1) One who has crossed the sea, (2) one who has crossed the wilderness, (3) one who has recovered from illness, and (4) one who has been freed from captivity.

This was deduced from Psalm 107, where these four situations are mentioned. In the days of the Temple, such a person would bring a thanksgiving sacrifice, but as this is no longer possible, such a person stands and recites the blessing.

The word גמל (gomel) means a recompense, a reward, and frequently a generous benefit. Joseph H. Hertz, in his commentary to the prayerbook says: "The Benediction is not limited to the above-mentioned four classes [listed in the Talmud quotation], but is recited after any signal escape from danger.  This Benediction is followed with deepfelt sympathy by the fellow-worshippers." Hertz mentions an instance in Britain in 1940 when was recited by an entire congregation because they were the survivors of a Blitz bombing of the previous night. Most halakhic authorities hold that the HaGomel blessing must be said publicly, in front of a minyan of 10. It is customary for men to say it after being called to the Torah. All Conservative and many Orthodox authorities hold that women are also obligated to say the Birkhat HaGomel blessing. The blessing is not time‑dependent (preferably it should be recited as soon after the deliverance from danger as the opportunity presents itself), and it substitutes in part for the toda (Thanksgiving) offering, one of the classes of korbanot (sacrifices) which women were obligated to offer (e.g. after childbirth) in the days of the Temple in Jerusalem. Accordingly, these authorities say that women are eligible to be counted in the minyan of 10 equally with men for the special purpose of the mitzvah of saying the HaGomel blessing and its congregational response publicly. -->