The root of tefillah is palal and has its foundation in the prayer of Pinchas (Phineas) and means ‘to judge’ (Numbers 25). Pinchas was a Levitical high priest who stood against idolatry and ‘judged’ a Midianite woman and Israelite man whose marriage had brought a plague upon the Israelites. This suggests that tefillah is the ‘judging of oneself before a holy God’ through self-examination.
Tag: amidah
Yom Kippur Confession of Sins – Kedushah
“If we claim not to have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we acknowledge [confess] our sins, then, since he is faithful and just, he will forgive them and purify us from all unrighteousness and wrongdoing” (1 John 1:8-9). The following confession of sins is from the Kedushah,…