0-Thinking+About+Avot-Imahot

** GENERAL BACKGROUND **
אָבוֹת-אִמָהוֹת is the first blessing of a core section of the Jewish prayer service called עֲמִידָה  (“standing,” referring to the posture in which we say it) __and__ הַתְּפִילָה  (“The Prayer,” referring to its importance), __and__   שְׁמוֹנֶהעֶשְׂרֵה   ( //Sh’moneh Esrei//; “18,” referring to the original number of blessings when recited during the week).

אָבוֹת-אִמָהוֹת  is a בְּרָכָה (rather than a prayer) that opens with a one line (albeit long) blessing, and closes with a different blessing. It invokes the names of our Patriarchs (and in the contemporary gender-fair version, also our Matriarchs), connecting us and God to those who served as anchors for our People. It then offers a series of words and phrases that praise God’s qualities. As such, it is considered to be a blessing of praise, as compared to one of petition or thanksgiving.  אָבוֹת-אִמָהוֹת serves at least two purposes:

a) __Connecting the pray-er to past generations and the community__ When Moses is standing before God at the burning bush (Exodus/3:13-15 - שְׁמוֹת )  and told that he must go back to Egypt to free his people, he asks who he should say sent him. God answers, “Tell them that the Eternal One, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob sent me to you. And that is my name for all generations.” The message to the Israelites is that they are part of a history that dates back to Abraham, a man with whom God formed a unique relationship. When we pray the אָבוֹת-אִמָהוֹת ,  <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">we connect ourselves to the Jewish people back in time and throughout all time. As Abraham, Isaac and Jacob prayed to God, as Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel prayed to God, as the hundreds of generations of Jews have prayed to the same God since… so do we.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">b) __Invoking__ __ זְכוּת אָבוֹת __<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> __ (the merits of the ancestors) as we stand before God __ .   <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In addition to their special connections to God, each of the ancestors mentioned in the אָבוֹת-אִמָהוֹת <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">are seen as having characteristics (or merit) that make them … and us… special. In the Talmud (Shabbat 30a), the rabbis tell the following story when describing what Moses said when pleading on behalf of the Children of Israel after the sin of making the Golden Calf, “ For when Israel sinned in the wilderness, Moses stood before the Holy One, blessed be God, and uttered many prayers and supplications before God, but he was not answered. Yet when he exclaimed, 'Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob//,// Your servants!' he was immediately answered.” Because of the merits of our ancestors ( זְכוּת אָבוֹת ), <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">God showed mercy. When we come before God in prayer, we sometimes feel as though we are not worthy, that we lack merit. Therefore, we mention our ancestors to remind God that because of the relationship to our ancestors, זְכוּת אָבוֹת, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">we also wish to be shown mercy.

**<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__THE BLESSING’S NAME: DO WE CALL IT:__ __ אָבוֹת OR __****__ אָבוֹת-אִמָהוֹת ? __** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In recent years, in most of the liberal traditions, אָבוֹת <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">has been made egalitarian with the inclusion of the names of the Matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel. When referring to this version, the blessing is called אָבוֹת-אִמָהוֹת <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teachers whose congregations do not recite the names of the Matriarchs should refer to the blessing as אָבוֹת <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">saying just the first part of the two names provided.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">As the first blessing of the עֲמִידָה, <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">the אָבוֹת-אִמָהוֹת <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">introduces a larger section of our worship experience. Before starting the עֲמִידָה, <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">during the recitation of the line אֲדֹנָי שְׂפָתַי תִּפְתָּח , <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">a worshiper following the choreography of this blessing will move backward three steps and then move forward three steps. The three steps back simply allows the person to take the three steps forward, so as to (metaphorically) come into the presence of God. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At the word <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">בָּרוּךְ <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">in the opening blessing of אָבוֹת-אִמָהוֹת,  <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">the <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">worshiper bends at the knees and bows from the waist,  <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> then stands up straight before getting to God’s name   ( יְיָ ). <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The worshiper also bends at the knee, bows from the waist, and stands up at the same words during the closing line of the אָבוֹת-אִמָהוֹת.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__SPECIAL CHOREOGRAPHY__ **


 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__WORKING WITH TRANSLATIONS__ **

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If working with a //siddur//’s translation of this blessing, know that some changes have been made in the English, especially in the Reform movement’s //Mishkan T’filah//. Some of the English words are not in the order of the Hebrew, and some words are added that aren’t in the literal Hebrew. There are also versions of אָבוֹת-אִמָהוֹת <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> that put the Matriarchs in this order: Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel, and others that reverse the last two names: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah. Teachers need to pay attention to the materials they provide to their students.

====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**The support materials for this curricular unit offer a linear translation for classroom use, as well as the order of the Matriarchs from the different versions (these are at the end of this document or on RESOURCES page of this wiki).** ====