This dvar torah is ??”? ?’ ???? ?”? ????? ????, who was taken from us 1 year ago, too young and too soon. We all miss him (and thanks to everyone who came to the siyum last night).
As well as Amichai’s father yona ben naftoli hertz z’l
The nishamos should have a aliya.
The following is taken from R’ Schwab on Prayer.
Why 18 brachos? Why did the anshei kneses hagedolah establish the Amida prayer with 18 brachos (the 19th was added later)? What is the significances?
Quite a few reasons have been sited by the Chachamim
-?? ???? ??? ???? ?”? ?????? ??????? ???, (Gemarra Brachos) – Corresponding to the 18 times Hashem’s name appears in Krias Shema
– (Yerushalmi in Brachos) ??? ????? ??? ??? ????? ???? ?”? ????? ????? ?????? ????? ????? ???? ????- Corrsponding to the 18 times the names Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov appear as a unit in the Torah
– ??? ????? ?? ????? ??? ?’ ????? ???? ?”? ??????? ????? ????? ????, Corresponding to the 18 times it says “???? ??? ?’, ??-???. In pekudei, talking about the construction of the mishkan
– (Midrash Tanchuma) – Corresponding to the 18 perakim of tehillim (from the beginning until #19, ???? ???-?, ???? ???). According to our siddurim ???? ???-?, ???? ??? is number 20. The gemarra says that the 1st 2 are counted as one. When the chachamim added the 19th bracha to the amida, they were spit into 2, so that there would be 19 tehillim prior to ???? ???-?, ???? ???. Perhaps, when the Bracha of ????????????????? is no longer needed, they will be counted as one, once again.
– ?”? ??? ???? ??’ ????? ?? ????? ???? ?”? ?????? ???? ??? (?????? ??) ???? ??’ ??? ????. Corresponding to the 18 times Dovid HaMelech mentions the hame of Hakadosh baruch Hu in the Midmor, ???? ??’ ??? ????.
– R’ Saadia Gaon, in his siddur, says that he counted 18 times in which the Torah mentions that someone said a tfillah to Hashem. He also mentions the fact that the Torah designated 18 days in the year as Yomim Tovim (Pesach -7, Succos -7, Shavuos -1, Rosh HaShana -1, Yom Kippor -1, Shmini Atzeres -1).
All of these are instances in which there is a factor of 18, but what is the significance?
(Gemara, Brachos) ?”? ????? ??? ??? ????? ?? ??? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ??????:
To correspond to the 18 bones in the spine
???? ?’ ????? ??? ??? ????? ?? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ?? ??????? ?? ?????? ??????
When we bow during davening, we must do so to the point where all of the joints in the spine are open as it says “?? ??????, ?????? ???-?, ?? ???? All my limbs will say: Hashem, who is like you”.
Based on this, all the aforementioned instances where the number 18 is cited as the source for the amida being 18 brachos, are based on the fact that the number 18 represents the physical framework of the human being, and thus the number 18 is ideal symbolism to express the essence of tfilla, namely:
We are offering our entire body and soul as a korban to HaKadosh Baruch Hu through our tfilla. This is the meaning of ?? ??????, ?????? ???-?, ?? ????, and this is why we begin the Shmoneh Esrei by bowing down and involving our entire body in the tfilla.