Reply To: Confusing halacha, minhag, chumra and shtus*

Am I confusing bracha, tefilla, and bakasha?

Bracha is a blessing

Tefilla is a prayer

Bakasha is a request

This is confusing. I’ve gotten a bracha from a rabbi.

1) Isn’t that technically a bakasha?

2) When I prayed at the Kotel on my own, was that Tefilla?

A) Own words

B) Reading from the Kotel’s Personal Prayer book, sponsored and provided by the Western Wall Foundation

3) And when I asked for Hashem to bless people, was I giving/asking Hashem for brachot for them OR was I asking for bakashot? Or both?

4) When we pray from a Siddur, that is also Tefilla isn’t it?

5) Is this correct?::: We say a bracha after eating AND we use the same word, “bracha,” to describe the oral words given on our behalf by another?

6) When we ask for a Refuah for someone in Shul during davening (Tefilla in Yiddish right?), such as *Name ben Ima* is that a bracha or tefilla or something else?

Thank you so much for clarity ?