Reply To: Proper Procedure for ending Amidah

Sam2 said: “There are different Minhagim. The Shulchan Aruch is based mainly off the Sefer Chassidim that there are 5 bows in the Amidah, with the final one being before the three steps back. Enough people don’t do the fifth (and haven’t for many years) that there probably is some decent Halachic reationale behind it. But yes, it is proper to bow for that too.”

The Shulchan Aruch says it should be “bekri’ah achas.” That implies that the bow before the three steps back is the same as the bow after. If that’s the case, then EVERYONE is noheg to do the 5th bow, just many people wait until after the three steps. According to the Shulchan Aruch, that is incorrect, and I have yet to find a sefer which says otherwise.