The amidah (standing prayer), also called shmonei esrei (18, the number of blessings in it) is performed three times a day: arvit/maariv (evening), shaHarith (morning) and minHah (in afternoon).

I am praying here utilizing hishtaHawa/prostration. In more ancient times this was the way to pray for a Jew, as attested to by Rambam in his work Misheh Torah. The rise of Islam, whose prayers are done in this same way, was largely responsible for the discontinuation of this way of praying in Jewish tradition, as distancing the community from identification with the neighbors has been a long standing Jewish tradition stemming from the mitzvah to not learn how the neighbors worship their deities and say, “I will worship God in this way.”

It’s really a shame that the practice became virtually unknown to the Jewish world, being kept alive mostly by tehmanim, Jews from Yemen.

It involves five kneelings with the touching (or near touching) of the head to the ground, and one prostration at the end. This practice helps one to integrate the movement of the body with the intention of the heart and the words of the lips, body/mind/spirit, assisting one in reaching achdut, oneness…or at least pointing in that direction.

May this video be a blessing, and may you find peace in the light of the Infinite.