What are the Sh'ma, Amidah and Aleinu?
Hiya!
These are three parts of the Jewish daily liturgy.
The sh’ma comes from the book of Deuteronomy and is the 6 word “doctrine of our faith”. It means “Listen Israel, Adonai is our God and Adonai is One.” It declares our oneness of God. In the prayer service, it is followed by the V’ahavta- a section taken from the same section of Torah which explains how “Thou shalt love Adonai Your God with all your heart, your soul and your might” It discusses how we should teach “these words unto “ our children. In it we learn about the importance of keeping “these words” on our doorposts (mezuza) and in between our eyes (tefillin). The sh’ma itself is traditionally recited four times per day.
The Amidah, sometimes referred to as the “standing prayer” or the “Avot v’Imahot” (”the Fathers and Mothers”) is the central prayer in the traditional Jewish service, recited three times typically. It consists of a series of blessings and prayers at the central “peak” of a service. Typically the first three blessings are recited out loud and the rest are either recited silently, in English or not at all depending on the community. The middle petitions change on Shabbat and there are additions inserted on Passover, Sukkot, Shavuot, Hanukkah, Purim and during the High Holidays.
The Aleinu is the final prayer of a worship service (although often the Mourner’s Kaddish is recited afterword). Its words can be considered controversial in some communities as its traditional words call for the rebuilding of Jerusalem (ie the Third Temple). Many communites have chosen to alter the words or offer additional versions.
I hope that this helps!
-PJ
