{"id":6306,"date":"2010-01-17T13:00:50","date_gmt":"2010-01-17T11:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=6306"},"modified":"2018-05-24T11:45:52","modified_gmt":"2018-05-24T08:45:52","slug":"02-17-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/02-17-13\/","title":{"rendered":"13 – Three Steps Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once again, after finishing the Amidah<\/i>, one must bow down until the vertebrae in his spine protrude, as if they \u201cclick.\u201d While bowing down, he takes three steps backwards. Subsequently, still bowing, he turns to his left side and says, \u201cOseh shalom bimromav<\/i>,\u201d turns to his right side and says, \u201cHu ya\u2019aseh shalom aleinu<\/i>,\u201d bows down in front of him and says, \u201cv\u2019al kol Yisrael<\/i>, v\u2019imru Amen<\/i>,\u201d and then straightens himself. Many people are accustomed to say afterwards \u201cYehi ratzon<\/i>\u201d regarding the building of the Temple. This is because prayer corresponds to the Korban<\/i> HaTamid<\/i>. Therefore, we request that the Temple be rebuilt and that we merit bringing the Tamid<\/i> offering (Shulchan Aruch Rama<\/i> 123:1).<\/p>\n

The Chachamim<\/i> say that if a person prays and does not depart from the Amidah<\/i> properly by taking three steps back and saying Oseh shalom<\/i>, it would have been better not to have prayed at all (Yoma<\/i> 53b). One who fails to conclude in this fashion proves that he did not understand that he was standing before the King of Kings, HaKadosh Baruch Hu<\/i>, and consequently he desecrates the prayer.<\/p>\n

When stepping back, one starts by lifting his left leg, the weaker leg, thereby demonstrating his difficulty in separating from prayer. Every step the person takes must be the size of his foot. The order of the steps is as follows: initially, he takes a small step with his left leg, so that the toes of his left foot are adjacent to his right heel. Afterwards, he takes a bigger step with his right leg, so that the toes of his right foot are adjacent to his left heel. Finally, he takes a small step with his left leg to equal out the legs. In that way he ends up standing with his legs together when saying Oseh shalom.<\/i><\/p>\n

One must be careful not to take a step smaller than the length of his foot, for some poskim<\/i> maintain that less than that is not considered a step (Magen Avraham<\/i>). When there is not enough room behind him to take three steps, he must step to his side, making sure that every step is big enough (Aruch HaShulchan<\/i> 123:5). In a case of extenuating circumstances, when there is no room to step backwards or sideways, he may rely on the opinions which maintain that it is permissible to take three smaller steps. However, one may not take less than three steps in departing from the Amidah<\/i> before the King (Bach<\/i> and see Mishnah Berurah<\/i> 123:14); nor may one take more than three steps, so as not to display arrogance (yohara<\/i>) (Shulchan Aruch<\/i> 123:4).[9]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Likewise, it is not proper to take large steps so as not to appear as one who wants to distance himself from the King (Rama<\/i> 123:3; see Mishnah Berurah <\/i>16).<\/p>\n

\n
\n
[9]<\/a>.\u00a0The Beit Yosef<\/i> brings opinions as to which foot he should step with first, and the decision of the Shulchan Aruch<\/i> 123:3, based on the Midrash<\/i>, is that one starts with his left foot. However, regarding a left-handed person there is uncertainty, as brought by the Bei\u2019ur Halachah<\/i>. Kaf HaChaim<\/i> 23 writes that even a left-handed person takes the first step with his left foot. The order of the steps is explained above. Still, Rabbeinu Mano\u2019ach<\/i> mentions an opinion that maintains that one takes six steps, because each pair of steps is considered one step. There are Acharonim<\/i> who write like him, as cited by the Bei\u2019ur Halachah<\/i> s.v. \u201cV\u2019Shiur.<\/i>\u201d However, the primary opinion is that of the Shulchan Aruch<\/i>, as brought by the Mishnah Berurah<\/i> 13 and Kaf HaChaim<\/i> 24.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Once again, after finishing the Amidah, one must bow down until the vertebrae in his spine protrude, as if they \u201cclick.\u201d While bowing down, he takes three steps backwards. Subsequently, still bowing, he turns to his left side and says, \u201cOseh shalom bimromav,\u201d turns to his right side and says, \u201cHu ya\u2019aseh shalom aleinu,\u201d bows […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-17-the-amidah"],"yoast_head":"\n13 - Three Steps Back - Peninei Halakha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/02-17-13\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"13 - Three Steps Back - Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Once again, after finishing the Amidah, one must bow down until the vertebrae in his spine protrude, as if they \u201cclick.\u201d While bowing down, he takes three steps backwards. 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