During the Aseres Yemei Teshuva, the Ten Days of Repentance from Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur inclusive, we make certain changes to the davening to reflect the theme of these days.
HaMelech HaKadosh
- Hamelech Hakadosh: We conclude the third bracha of the Amidah ‘Hamelech Hakadosh’, ‘the Holy King’ as this is the time when Hashem demonstrates his Kingship and rule over the world, given it is a time of judgement. If one does not conclude the bracha in this way, one must return to the start of the Amidah (SA 582:1, MB2).
- Unsure if one said: Given that we are accustomed to say ‘Hakel Hakadosh’ as the conclusion of this bracha, if one is unsure whether they concluded Hamelech Hakadosh or not, it is assumed that they said ‘Hakel Hakadosh’ so must restart the Amidah (SA, MB3).
- However, during the tefillos of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, if a person knows that they said the additions at the end of the third bracha – ‘uvechen ten pachdecha’ etc – then they need not return to the start of the Amidah if they are unsure if they concluded ‘Hamelech Hakadosh’ as it is no longer assumed that they concluded the bracha in this normal way (MB4, Dirshu 5).
- Correcing Oneself: If one initially concluded ‘Hakel Hakadosh’ and within the amount of time it takes to say 3 words (‘toch kedei dibur’, fractionally longer than a second) one corrected oneself and said Hamelech Hakadosh, one need not go back. This is only possible if one has not yet started the next bracha – once one has done so, one can no longer correct oneself and one must return to the start of the Amidah (SA 582:2).
Friday Night – Hamelech Hakadosh
- In the paragraph of ‘Magen Avos’ that is said by the Chazzan (and customarily also by the community) after the private Amidah, ‘Hamelech Hakadosh’ is said in place of ‘Hakel Hakadosh’ (SA 582:3)
Hamelech Hamishpat
- In the weekday Amidah in the Ten Days of Repentance, we conclude the bracha of ‘Hashiva Shofteinu’ with ‘Hamelech Hamishpat’.
- However, as our regular conclusion for the bracha includes reference to Hashem being King (‘Melech Ohev Tzedaka Umishpat’), one need not repeat the bracha if one did not conclude with ‘Hamelech Hamishpat.’
- Nontheless, if one can correct oneself within the amount of time it takes to say 3 words (a little more than a second), one should do so (SA 582:1, MB 118 SK3).
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Additions of the Geonim – Zachrenu Lechaim etc
- The Geonim instituted that one should add several phrases in the Amidah relating to the theme of the Aseres Yemei Teshuva, Ten Days of Repentance. These are ‘Zachrenu leChaim…’ in the first bracha, ‘Mi Chomacha…’ in the second bracha, ‘Uchsov…’ towards the end of Modim and ‘Besefer Chaim…’ at the end of the bracha of Sim Shalom.
- If one omitted: As these additions were not instituted by Chazal, one does not go back and repeat the bracha if one omitted them. Indeed, once one has already said ‘(Baruch atah) Hashem’ at the conclusion of the bracha, one should not go back and say these phrases. If one remembers before this point, one may go back and say these phrases in the correct place and repeat the rest of the bracha from there, even if it involves saying Hashem’s name again. If one did not say them in their correct place, one can add them at the conclusion of ‘Elokai Netzor’ before saying ‘Yihyu Leratzon’ (SA 582:5, MB15-16, Dirshu 19).
- The same halacha applies if one omitted the section Uvechen Ten Pachdecha during the Amidah on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, so long as one still concluded the bracha with ‘Hamelech Hakadosh’ as above (MB 582:17).
- Pronunciation: One should take care to say ‘LeChaim’ in these additions with a sheva under the Lamed (לְְחַיִים) rather than ‘LaChaim’ (לַחַיִים) which sounds similar to Lo Chaim (לֹא חַיִים) – no life. As these are days of judgement one should take particular care to ensure that one’s davening is precise and accurate.
- In the first addition, we say ‘Lechaim’ – for life – but at the end of Modim we say ‘Lechaim Tovim,’ – for a good life – as we start off by asking for a little, and then add to the request thereafter (MB 16).
Kaddish in the Ten Days of Repentance – Le’eila uLe’eila
- In Kaddish, we double up the word ‘Le’eila’ and say ‘Le’eila ule’eila’. In order to keep the Kaddish to the same number of words, we combine the words ‘min kol’ and say ‘mikol’ (MB 582:16, MB 56:2).
