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Beit HaMikdash

תפילה

A day of prayer facing Jerusalem

How often do Jews pray for the Temple? It depends on the rite, the day and the person. So instead of a slogan, here is the liturgy itself, with the method shown.

The Liturgy Explorer

Choose a rite and a day. Every prayer carries its verified Hebrew, a translation, and whether the reference is explicit or thematic.

Rite (nusach)
Day
2
Assumptions

Hebrew from the Metsudah Siddur and the Daat Siddur Ashkenaz, via Sefaria.

References on this day, under these assumptions

19

Explicit
16
Thematic
3
How this number is computed
  1. Each prayer below has a fixed number of recitations per day type, from the structure of the services.
  2. Grace after meals is multiplied by the number of bread meals you set.
  3. Customs held widely but not universally are counted only if you include them.
  4. Thematic references (not naming the Temple or Jerusalem outright) are counted only if you include them.
  5. The total is the sum. Private prayers, study and Psalms outside the services are not counted.

Change any assumption and the number changes with it. That is the point: there is no single universal count.

Filter by theme

  • Rebuilding Jerusalem

    3× · explicit

    Weekday Amidah, the fourteenth blessing

    וְלִירוּשָׁלַיִם עִירְךָ בְּרַחֲמִים תָּשׁוּב וְתִשְׁכּוֹן בְּתוֹכָהּ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתָּ וּבְנֵה אוֹתָהּ בְּקָרוֹב בְּיָמֵינוּ בִּנְיַן עוֹלָם וְכִסֵּא דָוִד מְהֵרָה לְתוֹכָהּ תָּכִין: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ בּוֹנֵה יְרוּשָׁלָיִם

    Velirushalayim ircha berachamim tashuv

    And to Jerusalem, Your city, return in mercy, and dwell in it as You have spoken; rebuild it soon in our days as an everlasting building, and speedily establish the throne of David within it. Blessed are You, Lord, Builder of Jerusalem.

    The Edot HaMizrach wording opens 'Dwell within Jerusalem Your city' and closes 'who comforts Zion with the building of Jerusalem'. The theme is shared by all the rites here.

    Every weekday Amidah: morning, afternoon and evening.JerusalemRebuildingReturn of the PresenceDavidic kingship
    Hebrew: The Metsudah siddur, 1981 (Siddur Ashkenaz, Weekday, Shacharit, Amidah, Rebuilding Jerusalem)Translation: the site's own.

  • The Sprout of David

    3× · explicit

    Weekday Amidah, the fifteenth blessing

    צֶמַח דָּוִד עַבְדְּךָ מְהֵרָה תַצְמִיחַ וְקַרְנוֹ תָּרוּם בִּישׁוּעָתֶךָ כִּי לִישׁוּעָתְךָ קִוִּינוּ כָּל הַיּוֹם: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ מַצְמִיחַ קֶרֶן יְשׁוּעָה

    Et tzemach David avdecha

    Speedily cause the sprout of David Your servant to flourish, and raise his strength through Your salvation, for we hope for Your salvation all day.

    A prayer for the restoration of Davidic kingship, which Rambam links to the building of the Mikdash.

    Every weekday Amidah.Davidic kingship
    Hebrew: The Metsudah siddur, 1981 (Siddur Ashkenaz, Weekday, Shacharit, Amidah, Kingdom of David)Translation: the site's own.

  • Retzei: restore the service

    3× · explicit

    Every Amidah, the seventeenth blessing

    רְצֵה ה׳ אֱלֹהֵינוּ בְּעַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל וּבִתְפִלָּתָם וְהָשֵׁב אֶת הָעֲבוֹדָה לִדְבִיר בֵּיתֶךָ וְאִשֵּׁי יִשְׂרָאֵל וּתְפִלָּתָם בְּאַהֲבָה תְקַבֵּל בְּרָצוֹן וּתְהִי לְרָצוֹן תָּמִיד עֲבוֹדַת יִשְׂרָאֵל עַמֶּךָ

    Retzei … vehashev et ha'avodah lidvir beitecha

    Be pleased, Lord our God, with Your people Israel and their prayer, and restore the service to the inner sanctuary of Your House. … May our eyes see Your return to Zion in mercy. Blessed are You, Lord, who returns His Presence to Zion.

    'Restore the avodah to the dvir of Your House': the dvir is the innermost chamber, the Holy of Holies. This is the most direct request for the restoration of Temple service in daily Jewish prayer.

    Every Amidah of every day, including Musaf.Restoring the avodahZionReturn of the PresenceTemple offerings
    Hebrew: The Metsudah siddur, 1981 (Siddur Ashkenaz, Weekday, Shacharit, Amidah, Temple Service)Translation: the site's own.

  • “May the Temple be rebuilt speedily in our days”

    3× · explicit

    After the Amidah

    יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ ה׳ אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ שֶׁיִּבָּנֶה בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ בִּמְהֵרָה בְיָמֵינוּ וְתֵן חֶלְקֵנוּ בְּתוֹרָתֶךָ

    Yehi ratzon … sheyibaneh beit hamikdash bimheirah veyameinu

    May it be Your will, Lord our God and God of our fathers, that the Holy Temple be rebuilt speedily in our days, and grant our portion in Your Torah.

    The same request closes the fifth chapter of Pirkei Avot in the Mishnah.

    At the close of each Amidah, in the prayer books of every rite shown here.Rebuilding
    Hebrew: The Metsudah siddur, 1981 (Siddur Ashkenaz, Weekday, Shacharit, Amidah, Concluding Passage)Translation: the site's own.

  • Gathering the exiles

    3× · thematic

    Weekday Amidah, the tenth blessing

    תְּקַע בְּשׁוֹפָר גָּדוֹל לְחֵרוּתֵנוּ וְשָׂא נֵס לְקַבֵּץ גָּלֻיּוֹתֵינוּ וְקַבְּצֵנוּ יַחַד מֵאַרְבַּע כַּנְפוֹת הָאָרֶץ: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ מְקַבֵּץ נִדְחֵי עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל

    Sound the great shofar for our freedom, raise a banner to gather our exiles, and gather us together from the four corners of the earth.

    Not a Temple prayer by name, but part of the sequence of restoration blessings that leads to Jerusalem and the Temple service.

    Every weekday Amidah.Pilgrimage and ingathering
    Hebrew: The Metsudah siddur, 1981 (Siddur Ashkenaz, Weekday, Shacharit, Amidah, Gathering the Exiles)Translation: the site's own.

  • Grace after meals: mercy on Jerusalem

    2× · explicit

    Birkat Hamazon, the third blessing

    וְעַל יְרוּשָׁלַיִם עִירֶךָ וְעַל צִיּוֹן מִשְׁכַּן כְּבוֹדֶךָ וְעַל מַלְכוּת בֵּית דָּוִד מְשִׁיחֶךָ וְעַל־הַבַּיִת הַגָּדוֹל וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ שֶׁנִּקְרָא שִׁמְךָ עָלָיו

    Have mercy … on Jerusalem Your city, on Zion the dwelling place of Your glory, on the kingdom of the house of David Your anointed, and on the great and holy House that is called by Your Name. … Rebuild Jerusalem, the holy city, speedily in our days.

    The Edot HaMizrach text adds 'Your sanctuary, Your abode, Your inner sanctum' to the list.

    After every meal with bread.JerusalemZionDavidic kingshipRebuilding
    Hebrew: The Metsudah siddur, 1981 (Siddur Ashkenaz, Berachot, Birkat HaMazon)Translation: the site's own.

  • The Korbanot readings

    1× · explicit

    Before the morning service (many also before Minchah)

    צַו אֶת־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם אֶת־קָרְבָּנִי לַחְמִי לְאִשַּׁי רֵיחַ נִיחֹחִי תִּשְׁמְרוּ לְהַקְרִיב לִי בְּמוֹעֲדוֹ

    Command the children of Israel and say to them: My offering, My bread … you shall take care to offer to Me in its due season.

    The Torah's passage about the Tamid is read with a request 'that the Holy Temple be rebuilt speedily … and we will offer before You the Tamid', and that 'this recitation be considered as if we had offered it'. The Talmud records that reading the order of offerings is counted as offering them.

    Each morning, by custom; the Sefard prayer book also places it before Minchah.Temple offeringsTemple remembranceRebuilding
    Hebrew: The Metsudah siddur, 1981 (Siddur Ashkenaz, Weekday, Shacharit, Preparatory Prayers, Korbanot, Korban HaTamid)Translation: the site's own.

  • The Song of the Day

    1× · explicit

    End of the morning service

    שֶׁבּוֹ הָיוּ הַלְוִיִּם אוֹמְרִים בְּבֵית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ

    Today is the … day of the week, on which the Levites used to say in the Holy Temple …

    The introduction names the Levites' song in the Temple before the psalm is read.

    Every morning.Temple remembrance
    Hebrew: The Metsudah siddur, 1981 (Siddur Ashkenaz, Weekday, Shacharit, Concluding Prayers, Song of the Day)Translation: the site's own.

Musaf: a prayer shaped like an offering

On Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh and festivals the Temple brought an additional offering, the musaf. The synagogue adds a prayer of the same name. Its central blessing recalls that day's offering and asks for the service to be restored. Wording differs by rite and community.

Beyond the daily cycle

  • The Passover Seder

    לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בִּירוּשָׁלָיִם.

    Next year in Jerusalem.

    The closing words of the Seder. They express the hope of return to Jerusalem broadly, not only Temple reconstruction; many communities add 'rebuilt'.

  • The wedding blessings

    שׂוֹשׂ תָּשִׂישׂ וְתָגֵל הָעֲקָרָה, בְּקִבּוּץ בָּנֶיהָ לְתוֹכָהּ בִּמְהֵרָה בְּשִׂמְחָה. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ מְשַׂמֵּחַ צִיּוֹן בְּבָנֶיהָ

    May the barren one rejoice and exult at the gathering of her children to her in joy. Blessed are You, Lord, who gladdens Zion through her children.

    Zion appears inside the seven wedding blessings; another asks that joy soon be heard 'in the streets of Jerusalem'. The glass is broken and Psalm 137 is often recited.

  • Tisha B'Av

    The fast of the ninth of Av mourns both destructions. In the afternoon a special paragraph, Nachem ('Comfort'), is added to the blessing for Jerusalem.

  • Yom Kippur: the Avodah

    The Musaf of Yom Kippur retells the High Priest's service in poetry; worshippers bow to the ground where the Mishnah says the people bowed when they heard the Divine Name.

  • Facing Jerusalem

    The Amidah is said facing the Land of Israel, Jerusalem and the Holy of Holies. Synagogues are built accordingly.

  • At home

    Traditional practice leaves a square amah of a home unplastered opposite the entrance, in memory of Jerusalem.

So how often is the Temple remembered?

For a traditionally observant Jew, Jerusalem, Zion, the Temple, its service or its loss come back every morning, afternoon and evening, after every meal with bread, every Shabbat and festival, at every wedding, and on the fast days of the year.

Any number depends on the rite, the day and the assumptions. The explorer above shows one way to count, in the open. The deeper answer is qualitative: the Temple is woven through the whole cycle of Jewish time.