The fifth blessing of the Shabbat amidah (which is the same as the 17th blessing of the weekday amidah) is the first of three blessings that express thankfulness to G-d.

This blessing makes specific reference to the temple service (the “avodah”) before the destruction by the Romans in 70 CE.

If we examine the text carefully, we can see how it changed over time to adapt to the new circumstances in which we found ourselves after the destruction.

The text as we have it in a traditional siddur is:

  1. Find favor, Ad-nai our G-d, in Your People Israel and in their prayer in love.
  2. And return the sacrifice to the Holy of Holies.
  3. And the fire-offerings of Israel, and their prayers in love, accept favorably.
  4. And may You find favor always in the service of Israel, Your People.
  5. May our eyes behold Your return to Zion in mercy.
  6. Blessed are You, Ad-nai, who restores His divine presence to Zion.

Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman has uncovered the various historical layers of this prayer. Before the destruction, it was like this:

  1. Find favor, Ad-nai our G-d, in Your People Israel.
  2. And the fire-offerings of Israel accept favorably.
  3. And may You find favor in the tamid [the daily sacrifice], the sacrificial service of Israel, Your People.
  4. Blessed are You, Ad-nai, Whom we will serve in awe.

After the destruction, when sacrifice became nearly impossible, and prayer gained a much higher priority, hopes that G-d would accept our prayers were added [in brackets], thus:

  1. Find favor, Ad-nai our G-d, in Your People Israel [and in their prayer in love]
  2. And the fire-offerings of Israel [and their prayers in love] accept favorably.
  3. And may You find favor always [the normal meaning of the word tamid] in the service of Israel, Your People.
  4. Blessed are You, Ad-nai, whom we will serve in awe.

But the hopes for return were never lost, and they were expressed [underlined] in the blessing as well:

  1. Find favor, Ad-nai our G-d, in Your People Israel and in their prayer in love.
  2. And return the sacrifice to the Holy of Holies.
  3. And the fire-offerings of Israel, and their prayers in love, accept favorably.
  4. And may You find favor always in the service of Israel, Your People.
  5. May our eyes behold Your return to Zion in mercy.
  6. Blessed are You, Ad-nai, who restores His divine presence to Zion.

Note also that the final blessing was replaced with a hope for return.

The final change took place much more recently. The return to Zion has become a major part of modern Jewish life; the return to sacrifices in a restored temple, not so much.  So more changes (in italics) were made in our Conservative siddur:

  1. Find favor, Ad-nai our G-d, in Your People Israel and in their prayer in love.
  2. And return worship to the Holy of Holies.
  3. And …. their prayers in love, accept favorably.
  4. And may You find favor always in the service of Israel, Your People.
  5. May our eyes behold Your return to Zion in mercy.
  6. Blessed are You, Ad-nai, who restores His divine presence to Zion.

There is much to be learned by studying this historical evolution, but I want to emphasize two points. First, the quest to serve G-d, and to find expression for that service, is an essential aspect of human nature. Second, that our liturgy is not “set in stone. “ It has always been responsive to the reality of our lives.

And so we pray: Let our dreams of the return of the divine presence to Jerusalem, the holy city, be fulfilled speedily, in our day.

Amen.