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If someone has to restart Shmoneh Esrei (because of Yale Yeyavo, Mashiva Haruach, Melech Hakadosh, etc) and is still in the middle of it, do you take 3 steps back, then forward, then back and forward again?

Or do you stay in your place and simply start again?

And when you start over, do you start from Baruch or from Hashem Sefasai?

Ariel
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1 Answers1

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The Ritva (Taanit 3b) rules that whenever one has to restart Shmoneh Esrei in the middle he does not have to repeat the introductory verse "Hashem Sefatai...". It would seem a fortiori that the same would apply to the 3 steps.

This Ritva is quoted as Halacha by the Shaarei Teshuva (OC 114:4).

It would seem the logic here is that you are not restarting Shmoneh Esrei but rather moving back to the bracha with the mistake, with the caveat that the first and last 3 brachot count as one unit. So you are moving back to the beginning of the first bracha, not restarting Shmoneh Esrei.

Double AA
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  • So after the last yihiu leratzon you would, even if you didn't take three back? – b a Oct 11 '12 at 03:49
  • @ba If you mean "you would [need to resay Hashem Sefatai...]" then yes it would seem so because really at that point your Shmoneh Esrei is done, there is just some extra stuff we do. – Double AA Oct 11 '12 at 03:52
  • (What I meant was you would [need to take three steps back].) I was wondering based on your language that you don't have to resay A' Sefasai Tiftach whenever one has to restart Shmoneh Esrei in the middle, which implies that if it's not in the middle, he does (as you said), but it doesn't answer whether you have to take the three steps again, since you're basing that on an "a fortiori" – b a Oct 11 '12 at 04:36
  • @ba Good point. Generally we say that once you say yihyu leratzon it is כמאן דעקר דמיא as if you already moved your feet. So it would seem you would start your new Shmoneh Esrei just as you would any other one (which might not need three steps back http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/2473/759) – Double AA Oct 11 '12 at 05:03
  • @ba An interesting question is in your case should you still finish completing your messed up Shmoneh Esrei or just pretend it never happened and start over. This likely depends on how integral the missed insertion is to the Sh"E. Most assume that if you miss Yaaleh VeYavo then you said a Sh"E, just you have to go back in order to be able to say YVe"Y. I believe R Chaim Soloveitchik held that asking for rain is so integral to Sh"E that skipping it is like not having said a Sh"E at all. If so there would be no point in completing the nothingness before restarting. – Double AA Oct 11 '12 at 05:19