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The middle bracha on Shabbos at mincha reads (Nusach Ashkenaz)

אתה אחד ושמך אחד, ומי כעמך ישראל גוי אחד בארץ, תפארת גדלה, ועטרת ישועה, יום מנוחה וקדשה לעצמך נתת, אברהם יגל, ויצחק ירנן, יעקב ובניו ינוחו בו, מנוחת אהבה ונדבה, מנוחת אמת ואמונה, מנוחת שלום ושלוה והשקט ובטח, מנוחה שלמה שאתה רוצה בה, יכירו בניך וידעו כי מאתך היא מנוחתם ועל מנוחתם יקדישו את שמך.

אלקינו ואלקי אבותינו, רצה במנוחתנו. קדשנו במצותיך, ותן חלקנו בתורתך. שבענו מטובך, ושמחנו בישועתך, וטהר לבנו לעבדך באמת. והנחילנו יקוק אלקינו באהבה וברצון שבת קדשך, וינוחו בם ישראל מקדשי שמך. ברוך אתה יקוק, מקדש השבת.

It says the words menucha 8 times and yanuchu 2 times, for a total of ten. What's the significance of this? It's obviously redundant and indicates something. Only thing I can think of is it's corresponding to בעשרה מאמרות נברא העולם and Shabbos refers to בראשית. Is there any peirush that addresses this?

I do acknowledge that the second paragraph is in every prayer for Shabbos, but it was clearly combined with the first paragraph with intent.

robev
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    The text of prayer evolved significantly, and contains numerous permutations. In this case for example, Rambam's text has only 6 occurrences (that I count). The variability of texts alone, is reason to doubt that a particular permutation is deliberate. Furthermore, Rambam's text is reason to doubt that textual version in particular. Sourcing it (in a Geonic source, for example) would improve the question by addressing the second question (although not the first). – mevaqesh May 29 '17 at 23:41
  • @meva the entire Attah Echad paragraph wasn't even said in most communities during the Geonic period – Double AA May 29 '17 at 23:55
  • "but it was clearly combined with the first paragraph with intent." I'm not convinced that this is the case that the 2nd paragraph was combined with the 1st with any intent to get to a total count of 10 of the same expression. If that were the case, why not combine the other 2 in the 1st paragraph. The 2nd paragraph is part of all the Shabbat Tefillot. I think that's the only reason why it's there for Mincha. Can you provide further support as to why you think it was added for numerical value? – DanF May 30 '17 at 18:11

2 Answers2

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My original explanation, you can feel free and say it on Shabat meal

The Tora talks about resting on Shabbat, so it just echos the Tora wording:

דברים ה

וְיוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שַׁבָּת לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה כָל מְלָאכָה אַתָּה וּבִנְךָ וּבִתֶּךָ וְעַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָתֶךָ וְשׁוֹרְךָ וַחֲמֹרְךָ וְכָל בְּהֶמְתֶּךָ וְגֵרְךָ אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ לְמַעַן יָנוּחַ עַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָתְךָ כָּמוֹךָ.

but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or your ass, or any of your cattle, or the stranger in your settlements, so that your male and female slave may rest as you do.

Moreover, there are ten who rest on Shabat:
Nine in the verse, and also God, who was first that rest on Shabat.

Alaychem goes to Codidact
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Offhand, I don't think there is anything significant to the number 10, here. So, for now, this is a partial answer, but it should answer the main aspects in your question.

Ideas come from this Beurei Hatefilla article

יעקב ובניו ינוחו בו is a reference that Braham and Jacob will rejoice knowing that Ya'akov and his children rested on Shabbat. (See the rest of the article which explains why the them of the middle bracha talks about the forefathers.)

מנוחת אהבה ונדבה - Shabbat and the rest of the Shabbat is G-d's gift to his people

מנוחת אמת ואמונה -

Its foundation is in the objective truth of Creation. Rest on Shabbos is a rest of truth. The Mon never came down on Shabbos

מנוחת שלום ושלוה והשקט ובטח and מנוחה שלמה

It needs to be noted that the Shabbos that we celebrate is not based on the humane concern that a person should rest one day was week from working. Instead it is a day of rest that was established by Heaven, during Creation. It provides a person with a complete rest that cannot be compromised or divided. That is why we call it a complete rest.

יום מנוחה וקדשה לעצמך נתת and היא מנוחתם ועל מנוחתם יקדישו את שמך I couldn't find an explanation. I think these are nothing more than introductory and "summary" expressions to the whole paragraph. I don't think there's anything particular with having a count of the expressions.

DanF
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