Halakhah su Salmi 84:5

“The order of confession (of sins)³⁹Viddui, ודוי, confession of sins, is a prerequisite for expiation and atonement in the Bible for sins committed individually or collectively. In the Bible there is usually a pardoning by God following the confession. Examples of this are found in the stories of Cain, (Genesis 4:13) David, (Psalms 32,41,51, and 69), Judah with Tamar (Genesis 36:26), Achan and the spoils of Jerico (Joshua 7:19-21), Saul and the Amalekite booty (I Samuel 15:24-25). There are also examples of Biblical confessions made for the nation; Moses and the golden calf worshipping (Exodus 32:31), the high priest’s confession on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:6, 11, 21) and the confession of Ezra (9:6, 7, 15) and Nehemiah (1:6,7;9:2,33-35).
Prior to the destruction of the Temple confessions had to precede special sin and guilt sacrificial offerings. The person confessing had to place his hands upon the head of the animal sacrifice to transfer his sins to the animal (Leviticus 1:4). The Bible gives no wording for these confessions but there is in the Mishna the wording for the confession of the high priest on Yom Kippur: “O God, I have committed iniquity, transgressed, and sinned before Thee, I and my house. O God forgive the iniquities and transgressions and sins which I have committed and transgressed and sinned before Thee I and my house as it is written in the Law of Thy servant Moses, ‘For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins shall ye be clean before the Lord’” (Leviticus 16:30; Yoma 3:8).
In rabbinic times it became an accepted custom to confess one's sins before seeking atonement and the confession of sins became an integral part of the synagogue ritual. On the Day of Atonement it became a focal point of the service. According to the Talmud (Yoma 87b) the simple statement "Truly, we have sinned" is sufficient for confession, but elaborate formulas of confession have evolved. The Ashamnu "We have incurred guilt" is the prayer on Yom Kippur that is inserted into the fourth benediction of the reader's repetition of the Amidah (see footnote 43). The prayer consists of two parts, each of which contains an alphabetical listing of sins probably committed by people during the year for which they are seeking atonement on Yom Kippur. The first alphabetical confession is known as the Viddui Katan, the "Small Confession". The second part of the Ashamnu is known as the Viddui Gadol, the "Great Confession". It is also known as the Al Ḥet "For the sin which I committed before Thee" which is the statement that precedes each specified sin. These confessionals are first mentioned in geonic liturgy (see footnote 19). Additions to the enumerated sins have evolved to include all possible transgressions since a person might have unintentionally forgotten about a sin during the year which must be confessed in order to receive atonement. The sins are all confessed in the first person plural, "we", communally, thus a person may even confess a sin he is sure he did not commit.
In addition to Yom Kippur, the Ashamnu is also recited during the Seliḥot Services prior to Yom Kippur (see footnote 14). It is also recited in the Minḥah Afternoon Service on the Eve of Yom Kippur and ten times during the Day itself.
The Ashamnu is also included in the daily service of the Ḥasidic rite, and on Monday and Thursday it is recited by the Sephardi, Italian, and Yemenite communities.
The viddui, confession of sins, can also be said by individuals silently at appropriate occasions especially when one is about to die. The viddui said on the Day of Atonement in the singular has become acceptable as a death confessional. A bridegroom also recites this viddui in the singular during the Minḥah Service before his wedding, the wedding day being considered a day of judgment for the bride and groom.
Editorial Staff, E. J., v. 5, pp. 878-80. during Minḥah⁴⁰Minḥah, מנחה, is the Afternoon Service which is one of the three daily services, the Morning Service being called the Shaḥarit (see footnote 17) and the Evening Service being called the Arvit or Ma'ariv Service (see footnote 144). The Minḥah Service possibly derives its name from the minḥah sacrificial offering performed at the Temple in Jerusalem in the afternoon. A lamb was sacrificed at the Temple at dusk. The Minḥah Service consists of the following parts: the Ashrei (Psalm 145 preceded by Psalms 84:5 and 144:15 and closed by Psalm 115:18); the Amidah (see footnote 17); the Taḥanun (see footnote 10); and it is concluded with the Aleinu (see footnote 17).
On the Sabbath and on fast days a portion of the Torah is read before the Amidah and in some rites portions dealing with daily sacrifices are read before the Ashrei. On Sabbaths part of the portion from the Torah of the coming week is read.
The Minḥah Prayer can begin any time after the sixth and one-half hour of the day, which mean any time after 12:30 P. M. If Minḥah is prayed at this time of the day it is called Minḥah Gedolah or the "major" Minḥah. If Minḥah is prayed after the nine and one-half hour, which means after 3:30 P. M., it is called Minḥah Ketannah or the "minor" Minḥah. The Minḥah Service must though be completed before the twelfth hour, that is, before sunset, (Ber. 4:1; Ber 26b-27a).
The Shulḥan Arukh, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 324 states that one may pray both Minḥah Gedolah and Minḥah Ketannah provided that one is obligatory (ḥovah) and the other is a voluntary act (reshut). But this is only allowed for the extremely pious.
The third meal on the Sabbath, Se'udah Shelishit is usually eaten between the Minḥah, Afternoon Service, and the Ma'ariv, or Evening Service. It has become the custom during the daily service to wait and begin the Minḥah Service shortly before sunset, so that the congregation can wait a few moments and then not have to reassemble (for a third time, having also assembled in the morning for Shaḥarit) for the Evening, Ma'ariv Service which on Sabbaths and holidays can be recited immediately following the sunset. On weekdays, it can be recited even before sunset.
cf., Aaron Rothkoff, E. J., v. 12, pp. 31-32. (the Afternoon Prayer) on the Eve of Yom Kippur” - Containing six paragraphs.
One needs to confess during Minḥah (the Afternoon Prayer) before the (last) meal before fasting.⁴¹Se'udah ha-Mafseket, סעודה המפסקת, is the term given to the last meal which is eaten immediately prior to the fast of Yom Kippur and the fast of Tishah be-Av. It contains the last food which is eaten until the fast has been completed.
Hagah: If one is alone he says it (the confessional) after he finished his Silent Prayer, but the public reader⁴²Shelia'aḥ Ẓibbur, שליח צבור, is the public reader or the envoy or messenger of the community. It is the term given to an individual in public synagogue worship who officiates as the reader or the cantor, ḥazzan, the one who chants the liturgy. The main function of the sheli'aḥ ẓibbur is to lead the congregation in communal worship by chanting (or reading) aloud certain prayers or parts of them. He also recites the doxology of calling the congregation to worship (Barekhu) and he repeats the Amidah (see footnote 17 and 43). He also recites most Kaddish (see footnote 177) prayers which is a prayer in praise of God, and he leads the congregation in responsive readings and hymns. The Shulḥan Arukh, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 53:4-9 lists the qualifications of a sheli'aḥ ẓibbur. He must have humility, be acceptable to the congregation, know the rules of prayer, and the proper pronunciation of the Hebrew text, have an agreeable voice, be properly dressed, and have a beard. The beard however was later not required except on the High Holydays. Except for the recital of hymns and psalms (e.g., pesukei de-zimra, see footnote 17) the sheli'aḥ ẓibbur had to be a male past the age of bar mitzvah, thirteen years old.
c.f., Editorial Staff, E. J., v. 14, pp. 1355-56. says his (confessional) on Yom Kippur during the Silent Prayer,⁴³Ha-Tefillah, התפילה, "The Prayer" is a synonym for the Amidah, עמידה, the Silent Prayer said standing which is recited individually during each of the daily services, the Shaḥarit, Morning Service (see footnote 17), Minḥah, Afternoon Service (see footnote 40), and the Arvit (or Ma'ariv), the Evening Service (see footnote 144). It is also recited for the Musaf, the Additional Service (see footnote 166) on the Sabbath and festivals, and on Yom Kippur for a fifth time during the Ne'ilah, the concluding prayer (see footnote 191). During a congregational prayer that is when there is a minyan, a quorum of at least ten adult males, the reader (see footnote 41) repeats the Amidah outloud and on festivals a number of additions are made. Originally the repetition was for the uneducated people who did not know the prayers. Upon hearing each blessing they could respond, "Amen" and thus fulfill their religious obligation of reciting the Amidah. The Amidah of Arvit, the Evening Service, was originally optional but it long ago became obligatory to recite it silently but it is not repeated outloud except on the Sabbath eve when an abbreviated version of it in one single benediction is recited.
The word Ha-Tefillah for this prayer originated in the Talmud where it was referred to as "The Prayer" par excellence. It is also known as the Amidah for it is said "standing" and as the Shemoneh-Esreh (18) for it originally had eighteen benedictions in the daily worship while today it contains ninteen.
The Amidah takes on various forms for different occasions. On weekdays there are ninteen benedictions, on fast days an additional benediction is added when the reader repeats the prayer, (in ancient times on some public fasts six prayers were added to the regular ones, Ta'an. 2:2-4). On Sabbaths and festivals there are only seven benedictions in the Amidah except for the Musaf Service (see footnote 166) on Rosh HaShanah where there are nine. All the various forms of the Amidah have six blessings in common, the first and last three, with the middle changing according to the occasion. The first three benedictions praise God and the last three basically express thanksgiving. On the weekdays the intermediate benedictions are petitions and the Amidah is therefore predominantly a prayer of supplication where praise, petition, and thanksgiving are included. In most of the benedictions the one praying addresses God as "Thou" for it is through the Amidah that one communicates with God. The pronoun, "we" is also used throughout the Amidah which indicates that it is to be a communal prayer. Even though at times it is said individually, the worshipper is considered a member of the congregation. On Sabbaths and on festivals the central prayer concerns the specialness of the day or one aspect of that part of the day (that is, morning, afternoon, or evening on the Sabbath), and there is no petition, only praise, the special blessing of the day, and thanksgiving.
On the Day of Atonement the central blessing called Kedushat ha-Yom, the sanctification of the day, is concluded specially as follows: "Barukh…Melekh moḥel ve-sole'aḥ le-avonoteinu…mekaddesh Yisrael ve-Yom ha-Kippurim," "Blessed…King who pardons and forgives our iniquities…who sanctifies Israel and the Day of Atonement". On Yom Kippur also the third blessing (of the first three standard blessings of praise) is elaborated to contain the prayer "u-Vekhen Ten Paḥekha", "Now therefore impose Thy awe", which is an ancient petition for the eschatological Kingdom of God. On the Day of Atonement the silent recital of the Amidah is followed by the viddui, a confession of sins (see footnote 39) which is not written as a benediction. When the reader repeats the Amidah the viddui is inserted into the fourth, the central, benediction. Two confessions are recited, one short and one long which are both arranged in alphabetical order. The sins which every person might have committed during the year are included and enumerated upon. Since this prayer is part of community worship, the pronoun "we" is used, "we have transgressed, etc." (see also footnote 17).
Joseph Heinemann, E. J., v. 2, pp. 838-45. (טור).⁴⁴Tur, טור, see footnote 23.

If there is a circumcision on Yom Kippur;¹⁷¹A circumcision must take place on the eighth day after birth, if the baby is healthy, regardless of whether it is the Sabbath, Yom Kippur, or any day of the year. The circumcision takes precedence over anything else. then they circumcize between the (Morning Prayer¹⁷²Shaḥarit, שחרית; see footnote 17. prior to the Keri’at Shema named) “יוצר¹⁷³The Shema, made up of Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21; and Numbers 15:37-41, during the Morning Service is surrounded by two blessings before and one afterwards. (In the Evening Service there are two blessings before and two afterwards.) The Shema and its blessings are called Keri'at Shema, קריאת שמע, the Reading of the Shema. It is the basis of a Jew's declaration of One God and his devotion to God. "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One."
The first blessing before the Shema in the mornings is called the "Yoẓer Or", יוצר אור, "Who formest light and createst darkness" and it is a prayer of thankgiving for the creation of physical light, the light of day and the daily renewal of creation. (For a further explanation of the Reading of the Shema, see footnote 17).
Hertz, op. cit., p. 108.”, “Creator,” and the Additional Service¹⁷⁴Musaf, מוסף, Additional Service; see footnote 166. after the reading of the Torah. And after the circumcision we say the prayer, “אשרי¹⁷⁵Ashrei, אשרי, means literally "Happy are they". It is the first word and the name of a prayer in the liturgy composed from the Book of Psalms. The prayer is made up of the following: Psalms 84:5, 144:15, 145, and 115:18. The Talmud (Ber. 4b) states that anyone who recites the Ashrei three times a day will be assured of a life in the world to come. Therefore the prayer is read three times a day in the liturgy. It is read twice during the Shaḥarit Service, once in the preliminary psalms, Pesukei de-Zimra (see footnote 17), and once toward the end, and it is read at the beginning of the Afternoon, Minḥah Service (see footnote 40). The Ashrei is also recited before the Seliḥot (see footnote 14), prayers of forgiveness, in the months of Elul and Tishrei. On Yom Kippur the Sephardim recite the Ashrei both at Minḥah and Ne'ilah (see footnote 191) whereas the Ashkenazim only recite it at the Ne'ilah Service.
Raphael Posner, E. J., v. 3, p. 736.” But the custom is to circumcize after the “אשרי”, (מנהגים).¹⁷⁶Minhagim, מנהגים; see footnote 13. And if the circumcision takes place in a location where it is necessary to leave the synagogue, we do not circumcize him until after the Torah scroll is returned to the ark, and then they return (to the synagogue) and say the (reader’s) Kaddish.¹⁷⁷The Kaddish, קדיש, which literally means "holy" is a doxology, mostly in Aramaic which is recited by a reader with responses made throughout it by the congregation at the close of individual sections and at the conclusion of the whole prayer. There are four principal types of the Kaddish; the whole or complete Kaddish, the half Kaddish, the Kaddish de-Rabbanan (the scholar's Kaddish), and the Mourner's Kaddish.
The whole Kaddish basically glorifies God and prays for peace. It is recited by the reader after the Amidah except for the Morning Service when it comes after the prayer U-Va le-Ẓiyyon (see footnote 187). The half Kaddish omits the conclusion of the prayer which consists of the last three blessings. The half Kaddish is recited by the reader between different sections of the service. The Kaddish de-Rabbanan is the whole Kaddish except for a substitution which prays for those who study Torah and teach it. It is recited after communal study, after the reading of the lighting the Sabbath candles in the synagogue (Be-Mah Madlikin, Shabbat 2), after the early Morning Service, and after the song Ein Kh'Elohenu praising God. The Mourner's Kaddish is recited by the close relatives of a deceased person for eleven months following the death and every year on the day which marks the anniversary of that death. It is basically the whole Kaddish with the exception of one line concerning supplications. It is said at certain points of the service, e. g., after the Aleinu (see footnote 182) and may be repeated after the reading of additional psalms.
All versions of the Kaddish are said standing facing Jerusalem. The Sephardi form has an additional verse which is not found in the Ashkenazi concerning the coming of the Messiah. At first the Kaddish was not part of the daily synagogue worship but by the geonic period (see footnote 19) it was an established part of the Service and it required ten men (a minyan constituting a congregation) to be recited.
The Kaddish did not become a Mourner's prayer until around the thirteenth century as a result of the persecution of German Jews by the Crusades. The prayer is not for the soul of the departed, but rather an expression of the justification of judgment proclaimed by those who have suffered a loss. Man is required to give praise to God even when afflicted by sorrow.
Editorial Staff, E. J., v. 10, pp. 660-62.