Avinu Malkeinu

Based on Rabbi Joshua Flug

I. Introduction

This shiur outline will discuss Avinu Malkeinu. We will present the origins and purpose of this tefillah, the propriety of reciting it on Shabbos or Rosh HaShanah, and provide some short insights into the tefillah. For further resources:

• Article by R. Shmuel Yaselson in Hamaayan 46.
• Article by Dr. Yaakov Rothschild in Maayanot 9.
• R. Tzvi Hirsch Ferber has a collection of insights into Avinu Malkeinu in his Siach Tzvi.
• R. Baruch HaLevi Epstein has a collection of insights into Avinu Malkeinu in his Baruch She’Amar.

II. The Origins of Avinu Malkeinu

• The Gemara records that there was once a time when there was a drought in Eretz Yisrael. R. Eliezer led the tefillos and recited all of the extra berachos and it didn’t rain. R. Akiva then went to the amud and said אבינו מלכנו אין לנו מלך אלא אתה אבינו מלכנו למענך רחם עלינו and the rain fell. People were starting to talk and spread rumors about R. Eliezer, so a bas kol came down and declared, “It is not because [R. Akiva] is greater than [R. Eliezer] but because he [R. Akiva] is מעביר על מדותיו and [R. Eliezer] is not מעביר על מדותיו. (Taanis 25b)
• Machzor Vitri (by the students of Rashi) notes that R. Akiva was the founder of this prayer and in later generations, the rabbis instituted that it should be recited during Aseres Yemei Teshuva. (Siman 347)
• R. Akiva’s tefillah only includes two lines. An expanded version appears the siddur of R. Amram Gaon (d. 875). It doesn’t have as many lines as our current version.
• Machzor Vitri presents a text that is very similar to ours.
• R. Mordechai Yoffe (Levush, c. 1530-1612) writes that Avinu Malkeinu is intended to model the thirteen middle berachos of the Amida. חננו ועננו represents חונן הדעת, החזרינו בתשובה שלמה represents הרוצה בתשובה etc. (Levush O.Ch, 584,1)
• R. Tzidkiyah HaRofei (Shibolei HaLeket, c. 1210-1280) notes the Gemara that states that we don’t recite Hallel on Rosh HaShanah or Yom Kippur because אפשר מלך יושב על כסא הדין ... וישראל אומרים שירה לפני. (Erachin 10b) As such, we recite Avinu Malkeinu instead of Hallel.
  • This can’t be the only reason to recite Avinu Malkeinu because we recite it at Mincha and throughout Aseres Yemei Teshuva. Nevertheless, the idea that Avinu Malkeinu can stand in place of Hallel is interesting.
• R. Yaakov ben Asher (Tur, 1269-1343) writes that we recite Avinu Malkeinu with each stanza in the order of the aleph beis. (O.Ch. 602)
  • It is unclear what he is referring to because we don’t have a text that follows the aleph beis.

III. Recitation of Avinu Malkeinu on Shabbos and Yom Tov

• The Yerushalmi states that it is prohibited to request one’s needs through tefillah on Shabbos. R. Zeira asked R. Chiya bar Abba, if so, we should not recite רענו זוננו וכו' in Birkas HaMazon? He answered that it is part of the text of the beracha. (Shabbos 16:3)
• The Mishna states in a time of crisis, one can cry out in prayer on Shabbos. (Taanis 19b)
  • This is not limited to national crises. The Gemara quotes a beraisa that an individual can cry out or fast for a personal crisis. (Taanis 22b)

• The Rishonim discuss how this applies to Avinu Malkeinu:
  • Rabbeinu Nissim (c. 1320-1380) quotes R. Yehuda bar Barzilai that we do not recite Avinu Malkeinu when Yom Kippur occurs on Shabbos. Rabbeinu Nissim notes that the minhag in Gerona is to recite it when Yom Kippur occurs on Shabbos but not when Rosh HaShanah occurs on Shabbos. The reason for this is that Rosh HaShanah is a day of simcha like other yamim tovim. Yom Kippur is a day of inui, plus it is the time of the gmar din ואם לא עכשיו אימתי. (Rosh HaShana 9a)
  • R. Shimon ben Tzemach (Tashbetz 1361-1444) writes that Avinu Malkeinu may be recited on Shabbos (ostensibly even Shabbos Shuva). Although Rabbeinu Nissim says not to recite it, there is a mistake in the text and his students admitted that he recited it on Shabbos. (3:186)
  • R. Yitzchak bar Sheshes (Rivash, 1326-1408) discusses recitation of Avinu Malkeinu on Shabbos Shuva and when Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur occurs on Shabbos. He presents and explains four different practices: (Shu”t siman 512)
    1. In Zaragoza (where he was at the time of writing the teshuva), the minhag was to recite it on Shabbos Shuva and when Rosh HaShanah or Yom Kippur occur on Shabbos.
    2. In Barcelona, it was never recited on Shabbos because one may not daven for personal needs on Shabbos. This is the opinion that Rivash considers most proper. He explains that while we have numerous requests in the nusach hatefillah for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, those are embedded into the tefillos themselves. Avinu Malkeinu is a stand-alone tefilah of personal prayers.
    3. In Gerona, Avinu Malkeinu is only said on Shabbos when it is Yom Kippur. One may daven for personal needs when there is a crisis. Therefore, on Rosh HaShanah or Shabbos Shuva, one can still wait to recite Avinu Malkeinu, but on Yom Kippur, it is considered a timely crisis.
    4. Levush has a different analysis of the issue. He suggests that since Avinu Malkeinu is really a representation of the middle berachos of the weekday Amidah, it is only recited on weekdays. Really, it should not be recited on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur because they are yamim tovim. However, since we would have recited those thirteen berachos during that day of the week had it not been Rosh HaShanah or Yom Kippur, we can recite Avinu Malkeinu. However, when it occurs on Shabbos, we don’t recite it. (O.Ch. 584:1)

• As a matter of practice
  • Shulchan Aruch (in the siman about Mincha on Yom Kippur) writes that if Yom Kippur occurs on Shabbos, Avinu Malkeinu is recited. Rama (1520-1572) writes that it is not recited. (O.Ch. 622:3)
    1. The Vilna Gaon (1720-1797) seems to understand that Shulchan Aruch limits Avinu Malkeinu to Mincha on Shabbos Yom Kippur and explains that (according to Shulchan Aruch), Mincha is the last opportunity to recite Avinu Malkeinu before the gmar din. Once neilah is recited, it is too late. (O.Ch. 623:3)
  • Rama writes that Avinu Malkeinu is recited at Neilah. (O.Ch. 623:5)
    1. Mishna Berurah notes that this is true even when Yom Kippur occurs on Shabbos and even when Neilah is completed before sundown. The reason is that this is the last chance before the gmar din. (siman 10)
  • It seems that there is a dispute between Shulchan Aruch (as understood by the Vilna Gaon) and Rama as to when the real last opportunity to recite Avinu Malkeinu before the gmar din takes place. Is it before neilah or after neilah?

• Does the text of Avinu Malkeinu need to modified for Rosh HaShanah?
  • R. Yosef Karo (1488-1575) notes that since we don’t recite vidui on Rosh HaShanah, we should not recite אבינו מלכנו חטאנו לפניך or other similar phrases. (O.Ch. 584)
  • R. Avraham Gombiner (Magen Avraham, c. 1633-1683) writes that perhaps the justification for reciting it on Rosh HaShanah is that we are not referencing our own sins. Rather, we are saying, אבותינו חטאו לפניך ואנו אין לנו מלך אלא אתה. (siman 2)
  • R. Yeshayahu HaLevi Horowitz (c. 1555-1630) writes that R. Yitzchak Luria (Arizal, 1534-1572) based on the Zohar (עפס"ה= על פי ספר הזהר) said not to recite חטאנו לפניך on Rosh HaShanah.