As noted earlier, when we analyze the requests of the Amidah, we must strive to understand what we are asking for, why we are asking for it at this juncture and not earlier or later in the tefillah, and why we are asking for it in this particular way. We must consider carefully the nuances of the way each request is presented. Let’s first address why this fourth blessing starts with praise and only after that presents the request. We open with a sentence of praise, “You grace humans with the power to know, and You teach insight to frail mortals,” and then we humbly ask, “Grace us that we may receive from You the power of knowing, insight and foresight.” The authors of the Amidah clearly wanted us, gradually and humbly, to transition from praising God to making requests of God. After three blessings of praise it would be inappropriate to suddenly jump into our wish list. What we will see throughout the Amidah is that with each request, our assertiveness and confidence is gradually magnified. An example is the difference between this humble entreaty, “Please grace us with daat,” and the boldness of the demand further along, “Sound the great shofar.” With each request, we become more empowered, assertive and emphatic. As we explore the unique presentation of the upcoming requests, we will see that each one reflects a gradual spiritual evolution in our stature. The Amidah empowers us with the ability to stand erect before God with courage, power and confidence. Only in this way can we enjoy a true and loving relationship with Him. Now let’s look more deeply at the request for daat. We articulate this request with tremendous humility. After praising God, we inch our way forward to making our request by first acknowledging our low intellectual and spiritual status. Note the reference to humans and mortals. The phrase, “You grace humans with the power to know (daat)” clearly suggests that otherwise humans would lack this facility, and the phrase “You teach insight (binah) to frail mortals,” implies that frail mortals would lack both daat and binah if not taught by God. Finally, we voice our request, “Grace us with knowledge, insight and foresight.” A human being is only missing daat. A frail mortal is missing daat and binah. But we, who are asking for daat, binah and even haskel are admitting that we are even further impaired. Thus we acknowledge our complete dependence on God for our intellectual faculties—which raise us above animals. But in the end, we reveal our true objective—“Blessed are You YHVH, Who graciously bestows knowledge”—what we really want is daat, in order to know what we want and to want it. Remember that although this first request is expressed in a self-effacing tone, it is only the beginning. As we continue to explore the format of all the requests we will see how with each request we feel more and more significant and empowered. It is interesting to note that each request of the Amidah is written in the plural. Our ability to feel a direct, personal relationship with God is only achieved through identifying with the totality of the Jewish people. If we pray on behalf of the Jewish people—as members of the community—we will then achieve an individual, personal connection to God. In Jewish tradition, each soul is a unique manifestation of the collective soul of the nation. Self-actualization does not happen in opposition to, or in spite of, the community, but rather because of the community and one’s connection to it. As we learn about each request, we will begin to see that the Amidah is like a cleverly crafted script written by a team of master screenwriters who know how to write in order to elicit from the actors the emotions which they are meant to feel and express. Each line has been written by our sages in a way that expresses not only what we should be asking for, but what we should be feeling at each point in our tefillah. Embodied in the text of the Amidah are the thoughts, feelings and spiritual experiences that the sages wanted us to connect with and embody. Therefore, we must be sensitive not only to what we ask and when we ask it, but also how we ask it.