The first three blessings of the Amidah are praises of God, the next sixteen are requests and the last three are expressions of thanks. Jewish law teaches us that the first blessing is so important it must be said with full understanding and concentration—if it is not, it must be repeated. Practically speaking, this law is no longer applicable. Because nowadays we are so distracted and have such low concentration, it is questionable that we would have any better kavanah if we tried again. And then, we would be using God’s name in vain. Nevertheless, we are obligated to take this proscription seriously and sincerely try to have kavanah. Unless we understand and feel what we are trying to express through the words of the first blessing, the rest of our tefillah cannot have any real meaning and impact. As important as these praises are, however, they are not recited for God’s sake. We praise God for our own sake—to intensify our awareness of His greatness and His presence in our lives. In the Talmud, a part of the oral tradition, the sages declare: “When you pray, know before whom you stand.” There are a number of ideas implied in this dictum. First you need to know who God is. Before whom do you stand? And who is this that empowers you to confidently stand in His presence, address Him and ask favors of Him? Who is this God with whom you can enjoy a personal relationship? We need to remind ourselves before whom we are standing so that we can properly acknowledge God’s presence and His goodness in the world, and channel His will and vision into our lives through our tefillah. The first blessing is the absolute minimum necessary to appreciate before whom it is that we stand and to whom we pray. In fact, the first three blessings succinctly cover the complete Jewish view of God—that He is all loving, all powerful and all mysterious. Of course, we know that God is beyond description. Whatever we say about God is nothing compared to what we should say, and what we should say is insignificant compared to who God truly is. But nonetheless, being human we need words to remind us before whom we stand. Although words are limiting, these praises contain the best words (as far as words go) to express the truth about God, who really is beyond words and can only be known experientially (as far as that is possible). With this in mind, let’s look at the first three blessings—phrase by phrase—to see how they clarify the meaning of God and what mindset they help us to establish.