Seven-Faceted Blessing

The Seven-Faceted Blessing (Hebrew: ברכה אחת מעין שבע‎, berakha aḥat me‘en sheva‘) is a blessing recited in the Jewish liturgy of Friday evenings. It is similar to the out-loud repetition of the Amidah, which is recited in each daytime prayer. On typical evenings, the Amidah is recited only silently, with no out-loud repetition, but on Friday nights, in honor of the Sabbath, the Seven-Faceted Blessing is recited as an abbreviated repetition.[1]

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As the normal Sabbath Amidah prayer contains seven blessings, the Seven-Faceted Blessing contains a condensed version of the themes in these seven blessings. The Seven-Faceted Blessing begins with the beginning of the text of the first blessing of the Amidah; continues with the paragraph “Magen Avot” (מגן אבות), which summarizes the themes of all seven blessings of the Sabbath Amidah; and concludes with a paragraph about the sanctity of the sabbath, and a concluding sentence: "Blessed are You, O Lord, who sanctifies the Sabbath."

The Seven-Faceted Blessing is recited every Friday evening of the year, even if it coincides with a festival or Yom Kippur. This is in contrast to most of the Sabbath liturgy, which is jettisoned if a particular Sabbath falls on a festival or on Yom Kippur.

The text of the Seven-Faceted Blessing (in accordance with the Ashkenazic version—other traditions have very similar versions—can be found in Seder Avodat Yisra’el on pp. 190–191.[2] The text used in most Western Sephardic Communities can be found in "Seder Tefilah" of Mantua.[3]

In medieval Europe, it was fairly common for congregations to insert special poems, called Magen Avot piyyutim, into the middle of this blessing; however, this is no longer common today.[4]