(“Our Father, Our King/Sovereign”) Recited on the High Holy Days, and on fast days in the Ashkenazic tradition, this confessional prayer dates to Talmudic times, supposedly created by Rabbi Akiva after a drought when no other prayers or fasts brought rain. The requests are thematically patterned after the weekday Amidah, and emphasize God’s merciful nature and our own lack of merit. Because it is a petitionary prayer, it is omitted on Shabbat. In the refrain, we ask God to look favorably upon us, and grant us justice and kindness, and save us.
