- Each tribe had their own version of prayer. These lined up with the twelve gates where the prayers are received.
- The tribes lived before the time that formal prayer was established. Every person would do Hitbodedute, spontaneous prayer.
- Every tribe had a different essence, the personality, mentality, and nature of each tribe was different.
- When a person prays an unstructured prayer, it will automatically be shaped by his essence. Since every tribe represented a different established essence, their prayers came out the same.
- This does not mean that their prayers had the same words. Rather they had the same type of words, the same basic form, the same type of sentence structure, and the same overlying requests and manner of communication.
- For example, Dan represents a certain element of the Dinim ( Judgments). Therefore the members on this tribe would naturally relate to the name Elokim, would have a harsh way comunication, blunt composition of the prayers, and many demands for judgment and vengeance.
- When the Sages of the Great Assembly established a formal prayer, they composed it for all twelve tribes. It contained the essence of every aspect of Yisroel.
- Anyone would then be able to have his prayer accepted.
- An example, is right in the beginning of the Ameda, where it refers to G-D as Hgdol (Chesed Love ), Gibor (Gevurah Judgment), and Norah ( Tiferet , Mercy )
- As time went on this original prayer got distorted. Turning into different versions Ashkanaz, Sfarad, and so on.
- This does not mean that Ashkenaz was the version of one tribe and Sfarad of another. Rather they are both takeoffs of the cumulative prayer of all twelve tribes composed by the Great Assembly.
- Of course these versions do lean towards some tribes more than others. This is also the reason why the original prayer got somewhat distorted. The Jews living in different locations contained a more concentrated essence of certain tribes then those living in other lands. It is for this reason that a person is not allowed to change the version he has received from his fathers.
- The Ari with his great knowledge and divine revolutions was able to recompose the perfect cumulative prayer of all twelve tribes, as it manifested in his time. However for the reason stated above a person should not change from the version that was handed down to him.