מָגֵן אָבוֹת וּמִשְׂגָּב אִמָּהוֹת | Magen Avot u-Misgav Imahot, an alternate egalitarian ḥatimah for the opening blessing of the Amidah

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (translation), Jonathan Schachter and Unknown

Shared on:

25 February 2026 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., מגן אבות magen avot, traditional egalitarian

Following the insight of my ḥavrutah, Jonathan Schachter, I have begun to include the divine epithet “misgav Sarah” (the fortress, stronghold, or castle keep of Sarah) to the ḥatimah blessing of magen avot, the first blessing of the Amidah. As Jonathan explains, “misgav imahot” already has a liturgical precedent in the ‘anenu litany recited at the end of seliḥot. With respect to the egalitarian impulse to honor both our matriarchal and patriarchal ancestors, I deeply appreciated how “misgav imahot” matched poetically with “magen avot” — each describing the security and protection of the divine in that very vulnerable place of standing before their terrifying throne, aspiring to that earnest sincerity Psalms 51 calls “lev nishbar” (a shattered complacency, as Rabbi David Seidenberg translates it).

Source (Hebrew)

Translation (English)

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה
יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ
וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵֽינוּ
אֱלֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם וְשָׂרָה
אֱלֹהֵי יִצְחָק וְרִבְקָה
וֵאלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב וְרָחֵל וּבִּלְהָה וְלֵאָה וְזִלְפָּה׃
הָאֵל
הַגָּדוֹל הַגִּבּוֹר וְהַנּוֹרָא
אֵל עֶלְיוֹן
גּוֹמֵל חֲסָדִים טוֹבִים
וְקוֹנֵה הַכֹּל
וְזוֹכֵר חַסְדֵי אָבוֹת וְאִמָּהוֹת
וּמֵבִיא גוֹאֵל
לִבְנֵי בְנֵיהֶם
לְמַֽעַן שְׁמוֹ בְּאַהֲבָה׃
מֶֽלֶךְ
עוֹזֵר
וּמוֹשִֽׁיעַ
וּמָגֵן׃
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה
מָגֵן אַבְרָהָם וּמִשְׂגָּב שָׂרָה׃

Blessed are you,
Hashem our Èlōăhʰ
and Èlōăhʰ of our ancestors
Èlōăhʰ of Avraham and Sarah,
Èlōăhʰ of Yitsḥaq and Rivqah,
and Èlōăhʰ of Yaaqov, Raḥel and Bilhah, Leah and Zilpah.
Él,
great, mighty, and terrifying.
Él ‘Elyōn,
who bestows sweet lovingkindness,
and beholds all things,
and remembers the lovingkindness of the ancestors
and who will bring a redeemer
to their children’s children
for the sake of Their Name, with love.
Majesty,
Helper,
Savior,
and Shield —
Blessed are you, Hashem,
shield of Avraham and stronghold of Sarah.

This is an egalitarian liturgical innovation for the ḥatimah of the first blessing of the Amidah, magen avot, in which the divine is described as the fortress of Sarah. The insight behind this formulation comes via Jonathan Schachter. English translation of magen avot, including the additions for the six matriarchs and misgav Sarah, by Aharon Varady.

Notes

Notes
1	whereas the now common formulations “ezrat Sarah” and “ufokéd Sarah” do not.
2	Six imahot, per the tradition recorded in Targum Yonatan on Exodus 14:21, Esther Rabba 1.12, and Bemidbar Rabba 12:17. There are seven imahot including Asnat, wife of Yosef, however we are being conservative in our amendment of the traditional liturgy.
3	misgav Sarah from the piyyut recited at the end of Seliḥot, “‘Anenu.”

Aharon N. Varady (translation)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer translator for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his translations, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot Naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also transcribes prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes for the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Jonathan Schachter

Jonathan Schachter refers to himself as a recovering journalist. A long-time member of humankind and friend to animalkind, he was active for many years in the traditionalist wing of the Jewish Renewal movement.

Unknown

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Standing Male Worshipper. This standing figure, with clasped hands and a wide-eyed gaze, is a worshiper. It was placed in the “Square Temple” at Tell Asmar, perhaps dedicated to the god Abu, in order to pray perpetually on behalf of the person it represented. For humans equally were considered to be physically present in their statues. Similar statues were sometimes inscribed with the names of rulers and their families. 2900-2600 BCE. in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." (Psalms 90:17)