Requesting Personal Needs in the Tefillah

4:5. The order of blessings [in the Prayer on Rosh Hashanah]: One recites the Fathers [avot], the Powers [of God] [gevurot], [and] the Sanctity of God [kedushat hashem] and includes [verses of] Kingship [malkhiyot] in it and does not blow [the shofar]; [one recites] the Sanctity of the Day [kedushat hayom] and blows [the shofar], [verses of] Remembrance [zikhronot] and blows [the shofar], [verses of] Shofars [shofarot] and blows [the shofar]; one then recites [the blessings] for Worship [avodah], Gratitude [hoda’ah], and the Priestly Blessing—the words of Yoḥanan ben Nuri.

R. Akiva said to him: If one does not blow [the shofar] over [the verses of] Kingship, why does one mention them? Rather, one recites the Fathers, the Powers [of God], and the Sanctity of God and includes [verses of] Kingship in the Sanctity of the Day and blows [the shofar]; [one recites verses of] Remembrance [zikhronot] and blows [the shofar], [verses of] Shofars [shofarot] and blows [the shofar]; one then recites [the blessings] for Worship, Gratitude, and the Priestly Blessing.

6. We recite no fewer than ten [verses of] Kingship, ten [verses of] Remembrance, and ten [verses of] Shofars. R. Yoḥanan ben Nuri says: If one recites three of each, one has fulfilled [one’s obligation]. One does not mention [those] Kingship or Shofar [verses] that recall [hence, invoke] punishment. One begins with Torah [verses] and concludes with prophetic verses. R. Yosi says: If one concludes with Torah [verses], one has fulfilled [one’s obligation]. [ . . . ]

9. The order of shofar blasts is three sets of three apiece. [ . . . ] One who has already recited the blessings [of Kings, Remembrance, and Shofars] and then happens upon a shofar sounds the three blasts three times. Just as the prayer leader [sheliaḥ tsibbur, “emissary of the congregation”] is obligated [to recite the prayers], so is every individual obligated [to recite for themselves]. Rabban Gamaliel says: The prayer leader exempts the public from their obligation.