Siman 119

If one desired to add any matter of supplication – he may add in any of the middle blessings, in each one according to its subject matter. How so? If he had a sick person within his house or in his family – he may request mercy for him in the blessing of "Refa'einu." If he needed sustenance – he requests it in the blessing of the years. And so too in all of them, such as if he wants to request from Hashem that He strengthen his heart for Torah – he requests in "Atah Chonen." That He help him in his repentance – he requests in "Hashiveinu." That He forgive him for his sins – he requests in "Selach Lanu." And similar to this. However, in "Shema Koleinu" he may request anything he desires, for it is general and not specific, and it includes all requests. And he should not begin his request at the start of the blessing. Rather, he should begin with the blessing, for the primary thing is the formula that the sages established. And before he says the conclusion of the blessing he should request his request, and he should see to it that he finishes his request in a manner similar to the conclusion. And when he requests mercy for the sick person, if he requests in the presence of the sick person he does not need to mention his name. Rather he should say: "Please send healing to this sick person," just as Moshe our teacher said: "Please, God, please heal her" (Berakhot 34a). But not in his presence he must mention his name, and the name of his father or the name of his mother, to clarify in his prayer for whom he requests mercy. For prayer must be clear. (See Rashi, Ta'anit 14b, starting with the words "And in Shome'a Tefillah," who wrote that all requests are only in "Shome'a Tefillah" alone, see there. And it is a great wonder, and requires great study.)

And know that it is a simple matter that our sages, of blessed memory, did not permit adding to the Shemoneh Esrei except in a case when one needs it. But to add a fixed, permanent prayer in the Shemoneh Esrei is excessive audacity and insolence toward the Men of the Great Assembly. Every Torah scholar and everyone who has the fear of Hashem within him will agree to this. Therefore, one must cry out against the printers who added a fixed prayer in the siddurim in "Shema Koleinu": "Please Hashem, I have sinned... You are the One who feeds and sustains...". Many of the common people say this always like the rest of the Shemoneh Esrei prayer, and my heart is pained within me over this deed. I heard that one of the giants of the generation in the generation before us already raised an outcry over this. However, due to our many sins, the world has been handed over to the hands of fools, and the printers do as they wish and it is not in our power to protest. And that which they brought from the Zohar that it is good to always ask for one's sustenance even if he is wealthy, or to confess his sins (Magen Avraham, subsection 1)—this is certainly so, but not to make a fixed version within the prayers of the Men of the Great Assembly. If he wishes, he may say them after the prayer, and after "May the words of my mouth be acceptable," and who would protest against him? For they already said in the Gemara that after the prayer one may say even like the order of Yom Kippur.

Our teacher, the Beit Yosef, wrote that according to our teacher Yonah, when one adds to a berakhah something of the nature of that berakhah, if he adds it for the sake of all Israel—he says it in the plural and not in the singular. And he should only add at the end of the berakhah and not in the middle. But if he asks for his actual needs, such as if he has a sick person in his house or he needs a livelihood—he may ask even in the middle of the berakhah, provided that he asks in the singular and not in the plural. And in the berakhah of "Shomea Tefillah," as well as at the end of the prayer, whether before "Yihyu Lertzon" or after it—he may ask whether in the singular or in the plural, whether for his actual needs or for the needs of the many. Thus far his words. And there is one who says that according to our teacher Yonah, even in "Shomea Tefillah" it is forbidden to say it in the plural (Magen Avraham in the name of the Bach). Nevertheless, the congregation is permitted even in the middle of a berakhah (ibid. in the name of the Beit Yosef), and therefore they are accustomed in the old synagogues that in the middle of "Selach Lanu" they say all the Selichot on a day that they say Selichot. And know that this which our teacher, the Beit Yosef, wrote these laws in the name of our teacher Yonah, and did not write them anonymously as is his way, is because in his great work he wrote that the Rambam and the Rosh do not hold by these rules. And according to them it is permitted in every manner, and the halakhah is like them, only that it is good to be concerned for the words of our teacher Yonah, see there. Therefore he wrote them in his name, to make known that they can act not according to his words according to the essential law.

He further wrote in section 2: There is one who says that just as when one adds to a blessing for the need of an individual—he should not lengthen it. Thus far his words. However, after the prayer, he is permitted to lengthen it (Magen Avraham). And if it is for the need of a great man—the congregation may lengthen it even in the middle of the blessing. And when the Maharil fell ill, the congregation recited selichot, for since they required his Torah—he is considered like the many (ibid.). And it appears that they recited the selichot in the blessing of "Forgive us," as was their custom in the recitation of selichot.

The middle blessings are not like the first three, for all of them are considered as one, and if one erred in one of them, he returns to the beginning. But the middle ones are not as one. However, we require them to be in order, meaning: that he should not prioritize the later one over the earlier one. Therefore, if he erred in one of them regarding that which requires returning, or if he did not say a certain blessing at all because he skipped it, and he remembered after he said other blessings—he returns to the blessing in which he erred or which he skipped, and says from there and onward in order. And even those that he already said—he returns and says them. But he does not need to return to their beginning at "Atah Chonen." And this is when he erred unintentionally or was mistaken. But if he intentionally skipped a certain blessing, or did not say it according to the enactment of the sages—it is as if he did not pray at all, and he returns to the beginning of the prayer, as I wrote in siman 114 (Magen Avraham subsection 5).

A shliach tzibbur who forgot and did not say "Anenu" between "Goel" and "Rofeh" and began "Refaenu," if he has not yet finished the blessing – he returns to "Anenu" and prays in order. However, if he finished the blessing, and if he returns to "Anenu" he would need to say the blessing of "Refaenu" once more, for behold one must pray according to the order as has been explained, and in truth "Anenu" is not indispensable and it is impossible to repeat another blessing for its sake, and it would be a blessing in vain and he shall not say it now at all. And he shall say it in "Shomea Tefillah" like an individual, and he may conclude "Blessed are You, Hashem, Who answers in time of distress and hears prayer." But "Shomea Tefillah" alone is sufficient, for this includes everything, understood (Magen Avraham subsection 7). And so too if there were not ten fasting in the beit knesset and he did not say "Anenu," and after "Refaenu" they arrived – he shall also do so (ibid.). And if he forgot to say it also in "Shomea Tefillah" – he shall say it as a blessing unto itself after "Sim Shalom," for the order is not relevant to it when he says it completely after the prayer (ibid.). And nevertheless, if he said it before "Re'eh Ve'onyenu," it appears that he must return and say it after "Re'eh Ve'onyenu" according to the enactment of the sages (ibid.), since he still stands within the prayer. And there is one who disagrees, and holds that he does not need to return and say it after "Re'eh Ve'onyenu," and also when he says it after "Sim Shalom" he shall not conclude with the Name but rather "Blessed is He Who hears prayer" (some of the later authorities wrote so). And according to Rashi he shall say "Anenu" as a blessing in the middle of the blessings, and in siman 566 it will be explained regarding this with the help of Heaven.