ADDITIONAL SERVICE FOR FESTIVALS The Musaf on festivals, like that of Shabbat, corresponds to the additional sacrifice brought on these days. The Amida follows the normal form for prayers on holy days: the first and last three Amida blessings are the same as on other days of the year; the middle blessing is specific to the “holiness of the day.” On festivals, special emphasis is placed on rejoicing, mentioned in the Torah (Deut. 16:11–15) in connection with festivals.

וּמִפְּנֵי חֲטָאֵֽינוּ גָּלִֽינוּ מֵאַרְצֵֽנוּ But because of our sins we were exiled from our land: The concept of exile is emphasized on the festivals for two reasons. Firstly, the three pilgrimage festivals were occasions when people throughout the land went to Jerusalem to take part in the Temple celebrations. They are thus times in which we feel, most acutely, the absence of the Temple. Secondly, the festivals testify to the presence of God in history. Exile is the opposite. Not only is exile physical and geographical dispersion, it is also metaphysical: the “hiding of the face” of God (Deut. 31:18). The prayers for forgiveness, return to the land, the rebuilding of the Temple, and the reappearance of God in history, are thus intimately connected, and are most intensely felt on these days when we recall God’s deliverances and saving acts in Israel’s past.