Malkhuyyot

("Kingships"). The first of the three middle blessings of the Amidah prayer of the Additional Service of Rosh Ha-Shanah (the New Year). This section combines mention of the additional Sacrifices in the Temple on Rosh ha-Shanah and ten verses relating to the acceptance of God as king. The latter accords with the talmudic dictum, where God, as it were, exclaims, "Recite Malkhuyyot before Me so as to accept Me as King over you" (RH 16a). While the number of verses is specified in the Mishnah (RH 4:6), their choice is not. The Talmud only demands a rubric of three verses from the Pentateuch, three from the Hagiographa, and three from the Prophets, with the final verse again from the Pentateuch. Over the years, specific verses were chosen, and these are incorporated in the Maḥzor (festival prayer book) for Rosh ha-Shanah. The Malkhuyyot section includes the Alénu Le-Shabbeaḥ prayer, a supplication for a time when all the people of the earth will accept God as their King.

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