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    The Gemora and Halachic authorities refer to this leaning as “falling on one’s face” kneeling on the ground and stretching one’s arms and body to the front. This was how Tachanun type prayers were actually done during the time of the Beit Hamikdash. Today, when we no longer have a Beit Hamikdash, we no longer prostrate ourselves but lean onto one arm. The source of the custom of “falling on one’s face” during Tachanun is none other than Moshe Rabbeinu. At the end of Moshe’s life he recounted for the Jewish people all that had happened in the forty years in the desert. He retold them how he beseeched Hashem for their very survival after the sin of the Golden Calf. He related three different times how he prayed in three different positions; sitting, standing and prostrated. Hashem had answered his Tefillot and we therefore emulate Moshe and pray the same way. We sit before Shemoneh Esrei, stand for Shemoneh Esrei and lean afterwards.

    The Gemora explains how powerful this “falling on the face” can actually be. Rabbi Elazar had an issue with his brother-in-law Rabban Gamliel Hanasi. Rabbi Elazar’s wife did not want Rabban Gamliel, her brother, to be harmed so she did not let her husband prostrate himself while praying. One time she didn’t watch him carefully, Rabbi Elazar prostrated himself and Rabban Gamliel was punished. The Beit Yosef wonders that it seems incongruous that Rabbi Elazar’s wife would not let him prostrate himself in Tefila. Rather, the Beit Yosef answers, his wife was always there to engage him in some sort on conversation after he finished his Shemoneh Esrei, but before he started his Tachanun. She knew that if a person speaks between Shemoneh Esrei and Tachanun, that the Tachanun will not help the Shemoneh Esrei be accepted. That one time she was not able to interrupt Rabbi Elazar. The Beit Yosef therefore writes that one should be careful not to speak or interrupt between Shemoneh Esrei and Tachanun.

    There is much discussion amongst the Halachic authorities as to which side we should lean on. The accepted practice is lean on the left arm, unless one is wearing Tefillin. One of the primary reasons for leaning on the left is when a person prays the Shechina, Hashem’s presence is on the right. When leaning on the left you are facing the Shechina, on the right your back is facing the Shechina. When one leans on the arm, the arm should be covered either by a sleeve or Tallit. Tachanun should preferably be said in a sitting position. However, for whatever reason that is not possible, it may be said standing.

    On Mondays and Thursdays we add many paragraphs to our Tachanun. These were authored by three great Rabbis that lived during the destruction of the second Beit Hamikdash by the Romans. The Romans placed them in a rudderless boat and set them afloat in the Mediterranean Sea. They landed in a land where they were persecuted by the local king. They each prayed to Hashem and this king died. A nicer, more benevolent king took his place. Seeing that their Tefillot were answered, they sent copies of their texts to all the Jewish communities. These Tefillot where then added to our tefillot.

    In summary, Tachanun is a very powerful gift that Hashem has given us. May we each have the merit to use this gift to its full potential.