How To Get Up In The Morning #1

Foundational Principles - ?500 BCE

(2) Shimon the Righteous was from the remnants of the Great Assembly.

He would say,

"On three things the world stands: on the Torah, on the service [ha'avodah] and on acts of lovingkindness."

Mishna - redacted c.150 CE

Berakhot is the first volume of the Mishna.

(1) Shacharit morning prayers [can be said] until midday.

Rabbi Yehudah says until four hours into the day (ie 2/3rds of the way between dawn and noon).

Minchah afternoon prayers [can be said] until the evening.

Rabbi Yehudah says until the middle of the afternoon.

Ma'ariv evening prayer has no set time and Musaf (the additional prayer service added on Shabbat and holidays) can be said all day.

Rabbi Yehudah says [mussaf can only be said] until seven hours into the day (ie an "hour" past noon).

Babylonian Talmud - redacted c.650

The Talmud is an extensive commentary on the mishna. Here, the rabbis discuss the mishna quoted above.

It was stated: Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said:

The practice of praying three times daily is ancient, albeit not in its present form; prayers were instituted by the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob).

However, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said that the prayers were instituted based on the daily offerings sacrificed in the Holy Temple, and the prayers parallel the offerings, in terms of both time and characteristics.

The Gemara comments:

We have supporting texts for both positions.

The Gemara elaborates: It was taught in a baraita in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina: Abraham instituted the morning prayer, as it is stated when Abraham came to look out over Sodom the day after he had prayed on its behalf: “And Abraham rose early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord” (Genesis 19:27), and from the context as well as the language utilized in the verse, the verb standing means nothing other than prayer, as this language is used to describe Pinehas’ prayer after the plague, as it is stated: “And Pinehas stood up and prayed and the plague ended” (Psalms 106:30).

Clearly, Abraham was accustomed to stand in prayer in the morning.

Isaac instituted the afternoon prayer, as it is stated: “And Isaac went out to converse [lasuaḥ] in the field toward evening” (Genesis 24:63), and conversation means nothing other than prayer, as it is stated:

“A prayer of the afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint [siḥo] before the Lord” (Psalms 102:1).

Obviously, Isaac was the first to pray as evening approached, at the time of the afternoon prayer.

Jacob instituted the evening prayer, as it is stated: “And he encountered [vayifga] the place and he slept there for the sun had set” (Genesis 28:11). The word encounter means nothing other than prayer, as it is stated when God spoke to Jeremiah: “And you, do not pray on behalf of this nation and do not raise on their behalf song and prayer, and do not encounter [tifga] Me for I do not hear you” (Jeremiah 7:16).

Jacob prayed during the evening, after the sun had set.

And it was taught in a baraita in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi that the laws of prayer are based on the laws of the daily offerings:

Why did the Rabbis say that the morning prayer may be recited until noon? Because, although the daily morning offering is typically brought early in the morning, it may be sacrificed until noon. And Rabbi Yehuda says: My opinion, that the morning prayer may be recited until four hours into the day, is because the daily morning offering is sacrificed until four hours.

And why did the Rabbis say that the afternoon prayer may be recited until the evening? Because the daily afternoon offering is sacrificed until the evening.

Rabbi Yehuda says that the afternoon prayer may be recited only until the midpoint of the afternoon because, according to his opinion, the daily afternoon offering is sacrificed until the midpoint of the afternoon.

And why did they say that the evening prayer is not fixed? Because the burning of the limbs and fats of the offerings that were not consumed by the fire on the altar until the evening. They remained on the altar and were offered continuously throughout the entire night.

(2) From when may one recite Shema in the morning?

From when one can distinguish between Tekhelet [purple-blue wool] and white.

Rabbi Eliezer says:

[The earliest time for Shema is when one can distinguish] between Tekhelet and the color of leek, and one must finish reciting it by sunrise.

Rabbi Yehoshua says: [One may recite Shema] until three hours [of the day], for such is the way of the sons of kings, to arise at the third hour [half way to noon].

If one recites [Shema] later than this, one has not lost out, [but rather is] like one who reads the Torah.

Maimonides (Rambam) wrote the Mishneh Torah ("repetition of the Torah") in c.1170 as an early halachic how-to.

(11) When is the right time for reading the daytime Shema?

To observe the precept properly, one should begin reading it before sunrise, so as to conclude the recital of the blessing after the Shema exactly at sunrise.

This interval is about a tenth of an hour before the Sun rises.

One who deferred reading the Shema till the Sun had risen, has done the mitzva (of reciting the Shema) — since the period for reading the Shema being extended, for one who delayed, to the end of the first three hours of the day.

(12) If one is early, and reads the Shema of the morning service after the dawn breaks, but before sunrise, one has fulfilled one's duty.

In case of urgency, as for instance, when one has risen early in order to set out on a journey, one may deliberately read it before dawn.

(13) If one reads the Shema after the first three hours of the day are gone, even if one has been unavoidably prevented from doing so earlier, one has not fulfilled the duty of reading the Shema at the right time.

They are in the same category with one who reads the Torah. Still one recites the blessings that precede and follow it, at any part of the day, even if one is saying the Shema after the first three hours of the morning have elapsed.

Probably the single most authoritative code of praxis in Jewish history, Rabbi Yosef Karo's Shulchan Arukh ("Laid Table") was published in Venice in 1565. Orach Chayim is its first volume.

(1) The time of reciting the morning Shema is from when one can see an acquaintance at a distance of four feet and can recognize him.

It continues until the end of three [halachic] hours, ie half way between dawn and noon.

The most ideal fulfillment of the mitzvah is to read it like the "vatikim" (students; and Rashi: people who are humble and love the commandments) who would prepare to recite it a little before the "budding of the sun" (the coming out of the sun like pomegranates bud - a) in order that one should finish the recitation of the Shema and its blessings with the budding of the sun and to adjoin the Prayer [Amidah] to it immediately to the budding of the sun.

Whoever is able to prepare to do this, his reward will be very great.

Gloss: The measurement of the budding of the sun is about one hour before the entire body [disk] of the sun has ascended above the land.

(1) A song. A psalm of David.

(2) My heart is firm, O God; I will sing and chant a hymn with all my soul.

(3) Awake, O harp and lyre! I will wake the dawn. (4) I will praise You among the peoples, O LORD, sing a hymn to You among the nations; (5) for Your faithfulness is higher than the heavens; Your steadfastness reaches to the sky. (6) Exalt Yourself over the heavens, O God; let Your glory be over all the earth! (7) That those whom You love may be rescued, deliver with Your right hand and answer me.

This is the very first teaching of the Shulkhan Aruch (published 1565)

(1) Yehudah son of Teimah says:

"Be bold as a leopard and and light as an eagle, swift as a deer and strong as a lion to carry out the will of your Father in heaven."

'Bold as a leopard' means one should not to be humiliated by people who ridicule [him]. 'Strong as a lion' [refers to] moral strength which is primarily in the heart, [to act] like a lion and overpower one's evil urge and rise from ones sleep before the morning light, to serve one's Creator.

So that he awake the morning, as it states, (Psalms, 57:9 )"I awake the morning", [Meaning] I awake the morning but the morning doesn't wake me.

This is the intermediate level.