Torah on Tap: [Some] Peculiarities of Prayer

(1) It is a positive Torah commandment to pray every day, as [Exodus 23:25] states: "You shall serve God, your Lord." Tradition teaches us that this service is prayer, as [Deuteronomy 11:13] states: "And serve Him with all your heart" and our Sages said: Which is the service of the heart? This is prayer. The number of prayers is not prescribed in the Torah, nor does it prescribe a specific formula for prayer. Also, according to Torah law, there are no fixed times for prayers.

(8) Thus, three prayers are recited daily: the Evening Prayer, the Morning Prayer, and the Minchah Prayer. There are four on Sabbaths, festivals and Rosh Chodesh: the three that are recited daily and the Musaf Prayer. On Yom Kippur, there are five: these four and the Ne'ilah prayer.

(9) The number of these prayers may not be diminished, but may be increased. If a person wants to pray all day long, he may.
Any prayer that one adds is considered as a freewill offering...

(1) In the days of Rabban Gamliel, the numbers of heretics among the Jews increased. They would oppress the Jews and entice them to turn away from God. Since he saw this as the greatest need of the people, he and his court established one blessing that contains a request to God to destroy the heretics. He inserted it into the Shemoneh Esreh so that it would be arranged in the mouths of all. Consequently, there are nineteen blessings in the Shemoneh Esreh.

(9) Before the first blessing of each and every Amidah-prayer, one states: "God, open my lips, and my mouth will utter Your praise" [Psalms 51:17]. Upon concluding the prayer, he says: "May the utterances of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be in accordance with Your will, O God, my Rock and Redeemer" [Psalms 19:15], and then steps backwards.

(7) One who recites a prayer before its proper time does not fulfill his obligation and must recite it again at its time. If, due to extenuating circumstances, one recites the Morning Prayer after dawn, [but before the proper time], he does fulfill his obligation.
One may recite the Evening Prayer of the Sabbath night on the eve of the Sabbath before sunset. Similarly, he may recite the Evening Prayer of Saturday night on the Sabbath. Since the Evening Prayer is not obligatory, we are not especially careful about its time. Nevertheless, one must recite the Shema at its proper time after the appearance of the stars.

(8) Anyone who intentionally allowed the proper time for prayer to pass without praying, cannot rectify the situation and cannot compensate [for his failure to pray].
[If he unintentionally failed to pray or was unavoidably detained or distracted, he can compensate for the [missed] prayer during the time of the prayer closest to it. He should first recite the prayer of this time, and afterwards, the [prayer of] compensation.

(1) Five things prevent one from praying, even though the time [for prayer] has arrived:
1) the purification of one's hands;
2) the covering of nakedness;
3) the purity of the place of prayer;
4) things that might bother and distract one; and
5) the proper intention of one's heart.

(15) Proper intention: What is implied?
Any prayer that is not [recited] with proper intention is not prayer. If one prays without proper intention, he must repeat his prayers with proper intention.
One who is in a confused or troubled state may not pray until he composes himself. Therefore, one who comes in from a journey and is tired or irritated is forbidden to pray until he composes himself. Our Sages taught that one should wait three days until he is rested and his mind is settled, and then he may pray.

(16) What is meant by [proper] intention?
One should clear his mind from all thoughts and envision himself as standing before the Divine Presence. Therefore, one must sit a short while before praying in order to focus his attention and then pray in a pleasant and supplicatory fashion.
One should not pray as one carrying a burden who throws it off and walks away. Therefore, one must sit a short while after praying, and then withdraw.
The pious ones of the previous generations would wait an hour before praying and an hour after praying. They would [also] extend their prayers for an hour.

(1) A person who prays must be careful to tend to [the following] eight matters.[However,] if he is pressured, confronted by circumstances beyond his control, or transgresses and does not attend to one them, they are not of absolute necessity.

They are: 1) standing; 2) facing the Temple; 3) preparation of his body; 4) proper clothing; 5) proper place; 6) control of his voice; 7) bowing; and 8) prostration.

(2) One praying with a congregation should not lengthen his prayer excessively.[However,] he may do so when praying alone. If, after praying, he desires to [add to his prayers], he may, including even the confession of Yom Kippur. Similarly, he may add in each of the middle blessings something relevant to that blessing if he desires.

(8) A person who is involved in the study of Torah when the time for prayer arrives must stop and pray. If the study of Torah is his full-time occupation and he does not work at all, and he is involved in the study of Torah at the time of prayer, he need not stop, since the commandment of the study of Torah is greater that the commandment of prayer.
Anyone involved in efforts for the welfare of the community is like one involved in Torah study.

(9) One is forbidden to interrupt his Amidah except in a situation where his life is endangered. Even if the King of Israel greets him, he must not answer him. However, he may interrupt [to answer] a non-Jewish king, lest he kill him. A person standing in the [midst of the] Amidah who sees a non-Jewish king or tyrant approaching him should shorten [his prayer]. If unable to do so, he may stop. Similarly, if one sees snakes or scorpions approaching him in a place where their bite is fatal, he should stop [praying] and flee. If they are not fatal, he should not stop.

(1) When the Sages instituted [a text for] these prayers, they [also] established other blessings to be recited every day.

These are: When a person gets into bed to sleep at night, he says: Blessed are You, God, our Lord, King of the universe, who causes the bonds of sleep to fall upon my eyes, who sinks [one into] restful slumber,and illuminates the pupil of the eye. May it be Your will, God, our Lord, to save me from the evil inclination and from a bad occurrence. May I not be disturbed by bad dreams or evil thoughts. Let my bed be perfect before You and may You raise me up from it to life and peace and illuminate my eyes lest I sleep a sleep of death. Blessed are You, God, who illuminates the whole world in His glory.

(14) A person is obligated to recite 100 blessings [in the period of one] day and night. What are these 100 blessings?
The twenty-three blessings that we have counted in this chapter, the seven blessings before and after Kri'at Shema in the morning and in the evening; When one wraps himself in tzitzit, he recites: Blessed are You, God, our Lord, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to wrap ourselves in tzitzit.
When he puts on his Tefilin, he recites: Blessed are You, God, our Lord, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to put on Tefilin. [One recites] three Amidot, each of which contains eighteen blessings.
Behold, this is 86 blessings.
When one eats two meals, [one] during the day and [one] at night, one recites 14 blessings, seven for each meal: one when he washes his hands before eating, and, on the food itself, one before and three afterwards, on the wine, one before and one afterwards,[a total] of seven.
Thus, there are 100 blessings all told.

(1) Communal prayer is always heard. Even when there are transgressors among [the congregation], the Holy One, blessed be He, does not reject the prayers of the many. Therefore, a person should include himself in the community and should not pray alone whenever he is able to pray with the community.
One should always spend the early morning and evening [hours] in the synagogue, for prayer will not be heard at all times except [when recited] in the synagogue.
Anyone who has a synagogue in his city and does not pray [together] with the congregation in it is called a bad neighbor.

(4) What is implied by [the term,] communal prayer? One [person] prays aloud and all [the others] listen.
This should not be done with fewer than ten adult free males. The leader of the congregation is [counted as] one of them. Even if some of them have already prayed and fulfilled their obligation, they can complete the [quorum of] ten provided the majority of the ten have not prayed.
Similarly, we should not recite Kedushah, read the Torah with its blessings before and after it, or read the haftorah from the Prophets except in [a quorum of] ten.

(9) The leader of the congregation can fulfill the obligation [of prayer] on behalf of the congregation.
What is implied? When he prays and they listen and respond "Amen" after each and every blessing, it is considered as if they prayed [themselves].
To whom does this apply? To one who does not know how to pray. However, one who does know how to pray, only fulfills his obligation by praying himself.

(11) Only a person of great stature within the community in both wisdom should be appointed as the leader of the congregation. If he is an older man, it is very praiseworthy. An effort should be made to appoint as the leader of the congregation, someone who has a pleasant voice and is familiar with reading [Biblical verses].
A person who does not have a full beard should not be appointed as the leader of the congregation even if he be a wise man of great stature, as a gesture of respect to the congregation. However, he may recite the Shema publicly after he has reached the age of thirteen and manifested signs of physical maturity.

(10) On the night of the Sabbath, after praying together with the congregation in a hushed tone, the leader of the congregation prays out loud. However, he does not recite all seven blessings, but rather one blessing that includes all seven. He states:
Blessed are You, God, our Lord and Lord of our fathers, the Lord of Abraham, the Lord of Isaac, and the Lord of Jacob, the great, mighty, and awesome God, the supreme God, who, in His mercies, creates heaven and earth. He shielded our ancestors with His word. He resurrects the dead with His statements - the holy God, like whom there is none. He causes His people to rest on His holy Sabbath, for to them did He desire to grant rest. We will serve Him with awe and fear and give thanks to His name every day, continually, according to the blessings [appropriate for that day]. God who is worthy of thanks, Lord of peace, who sanctifies the Sabbath and blesses the seventh day and brings rest with holiness to a people satiated with delight in commemoration of the work of creation. Our Lord, and Lord of our fathers, desire our rest.... Blessed are You, God, who sanctifies the Sabbath.
He recites Kaddish and the people depart.

(11) Why did the Sages institute this [practice]? Because the majority of people come to recite the evening service on Friday night. It is possible that someone will come late, remain alone in the synagogue, and thus be endangered. Accordingly, the leader of the congregation repeats his prayers in order that the entire congregation will remain, [allowing] the one who came late to conclude his prayers and leave together with them.

(1) A person who prayed without concentrating [on his prayers] must pray a second time with concentration. However, if he had concentrated during the first blessing, nothing more is necessary.
A person who errs in the recitation of the first three blessings [of the Shemoneh Esreh] must return to the beginning [of the Shemoneh Esreh]. Should one err in the recitation of the final three blessings, one should return to [the blessing, R'tzey]. If one errs in the midst of [one of] the intermediate blessings, one should return to the beginning of that blessing and [then] conclude one's prayers in the [proper] order.
Should the leader of the congregation err when he is praying out loud, he should [correct himself] based on these principles.

(16) It is forbidden for a person who is praying with a congregation to pray before the congregation.

(1) Wherever ten Jews live, it is necessary to establish a place for them to congregate for prayer at the time of each prayer service. This place is called a Beit K'nesset. The inhabitants of a city can compel each other to construct a synagogue and to purchase scrolls containing the Torah, the Prophets, and the Sacred Writings.

(2) When a synagogue is built, it should be built only at the highest point of the city [as implied by Proverbs 1:21]: "She cries at the head of the public places." It should be built [so that] its height exceeds [that of] all the other buildings in the city [as implied by Ezra 9:9]: "to lift up the house of our God."
The entrance to the synagogue should open only on the east [as implied by Numbers 3:38]: "...And those who camped before the sanctuary on the east."
In [the synagogue], a heichal, where the Torah scroll is placed, should be constructed. The heichal should be constructed in the direction to which the people pray in that city, so that they will face the heichal when they stand to pray.

(3) A platform is placed in the center of the hall, so that the one who reads the Torah or one who gives a sermon can stand on it, so that all the others will hear him.
When one positions the tevah which contains the Torah scroll, one should position it in the center of the hall, in the direction of the heichal and facing the people.

(6) No lightheadedness - i.e., jests, frivolity, and idle conversation should be seen in a synagogue. We may not eat or drink inside [a synagogue], nor use [a synagogue] for our benefit, nor stroll inside one. On a sunny [day], one should not enter [a synagogue to seek shade] from the sun, and on a rainy [day], [one should not enter a synagogue to seek shelter] from the rain.[However,] the sages and their students are permitted to eat and drink in a synagogue because of the difficulty [observing the prohibition would cause them].

(1) Moses, our teacher, ordained that the Jews should read the Torah publicly on the Sabbath and on Monday and Thursday mornings, so the [people] would never have three days pass without hearing the Torah. Ezra ordained that [the Torah] should be read during the Minchah service on the Sabbath, because of the shopkeepers. He also ordained that on Mondays and Thursdays, three people should read and that they should read no fewer than ten verses.

(2) These are the days when the Torah is read publicly: Sabbaths, festivals, fast days, Chanukah, Purim, and Mondays and Thursdays each week. The haftarah is read only on Sabbaths, festivals, and Tish'ah B'Av.

(3) The Torah is never read in public in the presence of fewer than ten adult free men. No fewer than ten verses are read. Vayedaber is counted as one of them. No fewer than three men should read. [When] beginning a passage from the Torah, [one should read] at least three verses, and one should not conclude less than three verses from the conclusion of a passage. Each reader should not read fewer than three verses.

(4) [When] three people read ten verses: Two read three [verses each] and one, four [verses]. It is praiseworthy regardless of whether the one who read four [verses] is first, last, or in the middle.

(7) The reader is not permitted to [begin] reading until the person of greatest stature within the community tells him to [begin] reading. Even the chazan or the gabbai should not begin reading on their own initiative until the community [as a whole] or the person of greatest stature begins to read. [When the chazan reads from the Torah,] another person should stand with him while he reads, just as the chazan stands together with the other readers.

(9) Once the reader begins reading the Torah, it is forbidden [for the congregants] to talk, even regarding matters of Torah law. Rather, everyone should listen, remain silent, and pay attention to what is being read, as [Nechemiah 8:3] states: "The ears of all the people were [attentive] to the Torah scroll." It is forbidden to leave the synagogue while the reader is reading from the Torah. However, one is permitted to leave between aliyot. A person who is constantly involved in Torah study, and Torah is his occupation, is permitted to involve himself in Torah study while the Torah is being read.

(10) From the time of Ezra, it was customary that a translator would translate to the people the [passages] read by the reader from the Torah, so that they would understand the subject matter. The reader should read one verse alone and remain silent while the translator translates it. Afterwards, he should read a second verse. The reader is not permitted to read to the translator more than one verse [at a time].

(11) The reader is not permitted to raise his voice above that of the translator, nor should the translator raise his voice above that of the reader. The translator is not permitted to [begin] translating until the reader completes reading the verse, nor may the reader [begin] reading another verse until the translator has completed the translation.
The translator should not lean on a beam or on a pillar. Rather, he should stand with awe and fear. He should not translate from a written text, but rather should recite the translation by heart.
The reader is not permitted to assist the translator, lest people say: "The translation is written in the Torah scroll." A person of lesser stature may serve as a translator for a person of greater stature. However, it is not befitting the honor of a person of greater stature to serve as a translator for a person of lesser stature. Two people should not serve as translators simultaneously; rather, one person should read and one should translate.

(12) Not all passages from the Torah are translated in public.

(23) It is not proper to read from chumashim in synagogues, as a token of respect for the community.

(1) The common custom throughout all Israel is to complete the [reading of] the Torah in one year. [The cycle] is begun on the Sabbath after the Sukkot festival, reading the sidrah, Bereshit. On the following Sabbath, [the sidrah,] Eleh toldot [is read]; on the third, [the sidrah,] Vayomer Ado-nai el Avram. We continue reading according to this order until the Torah is completed, during the Sukkot festival.
There are those who finish the Torah reading in a three-year cycle. However, this is not a widely accepted custom.

(7) When the priests bless the people, they should not look at them or divert their attention. Rather, their eyes should be directed towards the earth like one standing in prayer. A person should not look at the priests' faces while they are blessing the people, lest they divert their attention. Rather, all the people should listen attentively to the blessing; they should [stand] face to face with the priests, without looking at their faces.

(8) If only one priest is blessing the people, he should begin reciting the blessing alone.[Afterwards,] the leader of the congregation reads [the blessings] to him, word for word, as mentioned. If there are two or more [priests blessing the people], they do not begin reciting the blessing until the leader of the congregation calls them, saying "Kohanim." They answer and respond Y'varechecha, and then he reads [the blessings] to them, word for word, in the manner described above.

(13) When the priests turn their faces to the community to bless them, and when they turn their faces from the community after blessing [them], they should turn only to the right.

Similarly, any turns which a person makes should always be to the right.

(1) There are six factors that prevent [a priest] from reciting the priestly blessings: [an inability] to pronounce [the blessings properly], physical deformities, transgressions, [lack of] maturity, intoxication, and the ritual impurity of [the priest's] hands.

[An inability] to pronounce [the blessings properly]: What is implied? Those who cannot articulate the letters properly- e.g., those who read an aleph as an ayin and an ayin as an aleph, or who pronounce shibbolet as sibbolet- should not recite the priestly blessings. Similarly, a stutterer or one who speaks unclearly, whose words cannot be understood by everyone, - e.g., a person who lisps should not recite the priestly blessing.

(8) The people standing behind the priests are not included in the blessing. Those standing at their sides are included in the blessing. [Even] if there is a partition - even an iron wall - between the priests and the people who are being blessed, since they are facing the priests, they are included in the blessing.

(9) The priestly blessing is recited [only] when ten people [are present]. The priests can be included in that number. If [the congregation in a particular] synagogue are all priests, they should all recite the priestly blessing. Who should they bless? Their brethren in the north and the south. Who will respond "Amen" to their [blessings]? The women and the children. If more than ten priests remain besides those who ascend to the duchan, these ten [priests] respond "Amen" and the remainder of the priests recite the blessings.