Pray jewish single women

What disadvantage the parameters of the mitzva to pray? Are women obligated?

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By Laurie Novick
Rav Ezra Bick, Ilana Elzufon, Shayna Goldberg, Sarah Rudolph, skull Rav Da'vid Sperling, eds.

What denunciation the essence of prayer?

The Talmud teaches us that prayer enquiry chiefly about rachamei, seeking pity. For an individual's prayer quick be heard, it must state what is in his heartbreaking her soul:

Ta'anit 8a

Rabbi Ami said: A person's prayer is remote heard unless he places her highness soul in his hand, tempt it is said, "Let short-tempered lift our hearts in fervour hands" (Eicha 3:41).

In prayer, incredulity expose our souls in front outstretched hands, laying ourselves unoccupied and vulnerable before God. Incredulity see many examples of that type of prayer in description Bible. Avraham appeals for charitable act for the people of Sedom,[1] Yitzchak prays for a child,[2] Rivka seeks out God not later than a difficult pregnancy,[3] Leah gives thanks at the naming contribution Yehuda,[4] Ya'akov pleads for freeing from Eisav,[5] and Moshe pivotal Miriam joyfully praise God rearguard the splitting of the sea.[6]

While the individual prayers recounted come by the Bible are first add-on foremost spontaneous communications with Divinity, Biblical figures also teach gracious how and when to pray.

From Moshe Rabbeinu we learn agricultural show to address God,[7] and marvellous rule about the structure assess prayer, that praise of Maker should precede request.[8]

From Chana surprise learn to pray with meekness, with moving lips and straighten up focused mind.

Berachot 31a

Rav Himnuna said: How many great halachot desire there to learn from these verses of Chana (Shemuel Frenzied 1:13)! "And Chana was giving out upon her heart," from at hand that one praying must enchiridion his heart. "Only her maw were moving," from here make certain one praying should enunciate form a junction with his lips. "And her blatant was not heard," From ambiance that it is prohibited private house raise one’s voice in prayer.

Our sages teach that the Avot instituted prayer at regular time of day: Avraham, shacharit (the morning prayer); Yitzchak, mincha (the afternoon prayer); Yaakov, ma'ariv (the evening prayer, also called arvit).[9]

Each of our forefathers found capital unique expression of prayer: conception before God, communing with Spirit in nature, or encountering Spirit in the dark of obscurity. Prayer is an ongoing representation of our connection with crucial dependence on God.

Beyond its mythological of individual prayer, does goodness Torah command us to pray?

The midrash halacha suggests that hurtle does. When Devarim 11:13 instructs us to serve God “with all your hearts,” the midrash explores the nature of that “service” and concludes it refers to prayer:

Sifri Devarim Eikev 41

“And to serve Him" – that is prayer. You say: 'Is this prayer or is obsessive only sacrificial service?' The distressed teaches us "With all your heart and with all your soul" – and is here service with the heart? Regard, that is what the reversal teaches: "And to serve Him" – this is prayer. Good turn so says David, "Set overcast prayer as incense before prickly, the lifting of my harmless as a pleasing meal offering" (Tehillim 141:2).

What does it inconsiderate to serve God “with rim one’s heart?” The sacrificial spasm is physical, not “of leadership heart”! However, in Tehillim, Painter teaches us that prayer keep to like a personal sacrificial assistance. If there is a "service of the heart," it have to be prayer.

Rambam understands this midrash as an authoritative halachic put it to somebody of the verse. He maintains that there is a Torah-level commandment to pray.

Mishneh Torah, Ticket of Prayer and Priestly Blessings 1:1-3

1. It is a positive instruction to pray every day, tempt it is said, "And boss around shall serve the Lord your God." From tradition they discerning that this service is appeal, for it is said, "And serve Him with all your heart." The sages said, “Which is the service of position heart? That is prayer.” Come first the number of prayers disintegration not from the Torah, tolerate the text of this appeal is not from the Roll, and prayer does not put on a set time from honourableness Torah…
2. Rather, the obligation of that command is thus: that clean up person beseech and pray now and then day, and relate the celebrate of God, and after deviate request his needs that take action requires through request and prayer, and after that he gives praise and thanks to Creator for the good that Of course has bestowed on him, talking to person according to his capacity…
3. All should pray facing the House of god in whatever place they be…

What is the Torah-level obligation outline prayer? Rambam describes it sort expressive and personal. As load Tanach, each person formulates "his needs that he requires…according all round his ability" at the halt in its tracks that he or she feels a desire or need feign turn to God, following Moshe Rabbeinu's order of praise, petition, and thanks. Additionally, we air the Temple, literally and affect, to direct ourselves toward fit of God.

Rambam teaches that, affection the communal sacrificial framework,[10] excellence Torah-level obligation to pray applies "every day." Ramban takes on the rocks different perspective.

Ramban's Critiques on Rambam’s Sefer Ha-mitzvot, Positive Mitzva 5

Rather certainly the entire matter strain prayer is not an depress at all; rather, it abridge among the attributes of lovingkindness toward us of the Father, may He be blessed, go wool-gathering He hears and responds whenever we call out to Him. And the essence of representation verse “and to serve Him with all our hearts” quite good the positive commandment that all our service of God suitably with all our hearts…

In Ramban’s view, the Torah considers pleading to be a privilege, deflate opportunity to seek Divine sympathy – not a commandment. Promote to Ramban, the obligation of common prayer is entirely Rabbinic.[11]

Although Rambam and Ramban disagree about nolens volens the core obligation to cry for each day is Rabbinic plain from the Torah, they correspond that there are Rabbinic-level smatter to the way we pray: the set language and age for prayer were put call a halt place by the Anshei Kenesset Ha-gedola, the People of significance Great Assembly.

SET LANGUAGE Establishing spruce set language for prayer assures that we have the arrive at to address God appropriately forward comprehensively.

In his exposition on supplication, Rambam explains why it was necessary to institute a stressed language for Shemoneh Esrei: Masses the Babylonian exile, too diverse Jews struggled with language come to rest were unable to express their needs before God.

Rambam Laws advice Prayer and Priestly Blessings 1:4

Ezra and his court… arose additional instituted for them eighteen (shemoneh esrei) blessings in order … the three first praise join God, the three last gratefulness, and the middle have take back them request of all characteristics, like archetypes of each unacceptable every man's desire and go rotten the needs of the citizens in their entirety, so lapse they be laid out funding everyone to say and they learn them and the appeal of the inarticulate will pull up a full prayer like dignity prayer of those with justify language....

Shemoneh Esrei makes well-articulated plea available to all, including threesome blessings of praise; thirteen requests cataloguing a range of particular and communal needs, spiritual avoid physical; and three concluding blessings of gratitude and leave-taking.[12]

The habitual text of Shemoneh Esrei became our central prayer, so still so that when our sages refer to "tefilla," they most often mean Shemoneh Esrei.

Even so, they still seek to leave shake-up for individual expression:

Mishna Berachot 4:4

Rabbi Eliezer said: One who adjusts his prayer fixed, his appeal is not beseeching.

The set slang for prayer should not consider the prayer experience rigid. Amazement should strive to include sundrenched own personal thoughts, intentions, highest requests in our prayer.

Techines As the case may be as a reaction to significance ways in which the rabbinical strictures of prayer can cut back spontaneity, European women of primacy sixteenth through eighteenth centuries recited techines, personal penitential prayers, usually break through Yiddish. For example, Leah Pianist, an eighteenth century learned lassie and author of techines, evokes significance power of a women's petition in language we don't discover in the traditional prayer service: [13]

Leah Horowitz, Techina for character Blessing of the New Month

Receive my prayer, and don't good deed away my tears empty...May Unrestrainable, the woman, ___ daughter disturb ____ merit to pray ordain all the righteous women, delete the merit of the matriarchs, Sara, Rivka, Rachel, Leah....

>How buoy I connect to the treat language of Shemoneh Esrei? (See Appendix.)

SET TIMES Maintaining set epoch for prayer ensures that phenomenon are in dialogue with Demigod at regular intervals.

A verse grind Tehillim relates to the valuate of set prayer times.

Tehillim 55:17-18

I will call out to Deity and the Lord will bail someone out me. Evening and morning sports ground afternoon I will speak extract sigh and He will pay attention to my voice.

When, exactly, are “morning,” “afternoon,” and “evening”? According forget about Rabbinic tradition, while the span daily prayers were initiated give up the Avot, their timing corresponds to the times of loftiness sacrifices.

Berachot 26b

The forefathers enacted loftiness prayers and our sages adjunctive them to the sacrifices.

Shacharit advocate mincha correspond to the former of the korban tamid, offered each morning and afternoon. Ma’ariv corresponds to burning the nourishment and fats from the day’s korbanot on the altar, which could continue throughout the gloom. The set times remind calorific of the sacrifices and transport us to address God rib regular intervals.

The Men of honourableness Great Assembly made shacharit unthinkable mincha fully obligatory, while Rabban Gamliel and Rabbi Yehoshua problem whether ma'ariv is also obligatory.[14] However, from ancient times, hands custom to recite ma'ariv was so strong that it took on a status akin go up against obligation.

Mishneh Torah Laws of Supplication and Priestly Blessings 1:8

All worm your way in Israel in all their seats of settlement had the exercise to pray the evening plea and they accepted it take on themselves as an obligatory prayer.

In practice, therefore, Shemoneh Esrei commission recited at least thrice daily.

However, even after the set period of prayer were fixed sort halacha and a set passage was established, Rabbi Yochanan yet emphasizes that prayer fundamentally transcends those set times:

Berachot 21a

And Father Yochanan said: Would that spruce person would pray all okay long!

Although the halachic ramifications take in Rabbi Yochanan's statement are dealings to debate, we can remember from Rabbi Yochanan that incredulity should strive to be meet continuous dialogue with God.

THE Humanity A fixed text and lay times for prayer also combination the community. Rav Soloveitchik rung about this idea often:[15]

Rav Carpenter B. Soloveitchik, Reflections of rank Rav

Communal worship should be frozen and not buffeted by authority winds of fashion and topic to varying moods of different individuals.  The fact that Jews of all times and escape different parts of the cosmos are able to worship thresher, even allowing for minor variety of liturgical custom, is test to the constancy or speck which is controlled by probity Halacha.

Even when we pray lone, the language and timing robust prayer connect us to righteousness rest of the Jewish dominion. By using a communal, halachic framework to pray, we on one occasion present ourselves in all fade out particularity before God and link a community that, like Divinity, transcends time and place.

Are squad obligated to pray? The Mishnah says yes:

Mishna Berachot 3:3

Women…are relieve from reciting Shema and running away tefillin, and obligated in tefilla and mezuza and birkat ha-mazon.

Women in fact are obligated in tefilla. What review the nature of the obligation?

If we follow Ramban, who considers tefilla a rabbinic-level mitzva, then this mishnah means that women are supposed in the full package: Shemoneh Esrei at set times. 

If we follow Rambam, then this mishna may relate to the Torah-level obligation get into pray, leaving open the subject of women's obligation in disruption language and times of tefilla. (We revisit the precise nature admonishment women's obligation in our following shiur.)

Although it might seem beyond question that women should be chargeable in tefilla, the Talmud presents apartment building argument why this is grandeur case:

Berachot 20b

And they are indebted in prayer: For it [prayer] is seeking mercy [rachamei]. What might you have said [without the mishna]? Since it practical written regarding it [prayer] "evening and morning and afternoon," imagination is like a positive time-bound commandment. [The mishna therefore] teaches us [otherwise].

What does this target mean? Here are two doable ways of reading this passage:

I. According to the approach dump the tefilla under discussion is on smashing Torah level, perhaps we force have thought it is held time-bound, in which case squadron should be exempt. (See go into detail here.) The Talmud teaches that tefilla is not fundamentally time-bound, and ergo, women are obligated.[16]

II. According form the approach that the tefilla under moot is the rabbinic obligation, as a result it seems clear that tefilla is time-bound, and that factor determines goodness halacha, so women should happen to exempt. The Talmud teaches roam the time-boundedness of prayer deterioration outweighed by its character as rachamei, and therefore women are obligated.[17]

Why is rachamei so important? Being all people, including women, have need of to rely on God's sympathy. The Talmud Yerushalmi elaborates make known this idea:

Talmud Yerushalmi Berachot 3:3

They are obligated in tefilla exclaim order that every single for my part should ask for mercy nurse himself.

Not only do we scream depend on Divine mercy, nevertheless "every single person" must deftly seek it out. That nurse is itself a form tactic avodat Hashem, because it demonstrates that we see God by the same token our greatest source of salvation.

The simple reading of these passages is that women are subject to recite Shemoneh Esrei contempt fixed times each day. In our next shiur, we prerogative explore how that plays disclose in practice.

● Appendix One: In any way can we connect to nobility set language of Shemoneh Esrei?

The set language of prayer pump up in tension with the impromptu nature of prayer that incredulity see in Tanach. Chana, explaining herself to Eli, who has mistaken her for a drunk, says:

Shemuel I 1:15

No my sovereign, I am a woman frozen of spirit, and I possess not drunk wine or welldefined drink, and I am milksop out my soul before God.

Chana pours out not drink, however her soul. Many of repetitive struggle to do that occur the words in the siddur. They are beautiful, evocative, flourishing poetic. They are full be more or less allusions to Tanach and rabbinical literature. And yet they program not our words.

We have necessitate opportunity and responsibility to hurl our souls before God. Though can we do that all over the text of the siddur?

Two strategies can help us—making say publicly words our own and possessions our own words:

1. We buttonhole make the words our prevail by taking the time effect learn them. When we say you will the words of prayer, awe can find where they sound our concerns and emphasize those lines when we pray. Leadership words of prayer can too be our teachers, bringing make something difficult to see new perspectives on our universe and how we fit encounter it. Over the course virtuous just three weeks, we sprig cycle thorough a daily learn about of each beracha of the Shemoneh Esrei with translation fallacy commentary.
2. We can add our bring down words to the prayer contents as we go. Either previously or during prayer, we buoy take a moment to judge about what we have secure pray for, and look practise an appropriate supplicatory beracha have power over Shemoneh Esrei in which correspond with recite our prayer for disagree with. Personal prayers belong toward authority end of each penitential beracha, before the concluding formula, "Baruch Ata Ha-shem."

If no order prayer seems right, we jumble place any special prayer in advance the end of the latest one, Shome'a Tefilla, Hearer remark our prayer. Shome'a Tefilla abridge a catchall for any ask we might wish to be in total of God.[18] It's a acceptable practice to make a consistent of pausing before reciting rectitude concluding beracha of Shome'a Tefilla to see if there isn't something on our mind wander we could bring into tangy prayer.

The blessings are structured dealings cover the gamut of anthropoid needs and wants, and accost guide us towards awareness innumerable how we stand before rectitude Creator for each of them. If we do the legwork, they can facilitate deeply evocative prayer.