Q I woke up really late one day. What is the latest one can daven Shacharit? Is the davening at that time exactly the same as regular? A In order to daven Shacharit "at its time," one should finish Shmoneh Esrei before the end of four proportional hours of the morning (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 89:1). This is a third of the time between sunrise and sunset (according to some, a third of the time between alot hashachar and tzeit hakochavim). However, the gemara (Berachot 26a) teaches that there is a concept of receiving credit for tefilla after "the time" of Shacharit (while missing the greater reward of davening at the appointed time). The gemara compares this late tefilla to the concept of tashlumim (making up a missed tefilla by doubling Shmoneh Esrei at the following tefilla). Because of this, some rishonim say that one can make it up only if he missed the time by mistake or because of extenuating circumstances (see Orach Chayim 108). Most say that, until the time of Mincha, the late tefilla is not tashlumim and can be said even by one who knowingly missed the time. However, poskim say that it is best to have in mind that in case it is too late, the davening should be considered an additional, voluntary one (tefillat nedava) (Mishna Berura 89:6; Yalkut Yosef, Tefilla 5). The final time for saying Shmoneh Esrei of Shacharit is chatzot (astronomical noon, found in some good calendars - and in Torah Tidbits; don't forget to factor in Daylight Savings Time). This is the latest time found by any opinion for the time of Shacharit and is also the time when one can, in theory, daven Mincha (in practice, we are required to wait another half-hour to stay on the safe side). At this point, Shacharit is no longer an option, except as tashlumim at Mincha (Rama OC 89:1; Magen Avraham 89:5; Taz 89:1 argues, see Mishna Berura 89:7). After chatzot, one has the opportunity to do tashlumim at Mincha, if missing Shacharit was not done on purpose (meizid). When one gets up that late, it is not always clear whether to categorize the lateness as accidental or on purpose. Certainly if one overslept, he can do tashlumim. If he woke up earlier and rolled over in bed with the intent of sleeping beyond the time, it is presumably meizid. On the other hand, some people are not capable of any serious intent when they roll over in bed. (It is a sign of responsibility when one reaches the point in life when these types of borderline cases stop arising.) When one davens between the end of the time of Shacharit and chatzot, the straightforward ruling is that one omits the berachot before and after Kriat Shema (Yotzer Or until Shema and Emet V'yatziv until Ga'al Yisrael) (Shulchan Aruch 58:6). The Biur Halacha (ad loc.) raises the possibility that one might be justified to include these berachot in his tefilla until chatzot, if he was unable to do so earlier because of extenuating circumstances. However, the average late riser is hard-pressed to claim that his circumstances were clearly extenuating. Ask the Rabbi Q&A is part of Hemdat
Yamim, the weekly parsha sheet published by Eretz Hemdah. You can read
this section or the entire Hemdat Yamim at
www.ou.org or
www.eretzhemdah.org. And/or you can receive Hemdat Yamim by email
weekly, by sending an email to
eretzhem@netvision.net.il with the message: Join Hemdatya –Please
leave the subject blank. Ask the Vebbe Rebbe is partially funded by the
Jewish Agency for Israel Soon, a man came in to the rebbe with a request. “Rebbe, help me”, he said. “My daughter has the chance of marrying an exceptional young man, but I need money for her dowry. Without the money, the shidduch will be called off.” “Young man”, asked the rebbe, turning to him, “would you by any chance have a few thousand dollars to lend?” “Rebbe”, said the young man, “I’m destitute. I barely survive. There is no way I could loan such a sum.” The rebbe then lent the man money. A short while later, a butcher came in. “Rebbe”, he said, “I’ve slaughtered a bull, and I found some questionable marks on the lungs. Is the meat kosher or not?” “Young man”, said the rebbe, “you've seen the lungs. What is your decision?” “Rebbe”, replied the young man, “I
don’t know enough to render a verdict.” “Young man”, said the rebbe again, “what would you suggest?” “Rebbe, I’ve no idea”, answered the young man. “I’ve never been in business in my life.” After the merchant left, the rebbe
turned to the young man again and said to him, “My son, I really don’t
understand you. You don’t have any money to your name, you don’t know the
first thing about halacha, and you have no inkling about business. What
can you possibly find to be proud about?” Experience is no
truer than fantasy; it is simply more factual. Truth is not what reality
is, but what it means. Truth is what the soul knows. Facts are what the
eyes see - if they see correctly. - From A Candle by Day by Rabbi Shraga
Silverstein It implies inner pride, self-respect, self- confidence. When G-d freed us from the yoke of Egypt, He simultaneously instilled these qualities within us - qualities which we had lost during our sojourn as slaves of Pharaoh. The ideal way to serve G-d is with humility before the King of Kings, but also with an inner pride that we are worthy to stand before the King of Kings. We come across komamiyut in our daily prayers as well - in that magnificent paragraph that precedes Shema Yisroel. We ask that G-d “bring us in peace from the four corners of the earth, and then we add - in what is almost a direct paraphrase of the words in our sedra - vetolicheinu komamiyut l’artzenu / “and lead us upright to our Land”. It would have been enough to ask that He lead us to our Land. The addition of the word komamiyut/upright, however, adds a new dimension. It implies that not only it is preferable to return to G-d’s Land in an upright position literally - and not wait to be carried there - but that, figuratively as well, we must have the self-confidence and knowledge to return to the Land with pride, in the face of our enemies who would deny us this right. How is this pride and self-confidence achieved? The construction of this pre- Shema paragraph suggests the progression. It opens with the prayer that G-d in his love for us will teach us His Torah, open our hearts and minds to it, and will enlighten our minds so that we understand and practice it. The paragraph closes with the prayer to return upright to the Land - but this is not simply an afterthought, nor is it a new subject. Instead, it follows logically from all that precedes it: we will be worthy of returning to the Land with pride and self-respect and self-confidence to the Land only when we have exposed ourselves to the Torah. Even a surface glance at Israel today substantiates this view. Those who are most supportive of the Land, who live in it with pride and self-confidence, are those who know the Torah. Those who are least supportive, who are apologetic about being here and are willing to give away even the holiest of places, are by and large the least knowledgeable of Torah. The same holds true in terms of Aliya
to the Land. Those who come to Israel to live are overwhelmingly observant
Jews. Those who are willing to leave Israel are overwhelmingly
non-observant Jews. These are not coincidences. A lamb, kid, or calf that is an orphan
is not included in Maaser B’heima. The reason is that the procedure of
this mitzva called for gathering the young animals born in the same year
in an enclosure, with a narrow opening that allowed only one to pass
through at a time. The mothers of the animals were brought to the opening
of the enclosure on the outside and they called to their offspring. The
lambs, etc. would respond to this and start filing out of the enclosure
through the opening. They were counted and the tenth was declared holy.
The owner of the animals was not allowed to push one of the young ones
through the opening. They had to pass on their own. It is probable that an
orphaned lamb would not respond to the call to come to the mothers and
would have to be directed out, which is a problem. Hence, their exemption. In G-d's mercy, we are generally spared the seemingly unending curses for failing to live up to our mission. Nevertheless, we have suffered Exile, one of the prices for not observing the Sabbatical year (Vayikra 26:43, Avot 5:9). Exile is also both a physical and spiritual phenomenon. We suffer the tolerance of our hosts in foreign lands (at best) and their infliction (at worst), and we feel abandoned by Hashem. And in the aftermath of the Crusades, Inquisitions, Pogroms and Holocaust, we may wonder to what extent we are comforted that while in the land of our enemies, G-d will not reject or oblit- erate us, "to annul My covenant" (Vayikra 26:44). Morocco, France, Argentina, Bel- gium…
Where should we look next? Let us take strength from Rabbi Akiva who yet
laughed as he stood in the ruins of the Holy Temple (Bab. Talmud, Makkot
24b), who proclaimed that just as the prophecies of doom were fulfilled,
so will those of the Redemption similarly be fulfilled - speedily and in
our days. Amen. [The Parshat B'chukotai Homepage]
|
