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Halachic Illuminations Special Events, Shiurim & Announcements

ParashatParashat Bechukotai

At the beginning of Parashat Bechukotai, in enumerating the Women and Prayer special that the Jewish people will receive, the To-

The (Berachot 20b) states that women are obligated in the rah includes, as notes: "Even five of the weakest of you of prayer. The explains that although there seems to will pursue one hundred, and one hundred of you will pursue be sufficient reason to exempt women from prayer as it is a positive, ten thousand (and not "five hundred ten pursue ten thousand" time-bound Mitzvah, nevertheless, since prayer entails requesting as expected proportionately), as there is no comparing a small Hashem’s Heavenly mercy, which women also require, women are number of observers to a large one". A large number of likewise obligated to pray and this is not, in fact, considered a positive, Torah observers constitute a tzibur (community), and time-bound Mitzvah. “Prayer” in this context refers to the Amida prayer. a tzibur has its own rights, privileges, and benefits.

The Poskim disagree regarding the explanation of the above Gemara. The Gemara in Berachot (7b) teaches that even if one can Some say that women are just as obligated in the Mitzvah of prayer as men and at the very least, they must pray Shacharit and Mincha every not pray together with the tzibur in the Bet HaKenesset, they day. Others say, however, that women are only obligated to pray once should try to pray at the time that the tzibur is praying, for that a day, as this constitutes the primary Mitzvah of prayer. It was our Sag- is an especially meritorious moment. es who enacted that we pray three times a day and women were not The Gemara understands this to be true based upon included in this enactment. the pasuk "va'ani t'filati l'cha Hashem et ratzon" ("but as for me, my prayer is to you, Hashem, at a favorable time") Halachically speaking, according to the opinion of Maran Ha’Shulchan (Tehilim 69:14). When is a favorable time? At the time Aruch and the custom of Sephardic and Middle Eastern , women the tzibur prays. are only obligated to pray once a day, either Shacharit, Mincha, or Arvit. This is a woman’s holy obligation and one should not try to shirk it, G-d-forbid. According to the Ashkenazi custom, however, some say The same is true regarding the study of Torah. that women are obligated to pray Shacharit and Mincha every day. The Gemara in Berachot (8a) teaches that one should always There is room not to obligated even Ashkenazi women in the Arvit pray- complete the Torah portion of the week, shnayim mikra er since Arvit was accepted as an obligatory prayer only by men and ve'echad targum with the congregation. What is the relevance not by women. of finishing with the congregation? Is not the main purpose to understand the ? This teaching demon- Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”lwould advise that women should strates that in addition to the actual learning, there is also the establish one set prayer per day, either Shacharit, Mincha, or Arvit, so significant ingredient of communal involvement. In that they can recite that prayer on a consistent basis and not miss pray- the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. ing for an entire day. It is especially worthy that a woman recite the Shacharit prayer and before doing so recite the “Birkot Ha’Sha- char” (the morning blessings which women are obligated to recite every At our Kehillah we provide multiple minyanim, youth group day, besides for the “She’lo Asani Isha” which women substitute with opportunities, and many many Torah learning initiatives, in the “She’asni Kirtzono” albeit without reciting Hashem’s and outside of the Beit HaKenesset. One of the reasons for name), followed by “Birkot Ha’Torah” (the daily blessings of the Torah), these many opportunities is for each member, young and old, and then preferably followed by the verses “Shema Yisrael” and to feel part of our Congregation. This was a prerequisite for “Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto Le’Olam Va’ed.” Whenever possible, a Matan Torah at Har Sinai as the Midrash tells us famously we woman should all three chapters of Keri’at Shema and then begin the were 'K'ish Echad B'Lev Echad.' We are proud to have many Amida prayer. different types of Neshamot part of our Kehilla which invariably

If a woman can, she may pray all three daily prayers. Even according to comes with many different opinions and styles. As we com- the Sephardic custom that women do not recite blessings upon Mitzvot plete Sefer and look ahead to Zeman Matan they are not obligated to fulfill, this does not apply to the Mitzvah of Torateinu, let each of us, individually and collectively, reflect praying and a woman may recite all of the blessings included in the on what unifies us as a tzibur, what makes us special and im- Amida prayer even three times a day, as many righteous women do. portant, and why we enjoy gathering each day and each Shab- bat to fulfill Torah and Mitzvot. Mrs. Simcha Tzadka, of blessed memory, a truly righteous and up- standing woman who was the mother of Hagaon Harav Yehuda Tzadka zt”l, legendary Rosh Yeshiva of Porat Yosef, was well-versed in laws and their sources and would arrive at the synagogue every morn- ing and begin praying with the first Minyan for Shacharit and would Shabbat Shalom, conclude her prayers along with those praying in the second Minyan. She would likewise pray all three daily prayers with a Minyan in the synagogue. There are many other righteous women who acted in this Rabbi Yehuda Moses manner, especially when they were older and were no longer as busy with child-rearing as they were in their youth. They therefore utilized Rav HaKehillah/Senior Rabbi their spare time to immerse themselves in prayer with intense dedica- Congregation Mogen David tion and they would pray at length for their children and grandchildren. Nevertheless, women who are busy raising a family may not leave their children pursuing lengthy prayers, Tehillim reading, and participating in Torah classes all day long as everything has a time and place.