Simanim 21-22 - Additional Prayers

Refu'ah Sh'leimah for Gittel Genendel Channah bas Sarah Miriam Yitta (Mrs. Grace Willer) from Rebecca, Shimon, and Sarah Miriam Schwartz

SIMAN 21 - COMPENSATORY PRAYERS

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1.  MAKING UP MISSED PRAYERS

 

Our siman gives the rules of compensatory prayers.  If through some error or duress we fail to say one of the three daily prayers in the designated time, we are able to make it up immediately AFTER the following Amida prayer.

 

We explained above (siman 18 se'if 1) that fixed times for prayer remind us that God is the "Boss," our Master Who summons us, not some kind of "resource" upon Whom we call according to our own convenience.  If this appointment is broken, with some reasonable excuse, then we can return to the "missed business" during the coming meeting.

 

The Kitzur explains (se'if 1) that we must first pray the prayer appropriate for that time and only afterwards the compensatory one.  If we are summoned at that time to perform a particular service, it is natural and even obvious that we must start with the current agenda.  This also explains why we can not make up a prayer some time after we have finished the prayer appropriate for that time (se'if 5).  To do so would gainsay the whole concept of fixed prayers as a call from God.

 

However, this ruling of the Kitzur is not universally accepted.  Many maintain that if one failed to make up the missed prayer in conjunction with the following prayer, he is permitted to make it up even afterwards during the TIME of that prayer.  Even if this prayer does not count as compensation, as the Kitzur rules, it can be considered a purely voluntary prayer. (1)

 

2.  MUSAF (se'ifim 4, 8)

 

Rav Ganzfried points out that though musaf (the additional prayers on Rosh Chodesh and holidays, days when there was an additional sacrifice in the Temple) may be said all day long, it can not be made up.  The reason given is that the musaf prayer is not just another opportunity to meet with HaShem about ongoing business; rather, it relates specifically to the day which obligates it.  Consequently, on the one hand, the entire day is suitable for this prayer, but on the other hand, there is no logic in making it up.

 

3.  ROSH CHODESH  (se'if 7)

 

The compensatory prayer is identical to the prayer appropriate for that time that it follows.  For example, if we forget mincha on Rosh Chodesh, then we need to make it up by repeating the REGULAR weekday prayer that night after Maariv.  We have also learned that if one forgets "ya'aleh ve-yavo" on Rosh Chodesh, it is as if one has not prayed at all (siman 19 se'ifim 10 and 11).  

 

Therefore, if one forgets ya'aleh ve-yavo at Mincha, it seems clear that one should make up the "missed" prayer at Maariv.  Yet, the Kitzur makes a surprising ruling.  He says that one does NOT repeat Maariv.  Since the repeated prayer is the same as the one we ALREADY offered, as it also lacks ya'aleh ve-yavo, how can it compensate for the previously lacking prayer?!

 

     We could just as easily ask how Shabbat evening prayers, with their seven blessings, could compensate for mincha on Friday afternoon with its eighteen blessings!  It seems that what is important is not that the new prayer be quantitatively greater than the missed prayer but rather that it contain something new.  This reminds us of the requirement that a voluntary prayer include something new - the subject of the next section.

 

4.  VOLUNTARY PRAYERS (se'if 10)

 

Rav Ganzfried mentions that in our day is not customary to make a voluntary, non-obligatory prayer.  Yet, according to the Shulchan Arukh, we MAY make such a prayer as often as we like - as long as such a prayer has something new in it. (2)

 

The idea of saying a voluntary Amida prayer seems strange.  After all, if I have something I feel I must tell God, why can't I just say it in the form of a personal petition?  The mandatory content of the Shemoneh Esrei prayer - establishing the foundations of our Jewish identity - seems to be related to its mandatory times: the service God demands of us exactly this, to be regularly and constantly working on ourselves to mold a Jewish personality conforming with tradition.  Once the prayer is outside the parameters of the regulated service, why should it require the usual format?

 

The halakha seems to take this objection into account.  A person may NOT say a voluntary Amida prayer - but he MAY say a private petition and ensconce it within the Amida.  In this way, a person can emphasize that his PRIVATE desires are not mere whims but rather are embedded in the bedrock of a Torah personality.  In effect, the innovation is not a mere addition but rather is the focal point of the new prayer.

 

The accepted custom reflects an intermediate position between the Shulchan Arukh's ruling, that one may say a voluntary Amida without restriction, and that of the Kitzur, which says that we don't say such a prayer at all.  The custom is that if we are in doubt as to whether we are required to pray  - for instance, if we forgot if we prayed, or don't know if we are in a situation where compensatory prayer is appropriate - then we may say the Amida and make a condition that if the prayer is indeed required, it is a mandatory prayer, and if not, it is merely voluntary. (3)

 

 

SIMAN 22 - TACHANUN (PENITENTIAL PRAYER) 

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1.  POSTURE FOR TACHANUN (se'if 2)

 

The Kitzur rules that during tachanun we should sit and lean over on our sides.

 

During the Amida prayer we stand at attention as we are summoned before our supreme Commander; in the tachanun prayer, we fall on our faces as we beg the compassion of our merciful Father in heaven.  An erect posture is appropriate for service, as we demonstrate our readiness to carry out God's will; a prostrate position is appropriate for supplication, as we demonstrate our helplessness and need for salvation.

 

However, COMPLETE prostration is inappropriate.  Such a posture is considered too demanding - as though HaShem is obligated to answer our prayers, as long as we are worthy. (4) Furthermore, it could seem as though we were bowing down in idolatrous fashion to some person or object, and not to HaShem.  In Jewish tradition such prostration as an element of worship is limited to the Holy Temple, where it is obvious to all that it is the One God Who is being worshipped. (5) Therefore, the custom is to cover the face with one sleeve, thus tending to one side.

 

2.  NEED FOR A TORAH SCROLL (se'if 4)

 

Rav Ganzfried mentions the custom of not bowing for tachanun unless there is a Torah scroll.  This custom also emphasizes that we are bowing down before HaShem only.

 

3.  ASKING OF GOD, DEMANDING FROM GOD

 

At the beginning of the siman we mentioned that complete prostration is problematic since it seems to suggest that God MUST accede to our demands.  Quite apart from the fact that this reflects badly on us if God finds us unworthy after such a demand, the very MAKING of such a demand on the Holy One, blessed be He seems problematic.  This could be seen as ingratitude - or perhaps even worse, a failure to accept God's will.

 

Indeed, there is an inherent religious tension between faithfully accepting God's decrees and wanting to change them in order to carry out God's own work.  Choni Ha-Me'agel [the circle-drawer] "threatened" HaShem that he would not step out of his little circle until HaShem gave us rain - and indeed HaShem answered Choni's prayer.  But the leading sage Shimon ben Shetach did not approve of this kind of prayer. (6)  Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev once "threatened" HaShem that he would not go ahead with his prayers until He would ease the burdens of exile from the Jews.  But the Mitnagdim - the opponents of Chasidut - were very upset with Rav Levi Yitzchak's conduct.

 

We need to remember that there are two distinct kinds of revelation of God's will.  One is through His word to our prophets, from Moshe Rabbeinu through the later prophets.  The other is through the reality in which we live.  Every aspect of our lives is a revelation of God's will, since it is the Almighty Who willed it into existence.  These manifestations can contradict each other.  HaShem revealed Himself to Avraham as a Judge (7), but afterwards informed him of His plan to overturn Sodom - conceivably a breach of justice. (8)  The prophets foretold that our suffering and loyalty to HaShem would bring an end to the exile, but the Jews of Europe saw no end in sight.  It is this CONTRADICTION which creates the possibility - and even the duty - of arguing with HaShem.

 

In other words, these "demands" of God are not expressions of denying His will but rather of affirming it! We take God's will as it is revealed through our tradition very seriously, so much so that when reality seems to contradict His word, we demand a reconciliation.

 

The halakha strikes a balance between the two kinds of Divine manifestation.  As we beg for an end to the sorrows of exile in our tachanun prayer, we take up the cause of prophetic revelation, pointing out to God that in His Torah He promises that He will gather in the exile.  But by refraining from prostrating ourselves completely, we avoid being too brazen in our demands and demonstrate that we reconcile ourselves to the fact that it is God's will that determines our current situation.

 

4.  OMITTING TACHANUN ON A JOYOUS OCCASION (se'ifim 6-8)

 

The Kitzur enumerates the various joyous occasions when tachanun is omitted: on holidays, and in the presence of a bridegroom or someone participating in a brit.  In the light of what we discussed in the previous section, we can see that times of special joy are inappropriate time for showing HaShem how needy we are.

 

 

Endnotes:

 

(1)  Mishna Berura 108:15.

 

(2)  SA OC 107:1.

 

(3)  See Mishna Berura 108:33.

 

(4)  Consequently, if our prayer is NOT answered, it reflects negatively on the congregation.  In the Talmud and in the Shulchan Arukh (OC 131:8) this is mentioned as a problem only for a prominent person.  However, some commentators mention this as a reason for the ENTIRE congregation not prostrating themselves entirely - see e.g. Magen Avraham at the beginning of the siman (s.k.  2)

 

(5)  In Megilla 22b two reasons are given for not bowing down: one is so we shouldn't appear like idol-worshippers bowing down to something before us, and two, because it looks bad to reach this level of begging and not be answered.

 

(6)  Ta'anit 19a.

 

(7)  Bereishit 15:14.

 

(8)  Bereishit 18:21.