We are now starting hilchot tefillah vezemanah (the laws of prayer and its times). Very practical halachot (Jewish law). You don't want to skip this one at all: siman peh-tet (section eighty-nine). zman tefillat hashachar (the time of the morning prayer): mitzvatah (commandment) sheyatchil im hanetz hachamah (sunrise). There you go, rabotai. Mitzvat tefillat hashachar is sheyatchil with the netz, kidechtiv (as it is written), “yira'ucha im shamesh” (May they fear You with the sun). Right? Yira'ucha—you'll be seen, or fear of God, or they will see you with tefillah. When? With the sun. You pray with the sun.
Ve'im hitpallel mishe'alah amud hashachar vehe'iru pnei mizrach yatza. If you prayed from alot, bedi'avad (after the fact) yatza, because really the day starts from alot. Venimshach zmanah ad sof arba sha'ot shehu shlish hayom. Right, you have until four hours, obviously zmaniyot, which is a third of the day. Ve'im ta'ah o avar vehitpallel achar arba sha'ot ad chatzot—so if a person prayed after four hours, af al pi she'ein lo sechar kitefillah bizmanah, sechar tefillah miha ika. So after four hours—which we're going to learn is between four and six—you get sechar tefillah because it's still considered the morning until chatzot (midday), but you can't get credit for sechar tefillah bizmanah. Beautiful.
So we have three levels here. We have netz hachamah, which the Shulchan Aruch says is a big mitzvah. And then you have what? Alot hashachar; that's earlier, and that's bedi'avad yatza. And then you have until the fourth hour. That's not bedi'avad; that's zman tefillat Shacharit (morning prayer) ad arba sha'ot. Zman hamuvchar, we'll say, is netz. We're not going to say that praying at four hours is bedi'avad; otherwise, you'd make the whole world pray bedi'avad every day. No. Zman hamuvchar: netz; bedi'avad: before netz; normal mitzvah: ad arba sha'ot, when you get sechar tefillah and sechar tefillah bizmanah. Then, after four hours until the sixth hour, you get sechar tefillah aval lo bizmanah. And after the sixth hour, we've got to deal with tashlumin (make-up prayers), depending on what you did.
Halachah bet: keivan shehigi'a zman tefillah, asur le'adam lehagdim lepetach chavero liten lo shalom (peace). You cannot go visit somebody to greet him—to go out of your way to tell him shalom—before you prayed, mishum deshmo shel Hakadosh Baruch Hu (the Holy One, blessed be He) Shalom. Aha, so it sounds like “good morning” should be okay. It's only an inyan that you shouldn't use God's name to greet somebody before you actually greet Him. Aval mutar lomar, tzafra demari tav, which is basically saying good morning. Ve'afilu zeh eino mutar ela keshehu tzarich lelech lirot eizeh esek. Even that's only permissible when you need to go check something, kanir'eh there was a hefsed (loss) or something you have to involve yourself in. Aval im eino holech ela lehagbil panav kodem tefillah, afilu zeh halashon asur.
But if you go out of your way to welcome a guy or knock on his door—“Hey, tzafra demari tav!”—what are you, the welcoming committee? Go to shul. If you came to tell him something because it was an esek you had with the guy, or maybe a tzorech, or something important, of course you could say tzafra demari tav. But stam, you're knocking on doors: “Tzafra demari tav, tzafra demari tav.” Even if you're not knocking on the door, somebody's sitting over there—you didn't see him—and you just want to go say hi. From this, from this, chazak uvaruch; from this it sounds like—especially “Shabbat Shalom”—don't go out of your way. If the guy bumps into you, of course, tzafra demari tav. That's what it sounds like.
Vechen asur lichroa lo keshemashkim lepitcho. Okay, like the Chinese or the Japanese, whatever they do, they bow. Hashem yishmerenu veyatzilenu, everybody. Veyesh omrim dekri'ah asurah afilu belo mashkim lepitcho. Right, some say you can never bow down, even if you weren't mashkim lepitcho. Kanir'eh, the first opinion says you shouldn't bow to your friend before you bow to God; and some say, “Oh, you never bow to your friend.” Ve'im hitchil levarech haberachot ein lachush kol kach. Ah, if you started to make the berachot, maybe it's birchot hashachar, so already you're in; you broke the ice. So it could be you're okay.
Ve'im eino mashkim lepitcho ela paga bo baderech. That's what happens sometimes: you bump into the guy in the street. You didn't go out of your way, so mutar liten lo shalom. You can even say shalom, like when walking to shul on Shabbat. Bideyuk, you see a guy. So this is a weekday; you can say shalom. On Shabbat you can say “Shabbat Shalom,” because that's—right, assuming that you can say shalom on Shabbat. But this is talking about a weekday. Veyesh omrim she'afilu bemotzei chavero bashuk lo yomar lo ela tzafra demari tav. Ah, some say even if you meet him in the shuk, you never say shalom, ela tzafra demari tav, sabach al-cheir. Kedei sheyiten lev shehu asur lehit'akev bidvarim acherim kodem sheyitpalel. So how's the guy going to know you didn't pray yet? Therefore, you're telling him tzafra demari tav. That's a code word: “Oh, he didn't pray.” Otherwise, he's going to chew your ear off. So he knows right away you didn't pray, and you won't be mit'akev; you'll be able to go.
Gimmel: asur lo lehit'asek betzrachav o lelech laderech ad sheyitpalel tefilat Shemoneh Esreh (Eighteen Benedictions). Wow. So you really can't do your personal needs. Here's the she'elah: Can you shower before shul? Can you shave before shul? Can you exercise before shul? All these things are questions over here. Maran says betzrachav. Maybe you can argue those are tzorkhei Hashem. I'm shaving so I can come to the bet kneset looking proper. I'm showering so I can come—that's all considered hikon likrat Elohecha Yisrael. Chacham David, I'm just throwing it out there: maybe you could argue that certain things are hybrids. They're tzrachav, but they also have tzorchei gavoha, as opposed to sending a fax before you go to shul. “Oh, what's that, bechol drachecha da'ehu” (Know Him in all your ways)? That's already totally business. Or sending some emails before you go to pray, or certain things like that, where you say that's not a hachanah for tefillah. Unless you'll tell me even that's a hachanah, because if I don't send the email, I won't be able to pray with kavanah; my mind will be—okay, maybe they're going to fool around with those sevarot. We'll have to see.
O lelech laderech ad sheyitpalel tefilat Shemoneh Esreh: he shouldn't go on the derech, which is a big chidush. Let's say I say, “You know what? Let me go to the airport; I'll pray in the airport.” So already I was yatza laderech. I want to catch the flight, but my kavanah is that I'll pray in the airport. Maybe yatza laderech means pray first and figure it out after. We don't know; we'll see. Tefilat Shemoneh Esreh. Okay, continue, rabotai: velo leechol velo lishtot. That's a very important halachah. You cannot eat, you cannot drink. Okay, eating and drinking before the tefillah.
Ah, but this is only talking about a situation where breakfast isn't going to end. At the hotel, breakfast ends at 10:00. So then they're not talking about that! Then you have to eat; you paid for breakfast! You paid for the continental breakfast. So this is talking about as long as breakfast will still be open after Shacharit. But if, Charlie, breakfast isn't going to be open after Shacharit, chaval, you're going to give all that up? You can't do that. Exactly. Now you see, if we're going to Jay's and someone says, “Oh, eat breakfast! You didn't pray Shacharit yet!”—“Call the waiter, bring me another item.” What happened? Isn't that what we've been learning? So everyone thinks like David now. So David now, a coffee, okay?
So Maran says, aval mayim mutar lishtot kodem tefillah. Mayim mutar. Okay, and we had this question last time: should seltzer be the same thing? Seltzer's water. What, because he puts some bubbles in it, does that make a difference? A lemon? I didn't say lemon. Who asked about lemon? I didn't say Snapple; I said seltzer. Although Chacham Baruch held that soda is considered water. Sugar and water, yeah, that Coke is considered sugar and water. Chacham Baruch alav hashalom. They asked him, “Can you have a Coke before Shacharit?” He said, “What's a Coke? It's sugar and water. It's like an iced coffee. Sprite, what is it? It's sugar and water. Don't you have coffee with sugar?” He held that soda was like a different opinion.
Ben bechol ben beShabbat beyom tov. Good. So you can drink. It's a chidush: on Shabbat, you haven't made kiddush yet. It's okay; even on Shabbat, before tefillah there's no chiyuv of kiddush yet, so there's no problem having a drink. But he didn't say coffee, Maran. Then he says, vechen ochlim umashkim lirfu'ah mutar. Right, if you're eating foods for refu'ah purposes, that's also allowed. You see, they don't want you to eat the ga'avah type of eating. But if you're eating for the sake of your health, to get rid of a headache, stuff like that—a guy has a headache and needs a coffee, bideyuk, bideyuk—or if the doctor tells him, “Listen, when you wake up in the morning, you have to eat something because you have to take your medicine,” or something like that, then for sure. That's not ga'avah eating. The guy's eating just so he can take his medicine, or the eating is his medicine.
Yeah, they rely on this. They're all sick. Three hundred people on the same trip all got sick at the same time, at 9:00 in the morning, okay? I have no problem, money. I have no problem. You want to be melamed zechut, melamed zechut. And they're sick all year long, from when they're eight years old. That's it. They're sick from eight to ninety; everybody's sick. I have no problem.
Okay. I was in Morocco once—many times—but on one of our trips to the Rabbi Yitzchak, to the tzadikim, we got up early to pray Shacharit on Shabbat by the kever, by the shul over there. We got up in the house of the Chetrits, and there was a beautiful buffet set up with tea, coffee, crumpets, and all that other stuff, these special doughnuts they make, all that unbelievable stuff. And the guys are going at it, the tzadikim: these guys, doughnut with its coffee with its—What's going on over here, rabotai? They say, “We have a tradition.” Aha, okay, here's your tradition. How did they answer it? Well, they answered it: “When did they say you can't eat before Shacharit? That was in the olden days, when the whole Shacharit was what? ‘I love You, Hashem, You're the best, ani modeh lecha.’ There was no nusach; the whole tefillah took a minute. So it says, praise Hashem before you—But today the tefillah is an hour and a half; they weren't talking about that. Therefore, we're lenient over here. Otherwise, you're going to die! Not going to eat?”
“So you did Birchot Hashachar first?” I said, “Okay, but Shulchan Aruch—when did it change? Shulchan Aruch brought this down! So it must have changed, what, 450 years?” That was their leniency. They said Birchot Hashachar; they said, “We say Birchot Hashachar, and that's it, we're done.” I'm not saying I agreed with them, but they definitely agreed with themselves! I'll tell you that: they believed it, that's for sure.
Now, halachah dalet. Here's a good one. This is what the Chassidim are relying on now: Hatzamei vehara'ev, harei hem bichlal hacholim. If you're hungry, hunger is considered like being sick. Im yesh bo yechol lechaven da'ato yitpallel, ve'im lav, im ratzah al yitpallel ad sheyochal veyishteh. That means, if not eating will keep you from having kavanah, then eating is considered a tzorech tefillah. That's their heter for coffee, really. The coffee is a tzorech of tefillah. “I can't pray without coffee in the morning; I don't wake up in the morning.” And if a cup of arak does it for you, then Rav Chaim would have arak before he prayed Shacharit in the morning.
Ve'im hitchil le'echol kodem alot hashachar: if he started early, if he woke up early, kodem alot hashachar, tzarich lehafsik. Once you get to alot hashachar, that's already the zeman. Veyeish omrim shelo tzarich lehafsik. That's a what? That's a yeish veyeish, or it's a setam veyeish? Setam veyeish.
Vav. Here's a big one, rabotai. Do not judge us yet until we see the poskim. Afilu lilmod asur misheyagia zeman tefillah. Amazing. This time we won't have a problem because we pray first, but when netz gets late, we learn first and then we pray. So, Maran is saying that even learning before the tefillah is an esek like that in Masechet Berachot (tractate Berachot); you shouldn't do it. Vehainu mi sheragil lehitpallel beveit midrasho, ve'eino ragil lelech leveit hakeneset. It's talking about a guy who learns at home. He has a midrash in his house. So, therefore, if he's going to learn at home, what are we worried about? He might not go to shul; he might get caught up. Ve'ika lemeichash dilma mitrad begirseih, veya'avor zman Kri'at Shema (recitation of the Shema) utefillah. Aval mi sheragil lelech leveit hakeneset, mutar. Why? Because you're learning in the beit kneset like we do, so you're not going to be tarud; you're right there. You're in the beit kneset, and Shacharit starts.
Ve'im hu melammed le'acherim, ayein Tosafot: if he's teaching others, afilu be'ein ragil lelech leveit hakeneset, mutar. Why? Keivan shehasha'ah overet, dezchut harabbim davar gadol hu. Ve'im lo yilmedu achshav yitbattelu velo yuchlu lilmod. That's their time; they're businesspeople. If you're not going to learn with them now, they won't be able to learn. So therefore we're lenient: a melammed can teach them before Shacharit, even if he's not in the beit kneset. No problem. Zchut harabbim is big.
Zayin. Mutar lehistapper velikanes lamerchatz samuch leShacharit. Before the zeman of Shacharit, obviously, before the zeman comes, you're allowed to go to the barber—you won't find a barber open at 4:00 in the morning—but you can also go into the bathhouse, to the chammam. Shelo gazru ela samuch leMinchah (afternoon prayer), shehu davar hamatzui. They only made the gezerah that you cannot go to the bathhouse or the barber before Minchah time, because that's normally when people go, but they didn't make a gezerah before Shacharit.
Last halachah: beshe'at hadechak, kegon shetzarich lehaskim laderech, a guy who has to wake up early in the morning yachol lehitpallel mishe'alah amud hashachar. Unbelievable! So if you have a reason, you can pray from alot hashachar. Veyamtin mikrot keri'at Shema ad sheyagia zemannah. That means you should wait to read the Shema until its proper time. When is that? Ve'af al pi she'eino somech ge'ulah litefillah (joining redemption to prayer)—meaning, even though you're not going to be somech ge'ulah litefillah. Why aren't you going to be somech ge'ulah litefillah? Hachi adif. Tefei sheyitpallel beveito me'omed mima sheyitpallel bizmanah vehu mehalech veyismoch ge'ulah litefilah. That's a separate thing.
That means, let's say a person has to go on the road and won't be able to pray standing, because he'll already be traveling. So the she'elah is: What's better—to pray the Amidah standing, or to say the Amidah sitting, but at least be able to be somech ge'ulah litefilah? The Shulchan Aruch sounds like it's better to pray standing, even though you're not going to be somech ge'ulah litefilah. Then, when you're sitting in the car, you'll do the berachot and the Kri'at Shema. All right, we'll see this halachah in a minute.
Now let's go to the bottom-line halachot that have come out of this. Okay, let's go one at a time. Rabotai, there's a lot in this siman. A big siman, hundreds of pages. Okay, we'll read. Mitzvat aseh min haTorah lehitpallel bechol yom. We didn't get to that mitzvah yet in the Sefer HaChinuch (Book of Education), but I guess this is a mitzvah of prayer. “Va'avadetem et Hashem Elokeichem” (You shall serve the Lord your God). Eizehu avodah shebalev? Zo tefillah (Service of the heart is prayer). The Chachamim already established Shacharit, Minchah, and Arvit (evening prayer).
Mitzvah min hamuvchar lehatchil tefilat Shemoneh Esreh shel Shacharit miyad im henetz hachamah. Like we said, mitzvah min hamuvchar to pray the Amidah a few minutes before the netz—meaning the Shema, I'm sorry, a few minutes before the netz, so the netz will be the Amidah—because it says yira'ucha im shamesh. Okay, we saw that. Ve'im ratzah lehitpallel le'achar miken, after netz, af al pi she'eino mitzvah min hamuvchar, mikol makom rashai la'asot ken lechatchilah. So don't think a guy praying after netz is a bedi'avadnik. He's a lechatchilahnik; he's just not doing the mitzvah min hamuvchar. Uvilvad shelo ye'acher et hazman. You want to ask something? Amen. Okay, beautiful.
Uvedi'avad, im hitpallel Shemoneh Esreh shel Shacharit achar she'alah amud hashachar, yatza yedei chovah. Vechen bish'at hadechak, shehu anus latzet laderech, rashai lehitpallel afilu lechatchilah achar amud hashachar. That's a very important halachah. Maran holds that if you have to go to work and get there, then praying at amud hashachar is lechatchilah; it's not bedi'avad. So you could have two guys in the amud hashachar minyan: one gets bedi'avad credit, and one gets lechatchilah credit. It all depends on your kavanah—why you're praying early. One guy has tee time early, so then you're bedi'avad. What, you're praying netz for golf? Tee off. Exactly, to tee off. Another guy has to catch a flight or go to work; muttar lechatchilah.
I asked Chacham Yom Tov—I told you this story a hundred times. Chacham Yom Tov used to pray in the first minyan; Chacham Baruch also used to pray in the first minyan. Sometimes in the summer here, you're already praying before netz. Now the netz is 5:20, so if you pray at 5:45, you're after netz. But as the netz gets later, toward the end of the summer, it'll be at 6:00, 6:05, 6:10. Then what happens? The 5:45 minyanim end up praying the Amidah before netz, and Chacham Baruch always prayed in that minyan. His opinion was that because he had to teach the ba'alei batim who were going to work, he held that it was lechatchilah. That was his job: he had to teach the people, so he had no choice but to pray then. There was no minyan afterward, and he was already doing something else. That was why he prayed in the first minyan.
Chacham Yom Tov followed the Beit David. I asked Chacham Yom Tov once in Deal shul. I said, “Okay, I'll take a risk.” After I asked him, I said Gomel. I came out of the lion's mouth alive. Baruch Hashem. So I told him—I quoted Shulchan Aruch, as if he didn't know it. You kids think you know everything and the rabbi doesn't know anything. I went to him and said, “What's the—?” He says, “Svarat Beit David!” I said, “Chacham, again, I don't know what you're talking about.” He says, “Svarat Beit David.” I didn't know what he was talking about, so I went to Chacham Edmond. I said, “What does he keep saying, ‘svarat Beit David’?” He said, “Ayein Ben Ish Chai.”
I opened the Ben Ish Chai. The Ben Ish Chai says he had the same issue in Baghdad. When he got there, everybody was praying before netz. He said, “What's going on over there?” They said, “That's what we do; we pray before netz. We have a svara deBeit David that says the netz is really before netz.” The Ben Ish Chai tried to change it. He said, “I couldn't do it.” Imagine, the Ben Ish Chai couldn't change the minhag over there. That's how they were doing it. The ba'alei batim said, “Hey, don't come and change our minhagim.”
So there is a svara that says the netz really isn't what we think netz is. You thought netz is when the sun comes up? Shame on you! Why did you think that? Why did you think that? You thought it's sunrise? Tipesh, what kind of a guy are you? It's really when the rays start to come up, which is still under the horizon, much earlier. So he held, “Come on, you know, I'm praying lechatchilah. What are you talking about? You're bedi'avad. I'm praying netz. What are you doing? You're praying at a seven o'clock minyan; you're already—everything is bedi'avad.” Of course, that's the Ben Ish Chai. But again, if a guy has a business appointment or things like that, praying at alot is lechatchilah, which is good to know. You're not being bedi'avad. Of course, kodem alot hashachar, that's for sure not bedi'avad; lo yatza.
Exactly. So therefore, he says like this. Wow, what a chidush Chacham David says here. A big chidush. U-bedi'avad im hitpallel miyad achar she-alah amud hashachar, so he prayed right after amud hashachar, af al pi she-me'ikar hadin yatza yedei chovah, mikol makom nachon she-yachzor ve-yitpallel bi-tnai shel nedavah (voluntary prayer), ve-yomar: “Im ani chayav lehitpallel, tehei tefillah zo le-shem chovah, ve-im lav tefillat nedavah.” Wow. If you prayed when you weren't supposed to pray and you didn't have to go to work, you should make this tnai. Im hitpallel me'at kodem alot hashachar, chayav lachzor u-lehitpallel. That's right. Even a minute before alot hashachar, you're out. Okay, then he says—it's worth more to pray another Shacharit. No, no nedavah now, then.
Ve-chol zeh eino le-inyan zman tefillat Shacharit. Aval le-inyan zman Kri'at Shema, zmanah lechatchilah hu ke-sha'ah achat zmanit kodem hanetz hachamah, like we learned. Shema is one sha'ah zmanit before the netz. So make it simple today. Netz was what, 5:23? So 5:23—what's a sha'ah zmanit today, about 70 minutes? So that's about 4:15. Therefore, that's how you know the zman Kri'at Shema. She-zmanah lechatchilah hu ke-sha'ah achat zmanit kodem hanetz. U-bedi'avad bi-she'at hadechak yachol lehaktim keri'atah miyad achar alot. Bedi'avad if you did it after alot it's okay, but lechatchilah we learned that's the way. It's the same thing with tallit (prayer shawl) and tefillin (phylacteries): an hour zmanit before netz. So what time is alot today? Probably before 4:00. What time is it, 4:05? A hundred opinions. Five to 4:00, I think. Five to 4:00, around that, yeah, makes sense. “3:35,” it says over here. Yeah, there's a hundred opinions, a million opinions. Okay. So what he's telling you is that sha'ah zmanit before netz is when you can start doing the—Okay.
U-zman tzitzit ve-tefillin af hu ke-sha'ah achat zmanit kodem netz hachamah, like we said. Yeish lilmod—here's the rule—she-po'alim u-sechirim, workers, she-tzrichim latzet le-avodatam mashkem ba-boker, u-fe'amim she-einam yecholim lehit'acher, kegon bi-ymot hachoref, especially in winter, when sunrise isn't until 7:15 or 7:20 where we live. So you tell the worker, what, he's going to finish Shacharit at 8:00? It's too late. Mi-kol makom einam rasha'im lehakdim tefillat Shacharit kodem alot hashachar. So therefore, you have to warn them. Ve-lachen yeish lehorot lahem she-yatchilu be-amirat korbanot, like we do, belo tallit ve-tefillin, which we start at alot without tallit and tefillin, like an hour and a half before netz hachamah. Then what? Ve-yatchilu be-nachat Baruch She'amar u-Pesukei deZimrah (verses of praise), right after alot hashachar. Once alot hashachar begins, start Baruch She'amar. She-ein lomar Pesukei deZimrah kodem alot hashachar. And then, after Yishtabach, they'll put on the tallit and tefillin with a berachah, and the sheli'ach tzibbur says Chatzi Kaddish with Barchu.
Until today they do that in the Midrash, ad hayom hazeh. They still do it until today. They still do it in Aram Tzovah (Aleppo), I mean, you know. In Aram Tzovah. Yeah, that's the early minyan, the workers' minyan. They pray as early as possible, which means they're actually hitting Baruch She'amar at alot. Yeah, because they're starting tallit and tefillin sha'ah u-mechtzah before netz. So an hour and a half before netz, they're starting korbanot. Wow. Beli tefillin—that's early. Beli tefillin. That's early. I guess—well, it's not so early in the winter when netz is 7:20; it's 10:00 to 6:00. Yeah, 10:00 to 6:00. No, that's a normal time they start. Right, before alot hashachar. Before alot hashachar. It's interesting. There's even a sevara that alot hashachar is 90 minutes. There is yeish—right, right, right, even before that, 100%, 100%. So he's saying over here you're doing 90 minutes, that's an hour and a half before netz, and that—but then he says, “At alot,” so obviously he had a different, later alot. You do Baruch She'amar at alot, and then tallit and tefillin after that.
Ve'im zmanam dachuk. Wow, look at this. At least they'd be bedi'avad guys, but they're really not bedi'avad; they have to go to work! How is it—it's not a “lo yomeru kol hachazarah,” pray bekol ram also? Wow. Ela yatchil hashli'ach tzibur tefilat ha'amidah bekol ram and make kedushah. Yep. They can't pray the Amidah; they've got to rush. Ve'im zmanam dachuk beyoter, more than that, what's more to skip? Resha'im ledaleg al viduy venefilat apayim, skip viduy, go straight to Ashrei, u-va le-Tzion, kaddish titkabel, and the rest, do it on your own.
Mi she'ein lo bimkom megurav minyan be-hanetz hachamah. Let's say a guy lives in a place where they don't have a minyan at netz, ela rak kodem hanetz hachamah—only before netz, that's the minyan they have—and Vehu atzmo yachol lehitpallel behanetz hachamah. He's not rushing; he's on vacation. Ra'uy lehitpalel beyachid behanetz hachamah, let him pray beyachid, o le'achar miken, or later, mimah sheyitpalel betzibur kodem netz hachamah, mipnei shetefilat betzibur einah ela mitzvah min hamuvchar, tefilat kodem hanetz hu tefilah bedi'avad. There you go. Zman overrides tzibur. That's the key. Zman is me'ikarei hatefilah; tzibur is mitzvah min hamuvchar. So if you're on your own, or the only minyan is early and you're on vacation, like we said, or you don't need to pray that early, pray beyachid. He prays alone. Alone. No, it's okay.
Veyesh omerim she'im lamrot sheyachol lehitpalel achar hanetz hachamah, ragil lehitpalel kodem lachen—what's he saying here?—if normally you pray early, lo yatza yedei chovato afilu bedi'avad. Wow, this is a new chidush. Let's say the guy can pray after netz, but he's used to praying early because he wants to pray early, stam. A guy can pray at an 8:00 minyan; there's no problem, he's not going anywhere, he's retired. But he prays in the first minyan like that, for no reason. Lo yatza yedei chovato according to some people, venachon lachush ledivreihem veyachzor veyitpalel bitnai shel nedavah. So just because you want to get up early—early bird catches the worm—don't do that. Learn! Maran says yatza. “No, no, no,” so he's bringing other shitot, veyesh omerim, that if he could pray later and didn't—he's retired, he's not going to work—yep. No, could be S'fard's opinion, could be other Rishonim; they want you to pray nedavah.
Mikol makom, ra'uy sheyavo levet hakeneset besha'ah shetzibur mitpalelim. You should always pray with the tzibur if you can; you have kaddish and all this other stuff over there. Okay. Now, im ein bimkom megurav minyan behanetz hachamah, same thing: there's no minyan at netz, ela rak le'achar hanetz hachamah. Here is the famous question: Can he pray netz beyachid or pray betzibur? Now you have two mitzvah min hamuvchar's that clash with each other: netz is mitzvah min hamuvchar, and tzibur is mitzvah min hamuvchar. Im yode'a be'atzmo sheyachol lechaven bitfilato kara'uy, adif sheyitpalel biyichidut im hanetz hachamah. It's coming to the same thing: he can pray. “Even if you're not a regular netz guy?” Even if you're not a regular netz guy, pray behanetz. Even if you're not a regular—yeah, be Jewish today! On vacation by yourself, bideyuk, and there isn't a netz minyan in your surroundings. Ve'im lav—of course, if you're not—but again, some people can't have kavanah when they pray alone; they get gassed up, they're going to be walking... have more kavanah when they're... I'm just saying, if they don't, then pray later. But if you can have kavanah, he's saying, do it. Ve'im lav, adif sheyitpalel betzibur achar hanetz hachamah. U-mikol makom ra'uy sheyavo levet hakeneset, but still go to shul to get kaddishim.
You made sarid vekuda—“Oh, I prayed, I'm done, beauty, I don't have to go to shul today.” No, there's a Sefer Torah, there's Barchu; you're just getting the Amidah on time, but then other—“You're in a place where they only have an 8:00 minyan.” Bideyuk, so pray netz in your room, and then go to shul. “Answer—” No, just sit there and answer, exactly, so you're doing both; it's a chumrah. Then you ruin the whole thing. You'd think, “Beauty, I'm done. I'll be on the golf course at 7:00 in the morning.” No, no, no, you have to go to shul. “Can he sit there? He can't read a book while he's sitting and listening? He's got to sit there and listen?” No, no, no, you can look. What are you listening? You learn and stop in the middle.
Le'or ha'amur, this is what comes out. He gives you six levels of tefillah now. Let's review. Alef: tefillah betzibbur im netz hachamah. That's, baruch Hashem, the highest level, so you should be very proud of yourselves. Number two: tefillah beyachid im netz hachamah. That's level two. Number three: tefillah betzibbur achar netz hachamah. Four: tefillah beyachid achar netz hachamah. Okay, wow. Tefillah beyachid after netz hachamah. Tefillah betzibbur kodem netz hachamah, which means besha'at hadechak or bedi'avad. So it's better to pray beyachid after netz than with a tzibbur before netz, because that's bedi'avad. Better to pray beyachid after—“No, that's the next one.” Right, bediyuk, bediyuk. So it's even better to pray beyachid after netz. “Yeah, go to it, maybe answer.” Yeah, go to it and answer. It's always better to go answer because you have to get these things in your bank, but it's better to pray after the time. And vav: tefillah beyachid kodem hanetz hachamah besha'at hadechak o bedi'avad. That's already the worst level. What are you doing? You have a flight, and therefore—right, besha'at hadechak o bedi'avad, exactly.
Now, zman tefillat Shemoneh Esreh shel Shacharit nimshach ad sof arba sha'ot matchilat hayom. What's the latest you can pray Shacharit? Four hours. Dehainu arba sha'ot zmaniyot. Ve'elu arba sha'ot nimnot mizrichat hashemesh, and you can count them from sunrise, which is a kula. You're starting to count from a later time. If you start from alot, it ends earlier. Veyesh shehechmiru limnot otam me'alot hashachar, beautiful. Vehamachmir lehitpallel tamid betoch arba sha'ot me'alot hashachar tavo alav berachah. That's the machloket of the Gaon and the Magen Avraham. If you want to pray at the earlier time, bless you, but you don't have to. Lechatchilah tzarich sheyessayem tefillat Shemoneh Esreh betoch arba: you have to finish the whole Amidah within four hours. Ve'im ein dai bekach sheyatchil Shemoneh Esreh betoch arba, you can't start it. Mikol makom im hitchil lehitpallel samuch lesof tefillah afilu hayah hadavar bemezid, as long as you started, you're okay bedi'avad. Bedi'avad, but lechatchilah you should try to finish the whole Amidah within four hours.
Im lo hitpallel Shemoneh Esreh shel Shacharit ad she'averu arba sha'ot. Okay, now let's say four hours passed. What's four hours today? Let's do simple math; we can figure it out. 5:20, 5:20 is netz, let's say. “5:27 today?” It's going, it's going later and later? Wow, beautiful. Huh? Yeah, I noticed that extra minute today. So 5:25. If you did four straight hours, 60-minute hours, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9:25. However, you probably have to add another 40 minutes, so it's probably around 10:00 or 10:15 for the latest end time for tefillah. So what does MyZmanim say is the latest zman for tefillah? Shacharit is 10:27. You know, 10:27, so basically we figured that out correctly.
So now what happens if a guy hasn't prayed Shacharit and it's 10:27? “Oh no, Shacharit—Shema he lost.” Shema is also—well, you could say Shema, but you're not going to get credit for the zman. So what do you do le'inyan that? So im hayah hadavar beshogeg—great point—if it was beshogeg, meaning he woke up late, let's say, even before tashlumin, you have until chatzot. Rashai lehitpallel le'achar miken ad chatzot hayom. Ah, so you have another two hours, until midday. 12:57. So if kids get up at 11:00 on a Sunday, they can pray; that's considered shogeg. Ve'im hayah hadavar bemezid, then you do nedavah. Uveshabbat uveyom tov she'ein mitpallelin nedavah, so then you're stuck. After you intentionally missed Shacharit after four hours, you're stuck; you can't even pray a nedavah. Now, if it's bemezid—no, bemezid, you can't do shtayim.
Im lo hitpallel Shemoneh Esreh shel Shacharit ad she'avar chatzot hayom. Okay, now you're burned; the guy is really a deadbeat. He didn't pray even by chatzot. Afilu hayah hadavar beshogeg, eino rashai lehitpallel achar chatzot hayom. That's it; you're stuck. You can't pray Shacharit after chatzot hayom, and certainly not after shehigi'a zman Minchah gedolah. Vehanohegim lehakel bazeh—they're making—ah, he's saying those are the inyanim that say tzaddikim are lema'lah min hazman, and all that talk over there. He doesn't go for that. He goes with the clock. No, no, don't come and say you're above the zman, above the thing. Bideyuk. Nowhere. Bideyuk, you're in the twilight zone. You're not in Shacharit and you're not in Minchah, so you're, like you said, bein hatefillot. Okay, so that's that.
Now let's read a little of what Chacham Baruch said on this halachah, besides the ikar ta'ama. Let's hear what—yes, zman tefillat hashachar nimshechet me'alot hashachar ad zeman hanetz hachamah. Ve-hanetz hachamah hu zeman shepisgat guf hachamah mofi'ah venir'et me'al kav ha'ofek. Aha, so he's understanding netz hachamah the way we learned it: the ball comes above the horizon. In earlier days, they would estimate it by eyesight, and I remember that in the synagogue of the Chassidei Beit El in the Old City of Jerusalem, one person would stand and look out the window. Vecheivan shera'ah et techilat nitzotz guf hashemesh, hayah mesamen shehigi'a zeman hanetz hachamah kedei lehorot latzibur lehatchil bitfilat ha'amidah. They didn't have the atomic clock in Beit El. They had a guy out there looking at the sun. It wasn't about the seconds then; it was, “You see it?” The guy comes in and goes, “Hey, hey, hey! Higi'a!” So they—what do you mean, they stopped at—They knew more or less when it was going to happen, but when they got the green light, boom. Domani, be'ofen zeh lo hayu yecholim lechaven et hazeman bediuk, shekasheh me'od la'amod alav bir'iyat einayim gerida. Right, he's saying bediuk. Exactly. The guy would come in and flick the—whatever it is.
Ve'achen lo zachu lechach ela yechidei segulah bilvad. Oh, you see that? Not everybody was zocheh to do netz; you had to get lucky. That's what the Gemara says! A guy is zocheh to do netz, smiles all day long. Smiles all day because you didn't—because in the olden days you're rolling dice. Exactly. You don't know exactly; they don't have atomic clocks.
And he brings Berachot daf chaf-vav: eizehu ben ha'olam haba? Zeh hasomech ge'ulah litefillah. Vesham mesupar al Rav Berona; Rav Berona smiled all day long. You know, he's zocheh. Halo kol ha'olam somchim ge'ulah litefillah, umah hachiddush shel Rav Berona shezachah la'asot ken ken yom echad? Veteirtzu, sheRav Berona hayah same'ach mipnei shezachah lismoch ge'ulah litefillah besha'at hanetz hachamah davka. Right, he hit the zman. Ulam, adayin yesh lehakshot: mah hachiddush sheyesh bazeh? Sheharei harbeh somchim ge'ulah litefillah bizman hanetz hachamah. Ela al korchenu, shelo kol echad yachol ledakdek ulechaven hasha'ah kedei lesayem haberachot miyad behanetz hachamah, ulehatchil amidah be'otah hasha'ah. Especially in the olden days, if you don't have a clock in front of you, it's—even with the clock, though. Yeah, even with the clock, it's not exact.
Ve'achen, avoteinu va'avot avoteinu mizeh dorot rabim hayu mesha'arim et hanetz hachamah al pi re'ut ha'einayim bilvad, velo kivnu et hasha'ah bediuk. Ve'ilu kayom, yesh hamitkasdim venoktim betachbulot uvecheshbonot ledakdek et she'at hanetz hachamah, ve'im kavanatam letovah, harei ein anu tovim me'avoteinu shebechol hade dorot shelo dikdeku bechach. Ooh, Chacham Baruch was upset at the netz guys. Who is that? He's saying, “These chasidim today come along thinking they're better than their fathers. They figure out ways to know exactly when the zman of the netz is, and therefore—”
The footnote at the bottom: hakavanah le'elu hanoktim betachbulot lechaven she'at hanetz hachamah bediuk nimratz, kegon al pi cheshbonot mesuyamim o al yedei sha'on atomi vechayotzei bo. Uvifrat shelefi ha'emet kim'at bilti efshari lechaven hasha'ah bediuk mikamah te'amim keyedu'a labeki'im badavar. Ve'ayein Orchot Rabbeinu chelek alef, beshem haChazon Ish, she'ein she'ein ledakdek bedikduk gamur al pi hasha'on zeman hanetz hachamah, al pi zeh lekatzer o leha'arich et haberachot shelifnei ha'amidah, ki ikar hu sheyihyeh be'erech im hanetz. Vehosif, she'im yitlu al pi hasha'on, yesh lachush shehu bichlal “al ta'as tefillatka keva.”
Right, which means—wow, Chacham Sasson said the same thing. Don't be a—He said, “I don't pray to the clock. Since you guys pray to the clock, I pray to Hashem.” He's basically holding—the Chazon Ish is saying, “Al ta'as tefillatka keva.” Keva means a set, a set routine. If you pray to the clock, it's keva, like you're a robot. Pray to Hashem. Which is—yeah, but the netz guys, there's alyah vekotz bah. There's an advantage, obviously, to trying to do mitzvah min hamuvchar. We didn't say anything that's a chidush. However, you also have to remember that the tefillah can become mechanical because you're just trying to catch a zman. Right, you miss the whole point. Yeah, you have to hit the milestones, so it becomes mechanical. So therefore—So it's good once in a while to go over or go under, or try to really—No, no, no, not that.
First of all, always do—What is he saying? Lema'aseh, what is he saying? Chacham Baruch didn't pray netz. Chacham Baruch was just trying to say, don't think you're better than your grandfather in Beit El, who prayed behash'arah, and now you guys figured it out. In his time, Bnei Yosef started with the atomic clock and went crazy with it. They put this big clock on the teivah, with milliseconds, and put the zman all over the boards, like scoreboards on the side. So everybody was doing the exact time: “Oh, we know this.” And he was like, “Okay, what are you doing?” He wasn't impressed by that because he felt, what do you think? Even that, you didn't do the zman anyway. You're close enough, okay, but don't water it down.
And lema'aseh, in Beit El they tried to pray netz. Put all that aside. In Beit El they still tried to do it. Even they couldn't do it, they still tried to do it. So therefore, you see why—today they do it. Today they have a clock. Today they have a clock in Beit El; there's no question about it, and the guy's not looking out the window anymore. How long do you consider it still within the netz time? I don't know anything, but if you look at our MyZmanim, they tell you that even a minute later you're still within the zman. After a minute, it says you lost it; you're out. Rav Yaakov Kanievsky held even more: seven, eight minutes. So there are different shitot, but basically don't think someone's going to say, “Oh, you were two seconds after.” Two seconds after? People don't think. They think, “Oh, you missed it by two seconds,” or, “Are we doing it?” Yeah, no, we're doing it, be'ezrat Hashem. But do it long enough, be'ezrat Hashem, and one day you're going to hit it. The day you hit it, that's a lot of you, a lot of—This is—okay. Kayom ein nahug kelal lesha'er, amnam yesh gam ken tokef teshuvat Beit David. Yes. Kelal sha'ar hadavar kefi re'ot ha'einayim mipnei shekevar yesh luchot mesudarim mizmanim meforatim vesomchim aleihem. Chacham Ovadia, alav hashalom, gam ken.
Milvad zot, yesh shehizhiru shelo lehistakel miba'ad hachalon kedei lada'at im higi'a netz hachamah, ki yesh lachush mipnei ha'anashim ve'ammei ha'aretz sheyisberu shehem—They're praying to the sun, you see? Bifnei kevod hashemesh. Ela yoter tov lirot besha'on im higi'a hazman kefi mah she—when you're outside praying to the sun, whatever.
Af al pi she'ein anu mechavnim et zman hanetz bediyuk gamur, im higi'a zman netz hachamah, ach efshar lismoch al haluchot hane'erachim mita'am hamedinah. Yesh omrim shezman hanetz hachamah hu sha'ah achat. You see, it says it there, which means the rabbi prayed before netz. The rabbi prayed before netz, and he's not giving the guys who prayed netz—the zman—he's not saying, “Chasidim, tzaddikim, ashrehem,” unbelievable, whatever. Now he's trying to lower their ga'avah: “Calm down, calm down, mister. Don't be such a big—you're operating there like this, vatik, Vatican, the Vaticans.” The members feel they're sitting with the vatikim. Okay, calm down.
Yesh omrim shezman hanetz hachamah hu sha'ah achat kodem techilat aliyat hashemesh al ha'aretz, kefi shepasak Rabbi Yosef David besifro Beit David, ve'ulam hiskimu harbeh poskim she'ein divreihem nechonim bahalachah. Yeah, don't tell the Ben Ish Chai's kahal that. Matok Midevash, they didn't—lo hiskimu. Continue.
Amnam yesh lada'at she'ein zman hanetz hachamah nechshav letchilat hayom min haTorah, she'ikar hadin hu me'alot hashachar, amud hashachar. Shesha'ah zo nechonah besha'ot zmaniyot kodem hazrichah. Vechein amru bamishnah: vechulam she'asu mishe'alah amud hashachar, kasher. Dehainu, kol hamitzvot sheyesh tzorech lekaymam bayom, kegon mikra megillah shebayom, netilat lulav beChag HaSukkot, mishum shemitzvatah bayom.
Listen, Chacham Ovadia didn't pray netz, but that was because his zman of limud wasn't mat'im for netz. Chacham Ovadia would learn until 2:00 or 2:30 in the morning every night. So it wasn't mat'im for him. He needed to get four hours of sleep just so he could function during the day. If he's going to go to sleep at 2:30 and get up at 4:30, his whole day is shot. Understand? But if a guy's sleeping at 10:00 or 11:00, then it's mat'im. Don't bring a ra'ayah: “Oh, Chacham didn't do it, therefore it's nonsense.” Don't take that—I don't want you to get cooled off. Chacham Baruch, alav hashalom—again, he doesn't want you to think you're better than your—That was always his thing. He doesn't want you to think you're better than Beit El. They didn't know; we know; therefore what? The kavanah they had in Beit El, with the guy outside, was much better than the clock, obviously.
Im yuchal lehafsid tefillah betzibbur bishvil ma'alat hanetz. That is a question: can you miss tefillah betzibbur? Yesh omrim sheharagil lehitpallel bechol yom bish'at netz hachamah, veyom echad lo nizdamen lo minyan lehitpallel besha'ah zo, vesar lo. So he's saying, if you're a daily netz guy, mutav lo lehitpallel yechidi kedei shelo yafsid hatefillah im hanetz hachamah. Ulam mi sheragil lehitpallel achar hanetz hachamah, veyom echad hu machlit beda'ato pit'om lehitpallel oto yom im hanetz, ein lo lehafsid hatefillah im hatzibbur bishvil kach. There you go.
Ve'ilu oseh ken, harei hu bichlal mah shene'emar, “Ve'im telechu imi keri.” She'oved et Hashem kefi hamizdamen vehamikreh. You see, the rabbi was very practical. Vehamikreh, she'ein lo kevi'ut veseder la'avodato, ela shelefa'amim hu noket bechasidut velifa'amim hu maznichah. Yeah, he was a practical guy, very practical in his rabbanut. He doesn't want you to be a wise guy. One morning you woke up and said, “I want to pray netz,” and pray beyachid. We don't need that. You don't need to pray netz. Who's catching you? Come to shul and pray the 7:00 minyan. You have a g'jook in your head in the morning? If you're a normal netz guy, okay, we'll leave it for you. But he doesn't want you to be im halachtem iti bekeri, meaning bemikreh. One day you're a chasid, one day a kaslan, one day a tzaddik, one day a rasha. What are you, schizophrenic? That's why he says only if you're a consistent netz guy will we let you pray beyachid. If you're not a consistent netz guy, don't be wise. That's the practical mahalach of the rav. He didn't want people to start being rash in their service. That's rash, extreme. “One day I'm at netz, one day you're at the 9:00 minyan. Where were you yesterday?” “I prayed netz.” “Well, today you're at the 10:00 minyan. What happened?” “Oh, I couldn't wake up.” So therefore, be balanced, be balanced. He didn't want you to be in the kitzoni.
But that's not Chacham David, by the way. By the way, do you have Chacham Ben Tzion here? Bring Chacham Ben Tzion. Now I know a guy who prays netz, and when he goes on vacation, he goes to a place where there's no shul—like three flights in a year. Beautiful, so he's covered; that's great. So the netz is a kula. Right, exactly. He uses the netz as a kula. What did the guy do? Say that again. He prays netz every day, so when he goes on vacation, he bedavka goes somewhere with no minyan so he can pray beyachid every day. That's good. He went on vacation where there's no minyan. There's no minyan anyway. Millions of places to go with a minyan. Minhag. Yeah, I'm the gever.
So he says over here, Chacham Ben Tzion—fantastic. What are we talking about? Tefillah betzibbur, correct? So, tefillah betzibbur. Pray at netz. Deal shul, the trailer. Let's see, resh-tzadi. Let's see if we can find it; I don't see it. Resh-tzadi. He says over here, resh-tzadi: ha. He says, adif lomar tikkun chatzot (midnight lamentations) me'asher lehashkim lehitpallel kevatikin (early-rising pious ones), velachen mi she'eino yachol lekayem shenehem, ya'adif amirat tikkun chatzot. So that's a general rule, because he holds that tikkun chatzot is midevrei kabbalah. Anytime, whenever—so if they both clash, like I said with selichot (penitential prayers), whether to do tikkun chatzot or selichot. Oh yeah. That's right. So then he says—oh yeah, September 6th, right? So that's until—But lema'aseh, he doesn't mention over here tefillah betzibbur. Let's see here. Tefillah, kavanah, tefillah betzibbur. There it is: Keshetzibbur me'acharim, tzibbur miPerek Kodem HaNetz. Kesherotzeh lehitpallel im haNetz, Perek Zayin Heh. I'll ask Chacham Ben Tzion. Perek Zayin Heh. Im ein tzibbur shemitpallelim baNetz, ha'im mutar lehitpallel biyechidut kedei shelo lehafsid tefillah mehaNetz? He says, mi sheragil lehitpallel kol yom im netz hachammah, Chacham Baruch, uva'et o cha'et eino motze minyan lehitpallel im netz hachammah, efshar lehitpallel biyechidut. Aval mi she'eino ragil lehitpallel netz hachammah, eino rashai lehitpallel biyechidut. Because, like, don't be a wise guy; all of a sudden you decided to be a tzaddik.
Ubi'ur Halachah: shehazehirim likro kevatikin. This is the Bi'ur Halachah, the Chafetz Chaim, besiman nun-chet. Muttarim likro o lehitpallel biyechidut im ein lahem minyan bish'at netz hachammah. Venir'eh shezeh hu davka bemi sheragil bekach, uchemo shemashma milshon haBi'ur Halachah, shekeivan shezahir bekach eino chayav lehimana mikach bishvil tefillah betzibbur. Okay, so that's a perfect halachah. So Chacham David, for some reason—we have to see—he ignored that whole inyan, because he says over here, I'll read it again: im ein bimkom megurav minyan beNetz hachammah ella rak le'achar haNetz, vehu atzmo yachol lehitpallel Shemoneh Esreh miyad biNetz chammah im yode'a be'atzmo sheyachol lechaven, adif sheyitpallel biyechidut. He didn't give this condition of whether you're doing it every day or not.
So therefore, he says in dalet, ayein beShut Ha'elef Lecha Shelomoh shetefillah betzibbur adifah mitefillat kevatikin. That's a different opinion. Vechen pasak beShut Binyan Olam. Ulam lefi mah sheyitba'er lehallan, shetefillah betzibbur einah ella mitzvah min hamuvchar, ve'illu tefillah uKri'at Shema kevatikin, leda'at haRambam, hu min hadin. Right? We saw last shiur that according to the Rambam, vatikin is min hadin regarding Kri'at Shema. Right, Kri'at Shema is the key for the Rambam, not the netz hachamah of the Amidah. So you're in a catch-22: you're getting up already, you have to get up to say Kri'at Shema, so you might as well pray netz. But you're really doing it for Kri'at Shema that you have to say before. He held that that's, like I said yesterday, why I was praying a little later and went earlier: to say Shema. So I said, “You know what? Since everyone says I should say Shema—100%, tiheyeh yotze keshitat haRambam.” So that's really the advantage we're getting by netz also. The Chaveru doesn't mention that point: you're getting the inyan of Kri'at Shema according to the Rambam, which is a big, big thing. He holds that this is the prime time for Kri'at Shema, whereas lehitpalel Kri'at Shema le'achar mikkan, according to the Rambam, is bedi'avad. That's a big thing. Kmo sheyitba'er.
Im ken, yesh lomar she'af al pi sheMaran lo pasak lahalachah detefillah kevatikin havei chiyuv min hadin. Right, Maran didn't say it's chiyuv min hadin to pray netz; he said it's mitzvah min hamuvchar. Mikol makom yesh leha'adif tefillah kevatikin kedei lirtzot hamachmirim la'asot ken min hadin al tefillah betzibbur shelekulei alma shelekhol hade'ot eino ela mitzvah min hamuvchar lekulei alma. Wow. According to everybody, tefillah betzibbur is mitzvah min hamuvchar, while vatikin might be min hadin regarding at least Kri'at Shema. And Kri'at Shema means tefillah, meaning somech ge'ulah litefillah; you don't want to just say Kri'at Shema without the berachot.
Vechen pasak haMaharish Schwartz beDivrei Yosef, she'adif lehitpalel beyechidut kevatikin, vehuv'u devarav bePekudat Elazar. That's, I think, Munkacs. Oh no, Minchat Elazar is Munkacs; this is Pekudat Elazar, different. Vechen katvu behagahot Yeri'ot Ha'ohel, uvshut Pirchei Kehunah, uvMishnah Berurah beBi'ur Halachah, ayen sham. Ve'ayen be'orech mah shekatav bazeh haGaon Rabbi Matzliach Mazuz, Hashem yinkom damo. That's the father of Rabbi Meir. They killed him in Tunis, they killed him. Uvshut Ish Matzliach. Ayein bitshuvat haGarish Elyashiv. Let's pour it down. Shehevi divrei haMishnah Berurah beBi'ur Halachah detefillah behanetz hachamah adifa tefei, vechatav lidchot dedin tefillah behanetz hu mishum Kri'at Shema. You see what I mean? The netz is only for Shema, Rabbi Elyashiv said. Sheleda'at haRambam tzarich lechatchilah Kri'at Shema kodem henetz hachamah, verak bedi'avad if you—im lo kara Kri'at Shema kodem henetz, rak—ve'ilu le'inyan tefillah katav haRambam she—Hilchot Tefillah, shemitzvatah sheyatchil im henetz hachamah uzmanah ad sof sha'ah revi'it. According to the Rambam, tefillah is lechatchilah even until sha'ah revi'it, so you have a catch-22.
The Kri'at Shema of the Rambam is before netz, and if you do it after netz, you're bedi'avad. But your Amidah, according to the Rambam, can be lechatchilah until the fourth hour. Umashma she'afilu lechatchilah rashai lehitpalel achar henetz hachamah. Ve'im ken adif sheyikra Kri'at Shema kodem henetz hachamah alone, Rabbi Elyashiv says, like you did yesterday, ule'achar mikkan yitpallel betzibbur veyikra Kri'at Shema bevirchoteha veyismoch ge'ulah litfillah. You get the best of both worlds: I get the Rambam's Kri'at Shema, and I pray lechatchilah with a minyan. “And we're talking about a situation where you can only have a minyan afterward. Is it still mitzvah min hamuvchar to pray the Amidah at netz, even according to this?” Yeah, no, but we're talking about a situation where you're not going to have a minyan. In this case, the only minyan is after netz. So in that case, instead of praying beyachid, pray with the minyan.
Ve'ayen le'el sheleda'at kamah meraboteinu hakdamat hatefillah kevatikin einam mishum Kri'at Shema. We saw this: some say the reason you pray is not for Shema only, ela mishum tefillah. Ela de'adayin yesh lomar de'af leshitam lo havei hakdamah behanetz hachamah ela mitzvah min hamuvchar. So therefore maybe praying betzibbur is better. Ve'im ken adif sheyitpalel achar kach betzibbur, like Rabbi Elyashiv said.
Viydidi haRav haGaon Rabbi Aharon Danan katav: amar lidchot devadav rabbim vechen shelemim miYisrael mitpalelim behanetz hachamah. Ve'im ken, af al gav de'eino mitpalel betzibbur mamash, mikol makom shapir chashiv tfillah besha'ah shehatzibbur mitpalelim. Aha! You can consider that you're praying besha'ah shehatzibbur mitpalelim because so many people are praying netz in the beit kneset. So somewhere in the world they're praying netz, and therefore it's considered besha'ah shehatzibbur; you're getting that benefit. She'af zo amru Chazal sheyesh bah ma'alah gedolah. So it's not totally beyachid. It's not totally beyachid, because somebody in the world is praying netz. Kmo shebe'arnu besiyata dishmaya. Somewhere in the same—That's a little—Uvtziruf hadavar deKri'at Shema is lechatchilah according to the Rambam, and you pray betzibbur ke'ilu and that, you're okay. Shapir dami la'asot ken, uvifrat dalRishonim shesovrim shebirkat Ahavat Olam hu birkat hamitzvah. Right, if you hold that Ahavat Olam is the berachah of Kri'at Shema, some say Ahavat Olam is the birkat hamitzvah of Kri'at Shema, so then we have to say it at that time, because that's the berachah of Kri'at Shema. Vesomech ge'ulah litfillah, umitpalel besha'ah shehatzibbur mitpalelim bemitzvah min hamuvchar. Oh.
Va'adoni mori Maran Rishon LeTzion bitshuvah katav shebiheyot she'ein tefilato shel adam nishma'at ela im ken sam nafsho bechapo, meaning you have to pray with kavanah. Zulat tefillah betzibur, that even if you don't have kavanah, the tefillah goes up. Lachen im yode'a be'atzmo she'eino mechaven kara'uy, if he prays alone, he's at a disadvantage. Pray with the tzibur after netz. Verak im yode'a be'atzmo sheyachol lechaven kara'uy yitpalel biychidut kevatikin.
Chet. Ve'ayen od mah shekatvu beShut Tzitz Eliezer, beShut Etz Sofer, Or LeTziyon, Shraga HaMe'ir, Az Nidberu, uve'inyan etzem chiyuv tefillah betzibur vegodel ma'alatah ayen beShut Chatam Sofer, how important it is to pray betzibur, uveShut Avnei Shoham.
So over here Chacham David does not make a chiluk about whether you're a regular netz guy or not. Chacham Ben Tzion makes that distinction. Chacham Ovadia made that explanation as well; the Mishnah Berurah sounds like it does too. “Which does?” But he's saying like over here, no. If you're—That's why we have to ask Chacham David why he didn't make that chiluk. That's a good question. You can send the rabbi: “Why—why Hafon has the question?” Legabei praying netz beyachid instead of tefillah betzibur afterward, is this even for people who are not ragil to pray netz or not? “Let's see what he says. It happens he wakes up early, you're saying?” Yes, happens to wake up early. If you come in, he's saying, “Jump in the lake. You woke up early; go pray betzibbur.” You want to pray netz? Chacham Ovadia is saying you're a keri, or you're schizophrenic, you're becoming Esav. “Are they assuming you're going to sit with the tzibur in the next minyan also? Is that why?” No, that's another story. He also agrees that you should go hear the kaddish and stuff at the second minyan. He's just saying to pray the Amidah early. But if you don't pray netz, why should you pray the Amidah early? If you pray, pray later. Okay, we'll stop over here. Baruch Adonai le'olam. Chazak uvaruch. Amen ve'amen.