Berakhot 30a — the Talmud in English

A person should always include himself

in his prayer

together with the community,

and he should not pray for himself in the singular language . For since he includes himself with the many, his prayer is heard.

The Gemara explains:

How shall he say

the prayer of the road in the plural language?

He should say:

“May it be Your will before You, Lord our God, that You lead us to peace,”

and he should not say, “Lord my God, that You lead me to peace,” in the singular language.

The Gemara discusses:

When does he pray

the prayer of the road?

Rabbi Yaakov said in the name of Rav Hisda: From the time that he travels on the road!

And how far

may he travel and still be able to say it?

Rav Hisda said: Until

he travels

a parasang,

but not after he has already traveled a parasang .

And how does he pray

the prayer of the road?

Rav Hisda said:

He says it

while standing,

and not while he is walking.

And Rav Sheshet said:

He says it

even while walking,

for he does not need to stop from his walking.

Rav Hisda and Rav Sheshet were traveling on the road. Rav Hisda stood and was praying

the prayer of the road.

Rav Sheshet said to

his attendant,

to his attendant

[who served him],

“What is Rav Hisda doing?”

He said to him:

Rav Hisda

is standing

and stopping from his walking,

and is praying

the prayer of the road.

He said to him

Rav Sheshet said to his attendant:

“Stand me up as well”,

stand me up too,

“and I will pray”—

and I will pray the prayer of the road, for the two of us have said [Bava Kamma 81b]:

“Since there is an opportunity for good—

do not call

[it] bad”! That is to say, since I can pray while standing [which is a superior manner], for in any event my group is standing, I too will pray while standing, so that they will not call me “bad.” And although it is permitted to pray while walking, nevertheless prayer while standing is preferable to prayer in a state of walking.

That is, since I am able to pray while standing [which is a superior manner], and since my companion is standing in any event, I, too, will pray while standing, so that people will not call me “bad.” Although it is permitted to pray while walking, nevertheless, prayer while standing is preferable to prayer while in motion.

The Gemara discusses:

What—

what differences in law

are there between

the prayer of

“havinenu”

and

a short prayer?

The Gemara details:

A. When he prays

“havinenu,” he must pray three

blessings

first

of the Eighteen Benedictions,

and three

blessings

last,

and in the middle he says, “havinenu.”

B.

And

after he has prayed,

when he reaches his house,

he does not need to return

and

to pray

the Eighteen Benedictions, because he has already prayed something resembling the Eighteen Benedictions.

But

when

he is traveling in a place of danger, where he prays

a short prayer, he does not need to pray either three

blessings

first, nor three last. And when he reaches his house, he must return to pray

the Eighteen Benedictions, for he has still not prayed anything of the Eighteen Benedictions, nor even anything resembling the Eighteen Benedictions.

And the Gemara concludes:

And the halakha is,

the prayer of

“havinenu”

he prays

while standing,

and

a short prayer

he prays

either while standing or while walking.

We learned in the Mishna:

“If he was riding on a donkey”,

he should dismount and pray.

The Sages taught: If he was riding on a donkey and the time for prayer arrived—

if he has someone who can hold his donkey

while he prays,

he should dismount below and pray. But if not, he should sit in his place

on the donkey

and pray.

Rabbi says: In either case,

even if he has someone who can hold the donkey,

he should sit in his place and pray,

and he should not dismount from the donkey,

because his mind is not settled,

for since delaying the journey is difficult for him, his heart will be distracted by it and he will be unable to concentrate .

Rava said, and some say Rabbi Yehoshua ben

Levi:

The halakha follows Rabbi.

The Sages taught: A blind person

who stood to pray and does not know on which side Jerusalem is,

and

similarly anyone

who does not

know and

cannot direct himself toward the directions—

he should direct his heart toward his Father in Heaven. As it is stated [I Kings 8:44]:

“And they shall pray to the Lord

” .

And one who is able to direct himself toward the directions—if

he was standing outside the Land of Israel, he should direct his heart

toward the Land of Israel,

as it is stated [there, verse 48]:

“And they shall pray to You by way of their land

”.

And if

he was standing in the Land of Israel, he should direct his heart toward Jerusalem, as it is stated [there, verse 44]:

“And they shall pray to the Lord by way of the city that You have chosen

.”

And if

he was standing in Jerusalem, he should direct his heart toward the Temple,

as it is stated [II Chronicles 6:32]:

“And they shall pray toward this House”.

And if

he was standing in the Temple, he should direct his heart opposite the Holy of Holies,

as it is stated [I Kings 8:35]

“and they will pray toward this place.”

And if

he was standing in the Holy of Holies, he should direct his heart opposite the “House of

the Kaporet”

that is upon the Ark!

And if

he was standing behind the House of the Kaporet [A0022]][in the area of eleven cubits that was between the rear wall of the Holy of Holies on the west and the western wall of the courtyard],

[in the area eleven cubits wide between the rear wall of the Holy of Holies on the west and the western wall of the Temple courtyard],

he should see himself as though

he were standing

before the Kaporet!

Even though he turns his face toward the east, where the House of the Kaporet is.

It follows that one standing in the east

of the Land of Israel, or of Jerusalem, or of the Temple, or of the House of the Kaporet,

turns his face westward

[in the direction of all these], and prays.

But one standing

in the west

of all these

turns his face eastward

and prays. And one standing

in the south

of them

turns his face northward

and prays. And one standing

in the north

of them

turns his face southward

and prays.

Thus all Israel were directing their hearts toward one place

at the time of their prayer.

Rav Avin said, and some say Rav Avina: What is the verse

that [teaches] that from every side one must turn toward the Temple? — As it is stated [Song of Songs 4:4],

“Like the tower of David is your neck, built for Talpiot,”

and the explanation of “Talpiot”

is:

a mound toward which all mouths turn.

The father of Samuel and Levi, when they wished to set out on a journey, would rise early and pray

the morning prayer before daybreak because on the road they would not be able to direct their hearts, and in a pressing circumstance it is permitted to pray the morning prayer before daybreak.

But they did not recite the morning Shema then, because its time had not yet arrived,

and when the time for Shema arrived

[close to sunrise],

they recited

it.

According to whom

did they hold?

According to this tanna, as it was taught: One who rose early to set out on a journey,

they bring him a shofar and he blows it, a lulav and he waves it, a scroll and he reads from it

—even before sunrise! Although all mitzvot whose time is during the day are ideally performed from sunrise, after the fact one fulfills them once dawn has risen.

And when the time for Shema arrives

which is close to sunrise,

he recites

it.

One who rose early to sit in a wagon or on a ship prays

before he sets out, and he should not pray while he is on the road, because owing to fear of the water [or because of the movements of the wagon], he will not be able to stand and direct his heart.

And

afterward,

when the time for Shema arrives, he recites it.

Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: In either case, he recites Shema and

afterward

prays

while walking, and he should not pray before reciting Shema—

so that he may join

the blessing of

redemption

that follows Shema

to prayer.

And the father of Samuel and Levi, who advanced prayer before Shema and were not particular about joining redemption to prayer, held like the first tanna.

And the Gemara explains:

In what do they differ

the first tanna and Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar?

One—

the first tanna—

holds that prayer while standing is preferable

to joining redemption to prayer. For when he prays while standing, he directs his heart more than if he prays on the road.

And the other—

Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar—

holds that joining redemption to prayer is preferable

to praying while standing.

Marimar and Mar Zutra would gather

[people]

in groups of ten

for a quorum,

on the Shabbat of the festival

[the Shabbat preceding the festival],

and prayed

the morning prayer with the congregation before they went to the beit-midrash,

and afterward went out to the lecture.

For they were the lecturers in their city, and all the people would recite Shema when its time arrived, and afterward the lecturer would lecture. In the middle of the lecture, the people would slip away and pray, each man by himself.

And therefore Marimar and Mar Zutra would recite Shema and join redemption to prayer and pray with the congregation before they went to lecture.

Rav Ashi

was head of the academy in Mata Meḥasya, and he lectured there, but he did not pray before setting out for the beit-midrash. Rather, he would recite the Shema and join redemption to prayer , and

pray together with

the time when he was lecturing to the

public—

individually,

while he was

seated!

For their practice was that the lecturer whispered part of the lecture to the translator standing before him, and the translator would make it heard to the masses. When the time for Shema arrived, Rav Ashi would whisper a lengthy matter to the translator, and while the translator was making it heard to the masses, Rav Ashi would recite Shema and pray individually while seated, because he did not wish to trouble the congregation to stand on his account.

And when he would come to his house

after the lecture,

he would again

pray

again

while standing

because his prayer before the congregation had been while seated, and he could not direct his heart in it as he could while standing.

The Rabbis said to

Rav Ashi: Why does the Master do this?

Let the Master do as Marimar and Mar Zutra

who recited Shema and prayed before they went to lecture.

He said to them

Rav Ashi:

It is burdensome for me,

to wait until the time of Shema and delay my coming to the beit-midrash until after my prayer.

They said to him:

Let the Master do as the father of Samuel and Levi,

who advanced their prayer before Shema and were not particular about joining redemption to prayer, and you will not need to pray twice.

He said to them: “I have not seen the elder Sages, older than us, do this,

to pray before the recitation of the Shema”! And therefore I waited until the time of the recitation of the Shema, and once I recited the Shema, I must pray immediately, in order to join redemption to prayer.

And since I pray while seated during the lecture, and my mind is not settled, therefore I return and pray in my house.

Mishna:

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya says: The Musaf prayer is only with a city assembly

[an assembly of] the

city!

For they instituted it only for the community, but an individual does not recite it.

And the Sages say:

One prays Musaf both

with a city assembly

and

without a city assembly!

For they instituted it also for an individual.

Rabbi Judah says in his name

of Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya:

Every place where there is a city assembly, an individual is exempt from the Musaf prayer,

as will be explained in the Gemara.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: Rabbi Judah says in his name: Every place where there is a city assembly, an individual is exempt from the Musaf prayer.

The Gemara is astonished: For what

Rabbi Judah

said in the name of Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya,

that is

like the words of the

first tanna

.

For the first tanna also said that according to Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya, “One prays only with a city assembly”; and what is the distinction between the statements?

The Gemara explains:

There is a difference between them: an individual who is not

in the place where there is a

city assembly.

The first tanna holds,

that according to Rabbi Elazar, an individual

is exempt

even in a city in which there is no community that prays Musaf.

And Rabbi Judah holds,

that Rabbi Elazar’s view is that only where there is a community is an individual exempt, because the communal prayer leader exempts him; but when there is no community, even an individual

is obligated.

Rav Huna bar Hanina said in the name of Rav Hiyya bar

Rav: The halakha is like Rabbi Judah, who said in the name of Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya

that only where there is a city assembly is an individual exempt from the Musaf prayer.

Rav Hiyya bar Avin said to

Rav Huna:

You have spoken well!

For this is the halakha;

for

indeed

Samuel said: “All my days I have never prayed a Musaf prayer as an individual”—