By Rabbi Carl M. Perkins:

Parashat Pinchas
July 19, 2003

(A selection from Maimonides’
Mishneh Torah: Laws of Prayer)

See also the sermon for this day.

The Torah does not delineate the number of daily prayers, which words should be used during prayer, or the proper time when prayer should be offered. (For this reason, women and servants are obligated to pray, since prayer is an affirmative commandment not fixed by time.) Rather, the obligation to pray is as follows: A human being should approach God in prayer each and every day, expressing praise of God, then expressing his/her needs, then offering praise and gratitude to God for the good that He has bestowed upon him/her – each according to his/her capacity. (I:2)

If one is articulate, one may magnify one's petitions and entreaties; if one is inarticulate, one speaks according to his/her capacity, and at whatever time one wishes. Similarly with respect to the frequency of prayers: each should pray according to his/her capacity: there are those who pray once each day, and there are others who pray more frequently. (I:3)

The rabbis instituted prayer services to correspond to the sacrifices: Two daily prayer services correspond to the two daily (tamid) offerings; also, on each day that an additional (musaf) offering was brought, they instituted a third prayer service. The morning service, correspond to the morning tamid is called “Shahar” (dawn). The service corresponding to the twilight tamid is called "Minhah." (I:5)

They also instituted one prayer service to be recited at night, for the remains of the twilight tamid continued to burn on the alter all night long (See Leviticus 6:2). This is consistent with the verse, “Evening and morning and afternoon I pray and moan, and God hears my voice.” (Psalms 55:18) And even though the evening service is not obligatory as are the morning and afternoon services, the people of Israel, in all their habitations, have accepted the obligation upon themselves to recite it. (I:6)

These prayer services may not be diminished, but they may be increased: If one wishes to pray all day long – he/she may do so. Any additional prayers are like “n’davot” i.e., voluntary offerings. Therefore, [if one does recite additional prayers,] one should introduce something new into each and every interior blessing. Even if he/she introduced something new into only one blessing—it is sufficient, in order to make clear that this is voluntary and not obligatory. (I:9)