The proper time
The first—and longest—of the daily prayer services is the morning service, known as Shacharit
According to Jewish law, one may recite the Shacharit service as early as the time known as alot hashachar (dawn), but it is preferable to wait until sunrise. (For a detailed description of these times, see Appendix to this volume.) The Shacharit service may be recited up until the end of a specified time frame that concludes approximately four or five hours after sunrise. In an emergency situation, when it was completely impossible for one to pray during those hours, one would be permitted to recite Shacharit until midday. In such a case, however, the Sages teach that one would be rewarded for praying, but one would not receive the reward allotted for praying during the proper time.
The exact times of sunrise, the final time for the recitation of Shacharit, and midday can be found on Jewish calendars and on the Internet. It is crucial to be aware of the fluctuations of these times, which can change by up to an hour and a half throughout the year, particularly in countries that observe Daylight Savings Time.
Vatikin
While there is a span of several hours during which the Shacharit service may be recited, the optimal time for its recitation is exactly at sunrise. Vatikin services are services where the congregants are careful to recite this prayer at the best possible time. They begin their morning services about a half hour after dawn and endeavor to commence the Shemoneh Esrei prayer at the exact moment of sunrise.
Preparation for Shacharit
There are many rituals that must be performed every day even before the time arrives for the morning service, such as the correct manner of rising in the morning, the recitation of the Morning Blessings, and so forth. These preparations will be described at length in The morning blessings — Daily Jewish Life.
- Once the time for Shacharit has arrived, one should not engage in any other activities, such as working, eating, setting out on a trip, and even greeting a friend with the word shalom.
One must engage in prayer before anything else.
Question: I spent the entire night working on a project, and suddenly… oops! It’s morning already! What should I do now? Should I recite Shacharit first and then go to sleep, or should I rest before praying?
Answer: You must be honest with yourself. Will an hour or two of sleep be sufficient for you to get up and pray with the requisite concentration? If so, then you should take some time to rest before reciting Shacharit. But if you will only be more exhausted after a brief nap, then it’s preferable for you to pray first before retiring to your bed. And next time, pay attention to the time…
Preparing the body and attire
- One should pray only with a clean body and after making sure that one has no need to use the facilities.
- While praying, one must be attired in an appropriately dignified manner. One should dress in accordance with the accepted standard of attire for meeting a distinguished person. Thus, it is preferable for a man to wear a jacket while praying, and some have the custom of wearing a hat as well.
- In some chasidic communities, men are particular to wear two head coverings (a hat and a yarmulke, or a yarmulke and a tallit during the morning prayers) whenever they pray.
- It is customary among Hasidim for married men to wear a special belt known as a gartel in order to separate the upper half of the body from the lower half.
Question: Is it permissible to pray while wearing Crocs?
Answer: One may wear any type of shoes while praying, but it is preferable to wear socks as well.
Netilat Yadayim—Ritual hand washing
One of the preparations required before the daily prayers is washing one’s hands with water. The purpose of this is to cleanse and purify the hands in preparation for prayer, but it is required even if one’s hands are already clean. This activity is known as netilat yadayim, and while there are other occasions when netilat yadayim is required (for example, immediately upon arising in the morning, or before a bread meal), this netilat yadayim requirement differs in that no special blessing is recited upon washing the hands before prayer.
If water is unavailable, one must use other means of cleansing one’s hands, such as wiping them on moist towelettes.
After netilat yadayim has been performed, it is important to maintain the cleanliness of one’s hands throughout the prayers.
Tzedakah—Charity
What could be better than beginning one’s day with an act of kindness for other people?
It is traditional to make a donation to charity before the morning prayers, and indeed, this is the best time to do so.
Tradition teaches that hostile spiritual forces seek to block our entry into the “chamber” of the Creator and interfere with our prayers. Acts of charity remove those hostile forces and cause the “gates of Heaven” to be opened wide before the supplicant.
Every synagogue has a charity box where one can deposit a coin or bill before the prayer services begin.
Mikveh
It is customary among chassidim for men to immerse in a mikveh before the morning prayers. A mikveh is a pool of water collected without the aid of pipes (such as rain water) which is designated for the performance of ritual purifying immersions. Like the netilat yadayim ritual, immersion in the mikveh is designated for the purpose of cleansing and purifying oneself prior to prayer. Chassidim who perform this ritual generally immerse themselves at least three times in the purifying waters of the mikveh. When they are unable to visit the mikveh, they learn a few paragraphs of Mishnah from the Talmudic tractate dealing with the mikveh instead.
An interesting distinguishing feature of the mikveh experience (which does not exist, for example, in the case of netilat yadayim) is the fact that immersion in a mikveh is an experience that involves the entire body. (Interestingly, the letters of the Hebrew word for immersion—tevillah—also make up the main structure of the word bitul, a term that indicates complete subservience and self-negation.) The mikveh thus symbolizes a psychological state of complete humility and submission to G-d, a most appropriate form of preparation for prayer!
Eating before prayer
It is prohibited to eat or drink anything other than water, tea, or coffee before the morning prayers. If a person is ill or weak, however—and even if he will be simply unable to concentrate properly on his prayers if he does not have something to eat in advance—it is permissible for him to eat a piece of cake (or any other food whose blessing is Borei Minei Mezonot) and drink a cup of coffee or the like, in order to have the ability to pray with the proper kavanah and focus.
It is preferable “to eat in order to pray” rather than “praying in order to eat.”
Torah study
Most of us still remember our first childhood experience of prayer. Our first prayers were filled with sincerity, innocence, and a feeling of being close to G-d. At the time, we felt with all our hearts that we were literally speaking to our Father in Heaven. Routine, by its very nature, dulls the emotions. Over time, we run the risk of allowing our prayers to become a matter of rote, devoid of the vibrancy and mental intent that we should be investing in them. The solution to this problem is to take a few minutes before our prayers to remind ourselves that we are about to stand before the King of kings, the Holy One, Blessed is He. By refreshing our recollections of this point, we should be able to renew the emotional intensity with which we used to approach our prayers. After all, it is only fitting for us to prepare for an encounter with G-d at least as much as we would prepare ourselves to meet with a king, a president, or another distinguished government official.
The best preparation for our prayers is to engage in Torah study, particularly the study of chassidut. It is highly recommended to study at least one chapter of Tanya before the morning prayers. This study will remind us of G-d’s involvement in every facet of our lives, and will thus prepare us appropriately to approach Him in prayer.
After engaging in Torah study, one should spend a few moments pondering the meaning of what he learned. Introspection after such a session of Torah study is vital because it enables the information that one has absorbed intellectually to be assimilated by the emotions. Thus, such introspection will help us actually to feel G-d’s closeness, rather than merely knowing about it.
If you have ever attempted this, you certainly must have noticed that the sensations engendered by such Torah study have gone on to accompany you and influence your behavior throughout the rest of the day!
Before diving into the sea of meaning underlying the various parts of the prayer services, let us gain some familiarity with the “accessories” of prayer—the tefillin (phylacteries) and the tallit (prayer shawl).
