Commentary for Berakhot 51:11
מתני׳ <big><strong>תפלת</strong></big> השחר עד חצות ר' יהודה אומר עד ד' שעות תפלת המנחה עד הערב רבי יהודה אומר עד פלג המנחה
MISHNAH The morning Tefillah [may be said] until midday. R. Judah says: Until the fourth hour. The afternoon Tefillah [may be said] until the evening. R. Judah says : Until the middle of the afternoon.
Tosafot on Berakhot
THE MORNING PRAYER [MAY BE RECITED] UNTIL NOON ETC.; THE AFTERNOON PRAYER [MAY BE RECITED] UNTIL THE EVENING. Tosfos wonders about why the Mishna uses different phrases to describe the same time period. And if you ask: why doesn’t the Mishna use the phrase “all day” in reference to minchoh prayers as it does in regard to musaf prayers?1It seems that Tosfos in his question understood that musaf prayers are recited after midday as are the minchoh prayers. If so, Tosfos question is quite understandable. Minchoh and musaf have the same exact times for starting and ending. Why doesn’t the Mishna use the same phrase for minchoh as it does for musaf? What we must ask is why Tosfos originally thought that musaf starts at midday. תעלומה מגיד by R’ Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov suggests that since the Mishna discusses musaf after minchoh, it is an indication that musaf does not start before minchoh and Tosfos is justified in his question.
Tosfos explains that the previous question is based on an error. And we can answer: that the time for musaf is all day long, even from the early morning, for the musaf sacrifices can be offered immediately after the daily tomid sacrifice. If so, since the prayers are in place of the sacrifices, the musaf prayers can also be said immediately from the morning. This is not true of minchoh, which can be said only after six and a half hours of the day have passed.
Tosfos offers proof that musaf can be said all day, even in the early morning. And so too it is evident from the first perek of Avodoh Zoroh (4b), where the Gemara says: one should not pray the musaf prayers during the first three hours of the day on Rosh Hashonoh privately etc.2The Gemara there explains that because of the nature of Rosh Hashonoh as a day of judgment, the early part of the day is an inopportune time for an individual to say the musaf prayer. It is exclusively on Rosh Hashonoh that one should not say musaf during the early part of the day. We can see from this that on the other days of the year one can pray the musaf prayers during the first three hours of the day.
Now that we know that the time for musaf prayers starts before minchoh prayers, why does the Mishna speak about minchoh before musaf? And the reason the Mishna precedes the discussion of minchoh prayers3See note 1. It is precisely because the Mishna mentions minchoh first that we thought the time for starting musaf is the same as the time for starting minchoh. Now that we know that musaf prayers can be said at the beginning of the day, we must have a new reason for the Mishna discussing minchoh before musaf. before the discussion of musaf prayers is because minchoh is constant, every day, even though the time for musaf starts earlier.
Tosfos explains that the previous question is based on an error. And we can answer: that the time for musaf is all day long, even from the early morning, for the musaf sacrifices can be offered immediately after the daily tomid sacrifice. If so, since the prayers are in place of the sacrifices, the musaf prayers can also be said immediately from the morning. This is not true of minchoh, which can be said only after six and a half hours of the day have passed.
Tosfos offers proof that musaf can be said all day, even in the early morning. And so too it is evident from the first perek of Avodoh Zoroh (4b), where the Gemara says: one should not pray the musaf prayers during the first three hours of the day on Rosh Hashonoh privately etc.2The Gemara there explains that because of the nature of Rosh Hashonoh as a day of judgment, the early part of the day is an inopportune time for an individual to say the musaf prayer. It is exclusively on Rosh Hashonoh that one should not say musaf during the early part of the day. We can see from this that on the other days of the year one can pray the musaf prayers during the first three hours of the day.
Now that we know that the time for musaf prayers starts before minchoh prayers, why does the Mishna speak about minchoh before musaf? And the reason the Mishna precedes the discussion of minchoh prayers3See note 1. It is precisely because the Mishna mentions minchoh first that we thought the time for starting musaf is the same as the time for starting minchoh. Now that we know that musaf prayers can be said at the beginning of the day, we must have a new reason for the Mishna discussing minchoh before musaf. before the discussion of musaf prayers is because minchoh is constant, every day, even though the time for musaf starts earlier.
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