Halakhah for Eruvin 129:23

As we learned (section 4 above), some poskim maintain that in principle women can fulfill the obligation of prayer with Birkhot Ha-shaḥar and Birkhot Ha-Torah. Although under normal circumstances it is not proper to rely on this opinion, nonetheless women who are taking care of their children are permitted le-khatḥila to fulfill their obligation with Birkhot Ha-shaḥar and Birkhot Ha-Torah. Similarly R. Aryeh Leib, the son of R. Yisrael Meir Kagan (the Ḥafetz Ḥayim), attests that his mother hardly prayed at all in the years that her children were under her care. She said that her husband told her that she is exempt from prayer because she is busy raising her children.¹That is the prevalent minhag, attested to by R. Aryeh Leib in Siḥot He-Ḥafetz Ḥayim, 1:27. There are two reasons for this. First, in extenuating circumstances it is possible to rely le-khatḥila on the reasoning of MA. Second, some explain that the constant stress of tending to children’s needs falls under the same category of things that negate one’s kavana, for, in principle, one who is preoccupied is exempt from the mitzva of prayer. As the Sages say (Eruvin 65a), “One who returns from a journey is exempt from prayer for three days, and the same applies to other preoccupations.” Similarly, SA 108:2 states that one should not pray where or when his kavana will be disrupted. However, in practice, SA concludes, “Nowadays we are not cautious about this, because we do not have that much kavana in our prayers today [anyway Still, it is possible that women follow the principle of the law, for since during the years in which they are busy tending to their children they are greatly hassled, much more than one who has just returned from a trip. Therefore they do not customarily pray the Amida. See similarly Responsa Maḥazeh Eliyahu 20:5 in the name of Ḥazon Ish. Moreover, there is a rule that one who is engaged in the performance of one mitzva is exempt from the performance of another mitzva, and a woman who is caring for her children is engrossed in the continuous mitzva of ḥesed (loving-kindness). Therefore she is exempt from the mitzva of prayer which requires the effort of concentration. (This is according to Ran, as cited in BHL 38:8, s.v. “Im Tzarikh,” that even if one could exert himself and succeed in fulfilling two mitzvot simultaneously, the Torah does not compel one who is engaged in the performance of one mitzva to perform the other mitzva as well.) We have already seen (section 4) that women fulfill their obligation of prayer by reciting Birkhot Ha-Torah and Birkhot Ha-shaḥar, for those berakhot incorporate praise, request, and thanksgiving. Additionally, berakhot do not demand as much kavana as the Amida, in which one stands before the King of kings. Hence, one’s preoccupations do not significantly prevent one from reciting Birkhot Ha-Torah and Birkhot Ha-shaḥar, and therefore all women must accustom themselves to recite them every day.].”