Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Talmud for Berakhot 61:25

יכול ישאל אדם צרכיו ואח"כ יתפלל כבר מפורש על ידי שלמה שנאמר (מלכים א ח, כח) לשמוע אל הרנה ואל התפלה רנה זו תפלה תפלה זו בקשה אין אומר דבר (בקשה) אחר אמת ויציב אבל אחר התפלה אפי' כסדר וידוי של יה"כ אומר איתמר

It is possible to imagine that a man could pray for his own needs and afterwards say the statutory prayers ; but it has already been clearly stated by Solomon, viz. "To hearken unto the cry and to the prayer" (I Kings viii. 28) — "cry" means statutory prayer, and "prayer" means personal supplication. One may not offer anything [of personal supplication] after "True and firm": but after the Tefillah, he can say something even like the order of confession for the Day of Atonement, It has been likewise reported : R. Hiyya b. Ashe declared in the name of Rab :

Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot

Some Tannaïm have stated: One should first pray and then ask for one’s personal needs. Some Tannaïm have stated: One should first ask for one’s personal needs and then pray.208In Babli Avodah zarah 7b, the first opinion is R. Joshua’s, the second one R. Eliezer’s. [If the Yerushalmi had mentioned the names, the order of the baraitot would have been inverted.] R. Joshua, whose opinion always prevails against R. Eliezer, requires that private prayers be said following completion of the prescribed 18 benedictions. This is accepted as a possible practice in Babli Avodah zarah 8a. He who says, one should first pray and then ask for one’s personal needs (Ps. 102:1) “Prayer of the deprived one who wraps himself up209Usually translated: “who faints”, but used here in the sense of “who wraps himself in his prayer coat or shawl.” The Babli uses the verse for the opposite argument since “prayer” is mentioned first.” and afterwards “and before the Eternal he pours out his speech.” But he who says, one should first ask for one’s personal needs and then pray, (1Kings 8:28) “To listen to lamentation210The Babli (Berakhot 31a) is forced to re-interpret רנה as “prayer”.” and after that “and to prayer.” The opinion of the sages211The consensus of the Amoraïm.: Rebbi Zeïra in the name of Rav Ḥuna, the private person asks for his personal needs in “He Who hears prayer”212But public entreaties are said either in the form of extra benedictions for rain fasts, or as penitential prayers in the sixth benediction “Merciful, Who forgives much.”.
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