תלמוד בבלי
תלמוד בבלי

הלכה על ברכות 53:10

Peninei Halakhah, Women's Prayer

A woman who customarily prays the Amida once a day, be it Shaḥarit or Minḥa: if four hours have passed and she has not yet prayed Shaḥarit, it is best that she pray Minḥa on that day. However, if she is concerned that she might forget to pray Minḥa, she may pray Shaḥarit until ḥatzot.2The Tanna’im disagree about the latest time to bring the Tamid offering and, consequently, about the latest time for Shaḥarit. According to R. Yehuda, it is until the end of the fourth hour, whereas the Sages maintain that it can be brought until ḥatzot. The halakha follows R. Yehuda because his opinion is cited in m. Eduyot, whose mishnayot were chosen as the prevailing halakhic position. Therefore, the final time to recite Shaḥarit is at the end of the first four hours of the day (Berakhot 27a). Even so, according to most poskim, the Sages’ opinion was not completely rejected, and be-di’avad it is permissible to pray Shaḥarit until ḥatzot. Although one who does so is not credited as fulfilling the mitzva on time, she neverthelessis credited for her prayer (SA 89:1). However, R. Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Halikhot Shlomo 8:42) says that since there are poskim who maintain that according to R. Yehuda it is forbidden even be-di’avad to pray Shaḥarit later than four hours (see Peninei Halakha: Prayer, ch. 11 n. 16), and because a woman may fulfill her obligation to pray by reciting only Birkhot Ha-shaḥar, it is preferable that she avoids controversy and refrains from reciting the Amida after four hours have already passed. Still, he concedes that women customarily women pray until ḥatzot, and that this is the opinion of SA. It seems that women are also permitted to recite Pesukei De-zimra and their berakhot before the Amida. Responsa Maḥazeh Eliyahu 19:14 is careful not to urge women to pray within the first four hours of the day, due to their preoccupations. Women are considered anusot (coerced by elements out of their control) and therefore cannot pray on time. This opinion is cited in Halikhot Beitah 6:20 and Halikhot Bat Yisrael 2:11. I have already written what I deem to be the proper practice.
Concerning Birkhot Keri’at Shema, the poskim disagree about whether one may recite them be-di’avad until ḥatzot. Although MB maintains that, for men, one who does not recite them due to circumstances beyond his control may recite them until ḥatzot (see Peninei Halakha: Prayer, ch. 11 n. 7), regarding women, since they are not obligated to recite Birkhot Keri’at Shema and there is no option to recite them voluntarily, it seems evident that it is best for women to avoid uncertainty and refrain from reciting Birkhot Keri’at Shema after the first four hours of the day have passed.   
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