110:2. Workers whose [Jewish] employer provides meals in lieu of payment (8) may pray the [full text of the] Shmoneh Esrei [Amida, the Silent Prayer] (9) but they may not act as the Chazan [leader] nor perform the Priestly Blessing [if they are priests]. (10) However if they are on a [daily] wage then they should pray (11) Havineinu [the shortened form of the Amida, as in Seif 1]. But nowadays it is unusual that [an employer] would mind, and we employ staff on the assumption that they will pray (12) the [full version of the] Shmoneh Esrei.
MB 8: May pray the full Shmoneh Esrei – Three times daily as normal, because the employer doesn’t mind since he is not paying a wage.
MB 9: But they may not – Because the employer will mind as these take a long time. [The performance of these would oblige them to stay until the end of the repetition of the Shmoneh Esrei, thereby lengthening the time taken off work].
MB 10: However if they are on a wage – Because the employer will mind if they take time off to pray the full Shmoneh Esrei. Consequently they may apply to themselves the ruling that applies in emergencies [whereby they may say the shortened form – Havinenu] as in Seif 1.
MB 11: Havinenu – This is only permitted in the summer as explained in Seif 1.
MB 12: The full Shmoneh Esrei – The same goes for the text of all the prayers. The Lechem Chamudos writes that they are also permitted to go to Shul; and the Magen Avraham explains that this is true only in a place where employers generally don’t mind; but even in such a place they should not be the Chazan (Pri Megadim). The Pri Chodosh writes that nowadays they may be the Chazan and I would agree with this if it will not cause them to tarry too long.
110:3. One who is passing through a place endangered by (13) wild beasts or robbers may say the prayer “The needs of your people are many [and their knowledge limited. May it be Your will, Hashem, our G-d to provide each person his livelihood and each body its needs. Blessed are You Hashem, Who hears prayers].” He need not say the first three and last three blessings which are normally required with every Amidah. He may also pray while still moving, but if he can he should stop. When he reaches his destination and regains his composure (14) he should pray again the full Shmoneh Esrei. {(And if he didn’t re-pray it is considered as if he completely forgot (15) to pray at all, the ruling of which is explained in Siman 108) (so it appears in the Beis Yosef)}.
MB 13: Wild Beasts and robbers – This is because his mind is not collected and therefore he is exempted from even praying Havinenu.
MB 14: He should pray again – that is if the permitted time of the prayer has not passed.
MB 15: To pray at all – Even if he has said this short prayer it is not considered as if he has fulfilled the Mitzva of Prayer, and he has to compensate with his next prayer as explained in Siman 108. This applies only if he failed to repeat pray again by accident – for instance if he did not realise that he had to pray again, or if he simply forgot, or if the permitted time elapsed while he was travelling. But if he did not pray deliberately then it is ‘a wreckage which cannot be rectified’. If his [endangered] trip spanned the time of two prayers and [in both instances] he recited the shortened version, then there is no compensation for the first prayer.
110:4. (16) One who sets out on a journey should recite “May it Your will, Hashem, our G-d and the G-d of our forefathers that you lead us (17) towards peace etc.” [Full version to be found in Siddurim, usually between Shachris and Mincha]. (18) The prayer is (19) recited in the (20) plural form. (21) If possible, (22) one should interrupt his journey and stand when reciting it, but if he is riding (23) he does not need to dismount.
MB 16: One who sets out – This Seif applies even in cases where he has already recited the Amida.
MB 17: Peace – One who departs from his friend should not say ‘Lech B’Sholom’ [Go in peace] but rather ‘Lech L’Sholom’ [Go towards peace]. One who parts from the dead should say [Lech] B’Sholom [Go in peace] and not [Lech] L’Sholom [Go towards peace].
MB 18: The prayer is recited – and when already completed, he has fulfilled the Mitzva even if he recited the complete prayer in the singular.
MB 19: Recited in the plural – i.e. the complete text. This is because in the plural form the prayer is more likely to be heard [because he unites his needs with those of others]. It is written in the Sefer Hakone that the words ‘V’sitneini L’chen’ [and grant us grace] should be said in the singular.
MB 20: In the plural – This only applies to fixed public prayers, but one who wishes to recite a private prayer for his own needs does not have to recite it in the plural. One should study Torah on the way as the Rabbis said ‘One who travels and leaves his mind idle endangers his life’ but he shouldn’t study halacha (law) lest he become preoccupied [and stray]. The Magen Avrohom writes that possibly one who is not driving is allowed to study a subject requiring concentration. It may also be inferred from the Gemara that it is healthier for one who sets out on a journey to leave himself a little hungry as filling up can be harmful to his health [I believe this is if walking — YM]. He should make sure he takes some bread with him even if he is not travelling far or even if bread is readily available at his destination, because unforseen circumstances may interfere with his plans. It is also appropriate for any G-d-fearing man to take his Tallis and Tefillin, even if his destination is close by and even if he plans to return on the same day, in case his plans are foiled and he lose these Mitzvos. And in our great sinfulness, there are travellers who do not take even their Tefillin with them and rely on borrowing from others. Their sin is great, because often we find that because they are waiting for a pair they miss the [appropriate times] for Shema and the Amidah. In addition, they are not generally particular in finding a head-Tefillin that fits them properly.
MB 21: If possible he should interrupt – e.g. if his partner is prepared to wait.
MB 22: He should interrupt his journey – But if this will be a bother he may say it while walking or seated.
MB 23: He does not need to dismount – Because dismounting and mounting are bothersome. He should, if possible, stop the animal because riding is considered as walking. Similarly if he is seated in a carriage he needn’t disembark but, if possible, he should stop.
Naftoli Grunbaum [email protected] sha110.05
Siman 110. What prayers travellers, workers, and one entering a Beis HaMedrash [Study Hall] should say (cont.)
110:5. One should say Tfilas HaDerech [“The Traveller’s Prayer”] only once (24) per day, even (25) if he rests in a town [i.e., an inhabited area] in the middle of the day. But if his intention was to stay the night in the town, and afterwards he changed his mind and left it to go past the town boundaries or to return home, then (26) he must pray “Tfilas HaDerech” once again.
MB 24: Per day – That is, every day – as long as he is still on the road – he is required to say it.
MB 25: If he rests – That is, if he stays there a few hours to rest and afterwards he returns to the journey, since when he rested in the town his intention was to leave again [the same day] he does not need to repeat the blessing.
MB 26: He must etc. – As he took his mind off the journey. and all the more so if he spent the night on the road in a hostel, then he must say the blessing in the morning. But if he travels the entire night, i.e., he does not sleep a regular night’s sleep in a hostel, but rather he just rests a little time in a hostel and then he returns to travel, then he should say Tfilas HaDerech in the morning without the closing [“Blessed Art Thou ….”]. And see in the Beur Halacha [that if one stays the night in a hostel and resumes his trip before daylight, while still night, then he should say Tfilas HaDerech even before light].
110:6. When R. Meir of Rottenburg would go out on (27) a journey in the morning, he would say Tfilas HaDerech after the blessing “Hagomel Chasadim” [the last of the preliminary morning blessings, which ends “Hagomel Chasadim Tovim L`amo Yisrael” (“Who bestows lovingkindnesses on his people Israel”)] so that it would be a blessing (28) immediately following another.
MB 27: A journey in the morning – i.e., when he sometimes had to set out on a journey in the morning before praying, and would say the morning blessings on the way, then he would say Tfilas HaDerech immediately after “Hagomel Chasadim”, but when one leaves after the morning prayer, he can not say Tfilas HaDerech before praying, as it is forbidden to say it until he has set out on the journey as written below in Seif 7.
MB 28: Immediately following another – As Tfilas HaDerech does not begin with “Blessed …”. [There is a general rule that blessings which end with “Blessed” but do not begin with “Blessed” should be said immediately after another blessing. E.g., middle blessings of Grace After Meals]
If one leaves in the middle of the day, he should juxtapose Tfilas HaDerech to another blessing, e.g., he should eat or drink something and say the blessing after food, or he should urinate and say the blessing after urination [“Asher Yatzar”]. In a case where he can not do any of these things, e.g., he has no food on which to say a blessing and he is sitting in a vehicle among other people and they are not willing to wait for him to get off [and urinate] and get on again, even so it is permitted to say Tfilas HaDerech, as several early authorities are of the opinion that Tfilas HaDerech need not be juxtaposed to another blessing. See in the Tur and Beis Yosef [who explain why].
The custom is to take leave of the leading men of the town and get their blessing when going on a journey. And there is a basis for this practice from what our Sages of Blessed Memory wrote that they “consult the Sanhedrin”, and Rashi explained that they took leave of the sages of the Sanhedrin in order that they pray for them.
And he should enter the town of his destination while still daylight, of which it is written “that it was good”, and he should leave the town after it is already daylight, i.e., in the morning at sunrise and in the evening at the beginning of sunset, lest he stumble on some obstacle. Therefore, when he is close to his town, where he knows to be wary of the obstacles, he may walk there at night if he does not walk alone, as then one need not fear the menacing spirits.
110:7. One says it after (29) he has started on the way. (30) One should not say it unless he has to walk at least a (31) “Parsah”, (32) but for less than a Parsah, he should not end with “Blessed Art Thou …”. {Rama: And ideally he should say it during the first Parsah of the trip) (Rashi, R. Yehuda the Tosaphist)}.
And if he forgot to say it, he may say it during the entire trip, as long as he has not arrived (33) within a Parsah of the town in which he wishes to spend the night, and from there on, he should say it without a blessing [“Blessed Art Thou …”].
[see MB 31 for definition of Parsah]
MB 29: He has started on the way – i.e., he should not say it when he is still in the town in which he lives, even though he is preparing himself to go on the road. The outskirts of the town, i.e., a little more than 70 Amah [see MB 31] from the last buildings of the town, are considered within the town for this law.
The Taz permits saying Tfilas HaDerech even within the town from the moment that he has decided and prepared himself to leave. But the Elya Raba and the Pri Mgadim and the other later authorities disagree with this and agreed that ideally one should be careful not to do so. However, after the fact, one may rely on his words.
And all this refers only to the beginning of his journey, when he leaves his home, but when he sleeps the night on the road [e.g., in a motel], then he may say Tfilas HaDerech in the morning when he is preparing to leave even though he is still in the town [of the overnight stop], as he has already [on a previous day] set out on the journey.
See below in Siman 230 regarding what one prays when he leaves a big city, and in the Mishna Brura there.
MB 30: One should not say it, etc. – As less than a Parsah next to the town is not normally a place of danger, unless that particular place has a record of being a place of danger, in which case one should say Tfilas HaDerech.
There is no difference between one who travels on a ship or one who travels on land. [Elya Raba] And according to this, one who travels on a railroad should also bless Tfilas HaDerech even if he travels only a Parsah. In that case, ideally one should be careful to bless Tfilas HaDerech immediately when he begins to travel, as the Rama wrote immediately below, that ideally one should say it during the first Parsah, and if he did not, he may say it until the end as long as he still has a Parsah to travel on the railroad.
MB 31: Parsah – This is 8000 Amah [cubits], as a Mil is 2000 Ama, and a Parsah is 4 Mils. [1 Amah = 48 or 60cm (There are 2 major opinions) 1 Mil = 2000 Amah = 960 or 1200m, 1 Parsah = 4 Mil = 3840 or 4800m]
MB 32: But for less etc. – For this reason, when one comes from a journey of less than a Parsah, the universal custom is not to greet him with “Welcome in peace” as this is not called “coming in from a journey”, as he does not say Tfilas HaDerech.
MB 33: Within a Parsah – Even if his intention is to continue to travel afterwards another several Parsahs from this town, it is a separate trip, and currently he is less than a Parsah from the town and so it is not a place of danger.
Shalom Bresticker [email protected] sha110.08
Siman 110. The prayer of [… and] the House of Learning (cont.)
110:08. (34) On entering the House of Study, (35) one should pray “May it be Your will, Hashem Our G-d and the G-d of our Fathers, that I should not err in a Halachic issue, etc.” (36) and upon exiting (37) he should say “I thank You Hashem my G-d that You have allotted my portion amongst those who dwell in the House of Study.”
MB 34: On entering the House of Study – The Ari Z”L used to say this every morning, and he would then add, “For Hashem gives wisdom, from his mouth knowledge and understanding; open my eyes so that I can perceive wonders from Your Torah.”
MB 35: One should pray – And this prayer has no conclusion [it does not end with Boruch Atah Hashem…]. The Taz wrote that the same applies to someone studying on his own, and especially if he has reached the level of answering queries [horoh] he must pray that he should not err in his learning or in his judgement to say “pure [Tohor]” on something that is really impure [Tomeh] or “permissible [Mutar]” on something prohibited [Osur]. It is good to use a small, yet all-inclusive text as follows: “May it be Your Will… that You enlighten my eyes with the light of Your Torah and that You prevent me from falling into any trap or mistake whether in the Laws of Isur Vheter [prohibited vs. permitted], in monetary matters, in judgement [Horoh] or in learning. Open my eyes so that I can perceive wonders from Your Torah. And where I have already erred, put me back on the right track, and do not withhold from my mouth a truthful matter for Hashem gives wisdom, from his mouth knowledge and understanding.” When one learns together with others he must also request that he should not be happy [or make fun] with their mistakes and that they should not be happy when he makes a mistake as it says in the Talmud.
MB 36: And upon exiting – The Rambam writes in his commentary on the Mishnah that these two prayers are obligatory. He may pray either sitting or standing, however it works out, and he should not turn his face towards either East or West and he should not bow etc., look there. The Elyah Rabah and other Later Authorities quote him [meaning as the law].
MB 37: He should say: “I thank You etc.” – Similarly, someone engaged in Torah study alone all day should say this every evening upon concluding his learning.
