The Story
Naftali had just taken his final math exam of the year. He had been preparing for months and he was so nervous that he had trouble sleeping the night before. He arrived home from school exhausted. The minyan for mincha was in an hour. “I’ll take a nap for 30 minutes and still have plenty of time to make the minyan.” He set his alarm and instantly fell asleep. When he opened his eyes, he immediately knew something wasn’t right. It was pitch black outside. He had slept through his alarm, and it was now night. “Oh no, I missed mincha!” He called his Rav and asked what to do.
Discussion
Q: What can Naftali do to make up for the missed prayer?
A: If a person was unable to pray, he can pray an additional amida after the next tefillah (O.C 108, 1). The additional amida is called tashlumim and makes up for the tefillah that was missed. The tashlumim amida must be prayed after the regular amida. In Naftali’s case this means that he should first pray the regular amida for arvis and only then pray the tashlumim amida for the mincha that he missed, preferably saying Ashrei in between the two (ibid.). Although Naftali intentionally napped, he had done so intending to doven afterwards, so he may daven tashlumin. This is true even if a person acted negligently (for example, not setting an alarm at all). However, if someone intentionally decides not to pray, he may not daven the tashlumin prayer
Q: If Naftali forgot to pray the tashlumim that night, can he do it the next morning?
A: No. From the perspective of tefilah the day is divided into morning, afternoon, and night. Tashlumim can only be performed during the next part of the day. So, if someone missed mincha, he must perform the tashlumim that night and not the morning after (O.C 108, 4).
Q: What if our story occurred on Friday afternoon and Naftali woke up on Shabbos?
A: If one missed the mincha on Friday, he should pray the Shabbos maariv amidah twice; the first is for the evening prayer and the second is the tashlumim for the missed mincha. (O.C 108, 9). Because it is already Shabbos, he has to daven the Shabbos prayer for his tashlumim, and not the text of the weekday mincha.
Q: What is the connection to this week’s parsha?
A: The end of the parsha discusses the various korbanos that were brought in the mishkan. They include the korban tamid, two sacrifices that were brought every day. One was brought during the morning and corresponds to tefilas shacharis. The other was brought in the afternoon and corresponds to tefilas mincha.