Chapter 69 : Laws of the Minchah Prayer

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§1

"Rabbi Chelbo said, in the name of R. Huna: 'A person must always take care [to pray] the Minchah prayer, for Elijah was answered only at the Minchah prayer, as it said: It was at the time of the Minchah and Elijah came near.' The reason the Minchah prayer is so esteemed [is] because the Shacharis prayer has a set time, [i.e.] in the morning when arising from bed we immediately pray before becoming involved with our own affairs. Similarly, the Maariv prayer has a set time, [i.e.] when we arrive home and are free from our tasks. But, the Minchah prayer is prayed while the day is yet long and we still are absorbed in our affairs, and we must pay attention and free ourselves from all our affairs to pray. Therefore, its reward is very great.

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§2

The most proper time for the Minchah prayer is from nine and one half hours and on; and that is called Minchah ketanah. When the situation is urgent, for example, if you must depart on a trip or if you must eat, you may pray [Minchah] immediately after six and one-half hours and this is called Minchah gedolah. The time [for Minchah] is preferably, until one and one quarter hours before nightfall and not later. This (the 1-1/4 hours before night) is called pelag haminchah (lit. half of the Minchah), because from the time of Minchah ketanah until nightfall two and one-half hours elapse; half of this is one hour and one quarter. After the fact (i.e. this preferable time has lapsed) or in time of great need, you may pray until the stars appear. This has now become the custom in most congregations — to pray Minchah shortly before nightfall. These [above-mentioned] "hours" are "time-variable hours", measured according to the length of daylight from sunrise until sunset, the day is divided into twelve parts. [For example] if daylight is eighteen hours then 1-1/2 hours is considered one "hour."

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§3

It is forbidden to begin eating even a small meal shortly before [the time of] Minchah ketanah. By shortly we mean one-half hour before. If you do not sit down to a meal, but eat or drink only casually, [such as] fruit or any cooked dish, even if it is [made] of the five grains, some authorities permit it. But, it is best to be stringent even in this regard. Similarly, it is forbidden to enter a bathhouse or to [have] a haircut shortly before Minchah ketanah. An elaborate meal, such as at a wedding or a circumcision and the like, must not be started even shortly before [the time] of Minchah gedolah; therefore it is prohibited to begin such a meal beginning from midday. It is best to wait until the time [for] Minchah gedolah and pray [Minchah] before the meal. In communities where the people are summoned to the synagogues and it is your usual practice to attend synagogue to pray communally, [then,] you may start a small meal close [to the time] of Minchah ketanah, and even afterward, provided that immediately upon being called to synagogue you interrupt whatever you are doing [in order] to pray. When it is close to Minchah Ketanah, an elaborate meal may not be started even where [people] are called to synagogue; and even close [to the time] of Minchah gedolah it is preferable to be stringent.

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§4

The Minchah prayer also requires washing of the hands until the joint (i.e. the wrist) as does the Shacharis prayer as was explained above in Chapter 12, paragraph 5 and paragraph 6 (See Chayei Adam Chapter 33, para. 6, and the Shulchan Aruch of the Tanya, Chapter 92, footnote 23). Likewise, you must wash your hands, for the Maariv prayer, if you were interrupted after Minchah, and for Musaf if you were interrupted after Shacharis.

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§5

The Ashrei that precedes Minchah should not be said until a minyan is present in the synagogue, so that the chazzan may say Kaddish following the Ashrei which was said by ten men. If Ashrei was said with less than a minyan and afterwards the minyan was completed, another psalm should be said, and then, the chazzan says the Kaddish. The chazzan should wrap himself in a tallis before reciting Ashrei, in order that there be no interruption between Ashrei and the saying of Kaddish. If there was no tallis [available] until after Ashrei was said, he wraps himself in it, and says a few verses of Psalms, after which he recites Kaddish.

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§6

If time is short and it is close to nightfal1,12 the chazzan should begin reciting the Shemoneh Esrei aloud, immediately after saying the Kaddish. The congregation should not pray [at this time], rather listen and make the necessary responses until he (i.e. the chazzan) says Ha'el Hakadosh; they, then, answer Amein and pray [the Shemoneh Esrei] silently. If the time is extremely short, and there is concern that if they wait for the chazzan until after he says Ha'el Hakadosh, they may not complete their prayers while it is still daytime, they may immediately pray along with the chazzan silently, word for word, until Ha'el Hakadosh. It is preferable, if possible, that there be at least one [person] that will respond Amein to the berachos of the chazzan.

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§7

If you come to the synagogue and find the congregation praying Shemoneh Esrei, you should pray the Shemoneh Esrei along with them and say Ashrei after Shemoneh Esrei. If you will be unable to complete the Shemoneli Esrei before the chazzan reaches kedushah, and if you wait until after the chazzan completes the entire Shemoneh Esrei as well as the Kaddish, the time for [the Minchah] prayer will pass, [then] you should wait and pray silently along with the chazzan when he repeats the Shemoneh Esrei, word for word, and say the entire Kedushah text along with him, as well as ledor vador, etc., just as he (i.e. the chazzan) says. You should complete the berachah Ha'el Hakadosh and the berachah Shomei'a tefillah together with him. Modim, too, should be said together with him, so that you can bow along with the congregation. However, on a public fast day, you should not say Aneinu with the chazzan, but recite it during Shomei'a tefillah, as [would] any other individual. Similarly, if you want to pray Maariv together with the congregation, but if you wait [to pray Minchah] until after the chazzan [completes] the repetition of the Shemoneh Esrei, you would be compelled to pray Maariv alone, then you should pray Minchah along with the repetition of the chazzan. If you arrived just before Kedushah, you should wait until after the chazzan says Ha'el hakadosh, answer Amein and, then, pray [Minchah]. Although you will miss answering Amein following Shomei'a tefillah, as well as Modim, which are obligatory, nevertheless, it is preferable [to miss the responses] than to miss the chance of praying Maariv with the congregation. And certainly you should do so, if the time for Minchah is elapsing. (See above Chapter 20, para. 11.)

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§8

If the Minchah prayer is delayed until night, the Tachanun prayer is not said, because Tachanun is not said at night. Care should be taken that Minchah not be delayed until actual nightfall, because, in that case, Kaddish tiskabeil is not said after prayers belonging to the previous day, since the night belongs to the following day.

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§9

If you arrived for Minchah on Friday at the synagogue, and the congregation already accepted the Shabbos or Yom Tov, that is on Shabbos they already said: Mizmor shir leyom haShabbos, and on Yom Tov they already said Barechu, you should not pray Minchah in that synagogue, rather you should go outside the synagogue and pray. If you hear the chazzan saying Barechu, you should not respond along with the congregation, for if you answer Barechu, you are no longer permitted to pray a weekday prayer. (If you mistakenly responded, then you should pray [the] Maariv Shemoneh Esrei twice as explained above, Chapter 21.) If you arrive shortly before the acceptance of Shabbos or Yom Tov, although you will be unable to complete Shemoneh Esrei, before they accept Shabbos or Yom Tov, [nevertheless] you may pray [Minchah], since you began at a permitted time.