Q&A: Regarding the Time for Prayer
Regarding the Time for Prayer
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I wanted to ask whether there is any dispensation at all to pray after the proper time for prayer.
In practice, I go to sleep very late, and if I get up to pray at the proper time, it causes me to sleep very little, feel exhausted, and not function during the day.
At a certain point it already feels like praying on time is “ruining my life,” because it comes at the expense of sleep and health.
Is there any halakhic source or dispensation that would allow praying later in a situation like this?
Answer
Hello,
A difficult question. In principle, I am not familiar with any dispensation for this, but it seems that you are not supposed to live in a nightmare in order to pray on time. The best option is to try to find different work or different shifts. If that is not possible, you can get up for the Shema and pray briefly by yourself at home, and then go back to sleep. After the fact, you will still receive the reward for prayer until midday, even if not the reward for prayer at its proper time.
Discussion on Answer
Yes, that is true. But I understand from the question that this is not the situation.
Now I was thinking that there is a possibility that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not answer prayers at all (that is, not even sporadically). Can one rely on that possibility in a pressing situation and cancel prayer, because on that possibility it would seem that the obligation of prayer is void from the outset?
I don’t think so. Both because of the argument itself, and because being answered is not a condition of prayer. Prayer also includes praise and thanksgiving, not only requests.
I seem to remember there being online discussions about dispensations to pray before sunrise for workers who get up early in the morning and go out to work. So maybe in that case one could pray Shacharit before going to sleep, provided it is at least after dawn.