Q&A: The Scope of the Exemption of One Engaged in a Commandment
The Scope of the Exemption of One Engaged in a Commandment
Question
Happy New Year, Rabbi.
I was unsure about the scope of the exemption for someone engaged in a commandment. During the holiday we were on guard duty for hours straight and couldn’t pray Shacharit. Do we need, or at least are we permitted, to make it up as a compensatory prayer?
Seemingly, if we were exempt then there is nothing to make up, but afterward I saw on WikiYeshiva that it says this:
"When one fulfilled the first commandment, even though he was exempt, he has nevertheless fulfilled his obligation, because he is not truly exempt; rather, he is occupied with the first commandment. For example, one engaged in public needs is considered to be involved in a commandment and is exempt from reciting Shema, but if he stopped and recited Shema, he has fulfilled his obligation (Mishnah Berurah 70:18)."
So according to this, perhaps we do need to make it up, or at least we can pray it in the framework of a compensatory prayer.
Answer
That is indeed correct. And here it is even weaker, because I am not sure this has the status of being engaged in a commandment at all. Simply speaking, it seems to me that this is ordinary duress, not being engaged in a commandment. Even if we assume that guarding the Jewish people or a military camp is a commandment, here it is very indirect. Is eating breakfast so that one will have strength to train also a commandment? In the end, the war is the commandment, if at all.
I would just note that for pilpul there is room to distinguish and say that even if you were completely exempt, if you did pray you fulfilled your obligation, like a minor who became an adult between the two Passover offerings according to Maimonides: if he brought the first Passover offering, even though he was exempt from it, he fulfilled the commandment and does not bring the second. According to this, it seems that one cannot prove the existence of an obligation of compensatory prayer. But as stated above, the straightforward conclusion is that you are obligated.