Q&A: Ideal Prayer Times
Ideal Prayer Times
Question
Hello Rabbi, is there some particular ideal to pray at sunrise time?
(Aside from, of course, “the diligent perform commandments early,” which in my opinion is not a sufficient reason to get up for sunrise prayer, since it doesn’t really make it more choice, and you could say that about every commandment.)
And also regarding the other prayers, is there an ideal time to pray, or as long as you pray within the time for that prayer is it all the same?
Does praying at sunrise override praying with a quorum? (In my opinion clearly not, since a quorum is either obligatory or at least something more choice, as opposed to sunrise prayer, which isn’t really more choice but just preferable to pray early so you don’t accidentally miss it.)
Are the prayer times according to the Vilna Gaon and Magen Avraham their own addition, or simply a different way of calculating the time? In other words, according to the Talmud is there some particular prayer time that is preferable, or is that something they added?
Answer
I don’t understand these ideals. Discussions about what is preferable to what in these contexts have always struck me as empty declarations. They quote books that themselves decided the order of priority based on their own gut feeling.
They tell you that the diligent perform commandments early, but that’s not enough for you. So don’t get up. What do you want from me? What you’re really asking is: if I don’t accept any argument in favor of x, can you bring me an argument in favor of x? A bit strange, no?