The Rishonim<\/i> disagree as to whether there is a biblical commandment (mitzvah<\/i> m’d\u2019oraita<\/i>) to pray every day. According to the Rambam<\/i> (Sefer<\/i> HaMitzvot<\/i>, mitzvah 5), there is a biblical commandment to pray daily, as it says (Exodus 23:25), \u201cServe God your Lord,\u201d and (Deuteronomy 6:13) \u201cRemain in awe of God, serve Him.\u201d Although these verses contain a general commandment to serve Hashem, they also include a specific commandment to pray. The Chachamim<\/i> interpreted ‘service’ (avodah<\/i>) to mean prayer, as it is written (Deuteronomy 11:13), \u201cLove God your Lord and serve Him with all your heart,\u201d and they explained (Ta\u2019anit<\/i> 2a), \u201cWhat is serving with the heart? You must say, [it means] prayer.\u201d By praying once a day, a person fulfills his biblical obligation to pray. To fulfill one\u2019s obligation, one must commence his prayer with praise to Hashem; after that ask for what he needs; and conclude by thanking Hashem for the good He has bestowed upon him. The Torah does not specify how long one\u2019s prayers must be. Therefore, some shorten their prayers and others lengthen them, yet they all fulfill their biblical obligation (Rambam Tefillah<\/i> 1:2-3).<\/p>\n
However, according to the Ramban<\/i> (Hasagot<\/i> on Sefer HaMitzvot<\/i>), there is no biblical obligation to pray every day, because, in his opinion, the extrapolation from the verses that the Rambam<\/i> mentions is not complete, but rather only an asmachta<\/i> (reference). Anshei Knesset HaGedolah<\/i> instituted the daily prayers. Only during times of trouble is there a biblical commandment to pray to Hashem, as we learn from the mitzvah of the trumpets (chatzotzrot<\/i>), where it says (Numbers 10:9), \u201cWhen you go to war against an enemy that attacks you in your land, you shall sound a teruah<\/i> (short blasts) on the trumpets. You will then be remembered before God your Lord, and will be delivered from your enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hence, according to all opinions, there is a biblical obligation to pray in times of trouble. Therefore, anyone who finds himself, or his friend, in a state of crisis is required to add a special request for assistance in his prayer, since it is a biblical commandment to pray to Hashem that He save him from that trouble. All the more so when the public or the nation is in danger; it is a mitzvah for the tzibur <\/i>(public) to pray a communal prayer; Chazal<\/i> even instituted fast days for that reason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Rishonim disagree as to whether there is a biblical commandment (mitzvah m’d\u2019oraita) to pray every day. According to the Rambam (Sefer HaMitzvot, mitzvah 5), there is a biblical commandment to pray daily, as it says (Exodus 23:25), \u201cServe God your Lord,\u201d and (Deuteronomy 6:13) \u201cRemain in awe of God, serve Him.\u201d Although these verses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-01-fundamentals-of-the-laws-of-prayer"],"yoast_head":"\n