{"id":8170,"date":"2016-02-03T00:09:51","date_gmt":"2016-02-02T22:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=8170"},"modified":"2026-02-24T08:28:55","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T06:28:55","slug":"03-03-09","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-03-09\/","title":{"rendered":"09. Women\u2019s Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"

In contradistinction to the aforementioned, in women\u2019s prayer, the personal element is more pronounced. Because women are exempt from time-bound positive <\/span>mitzvot<\/span><\/i>, they do not need to recite <\/span>Pesukei De-zimra<\/span><\/i>, the <\/span>Shema <\/span><\/i>and the <\/span>berakhot <\/span><\/i>associated with it, or the other passages that men recite in their prayers. Although women must use the text of <\/span>Shemoneh Esrei <\/span><\/i>instituted by the Men of the Great Assembly, since their prayer rite is shorter, there is less concern that routine will erode their <\/span>kavana<\/span><\/i>. In practice, even with regard to <\/span>Shemoneh Esrei<\/span><\/i>, women may decide whether to recite it twice daily in accordance with the stringent view, or once daily in accordance with the lenient opinion (see above, 2:5).<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, since a woman need not pray in a synagogue and with a <\/span>minyan<\/span><\/i>, she may pray when she feels she will be able have more <\/span>kavana<\/span><\/i>. Likewise, the pace of her prayer is not dictated by that of the communal prayer. It thus emerges that the personal, petitionary element is more prominent in a women’s prayer. Furthermore, the Sages instituted that men who do not know how to pray may come to synagogue and fulfill their obligation by hearing the <\/span>\u0125azan<\/span><\/i>‘s repetition of the <\/span>Amida<\/span><\/i> (<\/span>\u0124azarat Ha-shatz<\/span><\/i>), whereas women who do not know how to pray need not hear <\/span>\u0124azarat Ha-shatz<\/span><\/i>. The simple explanation for this is that it is impossible to burden women with this, but perhaps in women’s prayer, <\/span>kavana <\/span><\/i>is more prominent and halakhic details less so. Thus, a woman who does not know how to recite the fixed liturgy may pray in her own words as best as she can, for the essence of women’s prayer is to ask God for mercy. 1<\/a><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
    \n
  1. According to Ramban, women must pray daily to request mercy on behalf of themselves. Some say, based on a different version of the Gemara, that Rambam agrees. However, the general, public element, corresponding to the Tamid offerings and the sanctity of the Temple (of which the synagogue is a miniature version) is more prominent in the Sages\u2019 enactments for men. Additionally, men must recite the Shema and its berakhot. In contrast, for women, the first principle of prayer \u2013 praise, petition, and thanksgiving \u2013 remain. We also saw (2:4 above) that women who are preoccupied with raising their children are exempt from prayer, as they cannot have the proper kavana, though for men in the same situation, the poskim are not lenient. Again we find that regarding women there is more of an emphasis on kavana and the request for mercy, whereas concerning men, preservation of the framework for expression of the divine Presence in prayer is preserved. <\/span>\n

    This is consistent with what we explained in n. 2, namely, that from an intellectual standpoint, women are more private, but from the aspect of accepting faith, she is more general. The institution of prayer services with a minyan corresponding to the korbanot offers greater expression to the intellectual aspect, imparting the fundamentals of faith in the world, to which men are more suited. In contrast, kavana is more prominent among women and expressed more in personal prayer. This is the mitzva of prayer for women, in which the voluntary element is more prominent. For this reason, many basic principles of prayer were learned from the prayer of \u0124ana. For further study see Peninei Halakha: Prayer 2:2, 5 as well as below, ch. 15 n. 1, which notes that women are exempt from reciting the Tamid passage because the obligation of women to pray stems from the need to request mercy, not as a replacement of the Tamid. Mabit (Beit Elokim, Sha’ar He-yesodot ch. 39) explains that until the destruction of the Temple, the divine Presence was revealed through the Temple service, and the individual’s prayer was also heard. After the destruction of the First Temple, the Men of the Great Assembly instituted prayer with a minyan so that the divine Presence would dwell among them, thereby allowing their prayer to be accepted. ↩<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In contradistinction to the aforementioned, in women\u2019s prayer, the personal element is more pronounced. Because women are exempt from time-bound positive mitzvot, they do not need to recite Pesukei De-zimra, the Shema and the berakhot associated with it, or the other passages that men recite in their prayers. Although women must use the text of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-03-03"],"yoast_head":"\n09. Women\u2019s Prayer - Peninei Halakha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-03-09\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"09. Women\u2019s Prayer - Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In contradistinction to the aforementioned, in women\u2019s prayer, the personal element is more pronounced. Because women are exempt from time-bound positive mitzvot, they do not need to recite Pesukei De-zimra, the Shema and the berakhot associated with it, or the other passages that men recite in their prayers. Although women must use the text of […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-03-09\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-02T22:09:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-24T06:28:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"orah765768\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"orah765768\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/03-03-09\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/03-03-09\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"orah765768\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0996d17962bfd8ffd1c8ef7117a4204b\"},\"headline\":\"09. Women\u2019s Prayer\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-02T22:09:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T06:28:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/03-03-09\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":664,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Chapter 03: The Reasons behind Women's Mitzvot\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/03-03-09\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/03-03-09\\\/\",\"name\":\"09. Women\u2019s Prayer - Peninei Halakha\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-02T22:09:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T06:28:55+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/03-03-09\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/03-03-09\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/03-03-09\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u05d3\u05e3 \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"09. Women\u2019s Prayer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Peninei Halakha\",\"description\":\"HaRav Eliezer Melamed\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Peninei Halakha\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/logo-ph-.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/logo-ph-.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":64,\"caption\":\"Peninei Halakha\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0996d17962bfd8ffd1c8ef7117a4204b\",\"name\":\"orah765768\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0fdb49d8a411a6adc7129873884ffe72812892b9141dc21fe63bbadcaf2d84f6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0fdb49d8a411a6adc7129873884ffe72812892b9141dc21fe63bbadcaf2d84f6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0fdb49d8a411a6adc7129873884ffe72812892b9141dc21fe63bbadcaf2d84f6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"orah765768\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/author\\\/orah765768\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"09. Women\u2019s Prayer - Peninei Halakha","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-03-09\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"09. Women\u2019s Prayer - Peninei Halakha","og_description":"In contradistinction to the aforementioned, in women\u2019s prayer, the personal element is more pronounced. Because women are exempt from time-bound positive mitzvot, they do not need to recite Pesukei De-zimra, the Shema and the berakhot associated with it, or the other passages that men recite in their prayers. Although women must use the text of […]","og_url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-03-09\/","og_site_name":"Peninei Halakha","article_published_time":"2016-02-02T22:09:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-24T06:28:55+00:00","author":"orah765768","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"orah765768","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-03-09\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-03-09\/"},"author":{"name":"orah765768","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0996d17962bfd8ffd1c8ef7117a4204b"},"headline":"09. Women\u2019s Prayer","datePublished":"2016-02-02T22:09:51+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T06:28:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-03-09\/"},"wordCount":664,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Chapter 03: The Reasons behind Women's Mitzvot"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-03-09\/","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-03-09\/","name":"09. Women\u2019s Prayer - Peninei Halakha","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-02-02T22:09:51+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T06:28:55+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-03-09\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-03-09\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-03-09\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u05d3\u05e3 \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea","item":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"09. Women\u2019s Prayer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/","name":"Peninei Halakha","description":"HaRav Eliezer Melamed","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#organization","name":"Peninei Halakha","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/logo-ph-.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/logo-ph-.png","width":300,"height":64,"caption":"Peninei Halakha"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0996d17962bfd8ffd1c8ef7117a4204b","name":"orah765768","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0fdb49d8a411a6adc7129873884ffe72812892b9141dc21fe63bbadcaf2d84f6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0fdb49d8a411a6adc7129873884ffe72812892b9141dc21fe63bbadcaf2d84f6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0fdb49d8a411a6adc7129873884ffe72812892b9141dc21fe63bbadcaf2d84f6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"orah765768"},"url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/author\/orah765768\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8170"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11643,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8170\/revisions\/11643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}