These chapters of AH are short enough to do two this time, expand our perspective of how our bodies do and should support our prayers.

Our Feet Together

Siman 95 starts with the idea of placing our feet right next to each other during prayer, to emulate how Yechezkel 1;7 describes angels, ve-ragleihem yeshara, their legs were straight, the word for straight in the singular, two legs united as one. When we speak with God, in supplication and in kedushah, we are doing what angels do, and should do it how they do it, since they are the greater experts when it comes to dealing close to directly with God.

AH says custom extends the idea to Barechu. [Given the reason we had for it so far, the practice seems meaningless, but read on.] Tur reported Yerushalmi Berachot 1;1, where an amora (R. Levi or R. Shim’on) related our stance during prayer to Shemot 20;22, kohanim were told not to walk up steps to reach the altar, should rather walk a ramp, heel to toe, to avoid immodest spreading of legs. We, too, should not immodestly spread our legs during prayer.

[AH doesn’t here address bodily modesty to cultivate even outside of prayer, because we are always in God’s Presence in some sense, as the whole world is full of His Glory. This is one example, even a clothed man should not walk too physically openly.]

We don’t usually pay attention to a Yerushalmi when the Bavli had a different source for the idea. AH suggests Tur thought we could/should incorporate the second Yerushalmi reason as well, for example by walking with small steps in shul, since the synagogue substitutes as much as possible for the Temple and sacrifices.

Given the requirement, someone unable to hold his/her legs fully together should at least have them no more distant than heel to toe, says AH.

Moving Into Position

In se’if three, he gives us the source for the custom to step forward three steps at the start of the standing prayer. Rema cited Rokeach, who said it is as if we approach to speak with someone, like Avraham steps forward in 18;23 to speak with Hashem, Yehudah to Yosef, 44;18, Eliyahu to introduce the contest on Mount Carmel, I Melachim 18;21.

While Elyah Rabbah saw no need to take three steps back if there was enough room to go forward, AH prefers we follow the custom to take those steps anyways, the three steps back a further way to prepare for this sanctified situation. Adding layers to the custom, Maharil would stand up at Tehillot le-Kel Elyon (as many do) before the morning Amidah, and from the start of kaddish at Mincha and Ma’ariv (note the implication, they did not always stand for kaddish).

Eyes and Head

Se’if four returns to how to stand, with Yevamot 105b pointing us to I Melachim 9;3, where Hashem promises Shlomo HaMelech His “eyes and heart” will be there always. It teaches us the Shechinah, the more concentrated Divine Presence, did not leave the Temple Mount with the Destruction of the Temple, Rashi says we should therefore face the Temple Mount, eyes down and heart above, in the Heavenly Temple [which corresponds directly to the earthly one].

RY had urged banishing all earthly pleasures from one’s thoughts during prayer, to be more like one is standing in the Beit HaMikdash, improving the odds of God’s accepting the person’s prayers.

[It is easiest to take Rabbenu Yonah at his word, he thought a Jew should not think of anything earthly during prayer. A moment’s thought makes it harder to accept, because Chazal established the wording of prayer, and included many requests about matters of this world. And encouraged us to add our own.

I suspect, without evidence other than having read his writings for a long time, that he meant our focus should not be this world, all the earthly requests we do make should be aimed at the higher purpose of fostering God’s Presence in the world, and/or easing our way to be the best servants of God we can.]

AH praises the Jew who achieves this, thinks such a person will merit seeing the Divine Presence before his death.

Hands

For the last posture issue (se’if five), we have Rambam’s idea of placing the right over left hand, both on/over one’s heart, as a servant supplicates a master, with emotions of fear and awe. While Tur and SA accepted the idea, Magen Avraham thought it a question of local custom, how slaves stand before their masters [in our world, where official slavery is a thing of the past, we might not need to do it at all, MA implies].

The siman ends with an overall message, regardless of specifics of how one sits or stands, we should be thinking of God’s Exaltedness, humanity’s lowliness, to have a proper sense of what it means to have been invited to present requests to God.

Orach Chayyim 97, Other Bodily Issues

Siman 97 looks at a less laudable aspect of having human bodies while we pray. It starts with the impropriety of burping or yawning during prayers. The prohibition applies to burps where the smell of food or drink comes back up, or a yawn with mouth wide open.

Beit Yosef seems to have thought a burp could be stopped, but if a person must yawn, s/he should cover his/her mouth. However, Rambam, Tur, and Berachot 24b all think burps, too, might be involuntary. AH leans towards Beit Yosef’s view, says people can stop from burping in polite company, so presumably can do so to honor Hashem and prayer. He concedes there are times a burp cannot be helped, thinks we should educate people as if that’s not true, and if they have to, they have to.

[An interesting overall educational question: better to recognize reality and address it, or pretend it doesn’t exist, leave it to people to deal with when it becomes an issue? I lean towards the first, first because if teachers pretend something isn’t true, those for whom it is true and inescapable will feel bad, with possibly problematic results, and also because I worry people make mistakes when asked to handle what they haven’t been taught. AH seems to disagree with me.]

Other than covering one’s mouth if a burp escapes, he opposed placing a hand on one’s chin or mouth during prayers, thought it arrogant. Except for chazzanim, cantors, who need such actions to produce the beautiful voice they contribute to prayers.

Spit, Snot, Saliva

No one standing before a king would spit, se’if three points out, making it wrong during prayer (note: he says Shemoneh Esrei, the standing prayer, a reminder that the run-up to Shemoneh Esei is not prayer, it’s preparation for prayer. The recitation of Shema also is not prayer, it fulfills a Torah obligation to remind ourselves of certain truths).

A sneeze or phlegm impossible to suppress should be placed in a cover, tissue, handkerchief, or, if necessary, clothing where it will not be visible. An istenis, unable to tolerate the presence of such materials, who must spit them out, should spit behind, writes AH.

The definition of “spitting behind” leads to a fascinating debate about what an istenis can tolerate. Rambam said to spit into one’s hand and throw it backwards. Tur and SA instead said to spit it that way, seemingly by turning one’s head.

Beit Yosef questioned how Rambam could speak of spitting into one’s hand, since the subject is an istenis, someone who can’t bear holding a dirtied tissue. Much as that makes sense to me, AH can’t understand the claim, thinks it obvious even an istenis wouldn’t mind a moment of having spit or snot on one’s hand, immediately tossed away.

What kind of istenis do you know?

To close out se’if three, MA included the added prayers at the end of the Amidah (what we call Elokai netzor) in these rules, because until we take our three steps back, we still stand before the King.

Se’ifim four and five discuss whether “behind” must be directly, or can also be to the left. (Right is out of the question, a reminder of what the world thinks of the left-handed).

A Bite and a Load

Instead, let’s finish with a louse, which AH allows removing with a piece of cloth, to not ruin his/her focus. If not actively praying, the person can remove it by hand, and wipe the hand on a wall, instead of the usually needed hand washing.

With all this activity, a man’s tallit might fall off, a topic for a different siman but always fun to review. If he caught it while some of it was still on his body, he need not make another berachah, can just adjust it back in place. If it does slide all the way off, he needs to recite a berachah before putting it back on, but cannot, since he is mid-Amidah. Instead, he should finish without it.

(He says the same is true for tefillin, but it is much rarer for tefillin to come off during prayers).

Along the lines of hefsek, Jews should avoid any distractions during prayer. While there is room to permit a Jew to pray while wearing a load of up to about six quarts, AH thinks that is only if s/he fears it will be stolen, or must walk during prayers. Otherwise, s/he should place it on the ground, along with any walking stick; to avoid theft, s/he can put it in front, to be able to watch it with slitted eyes, to mostly focus on prayers.

We want to stand the right way, control our bodily liquids the right way, to foster our full focus on our mission during prayers, to stand before God and speak with God with all our attention.

Adapted from articles previously published on Torah Musings