280. Covering Nudity for Prayer

Tefillah u’Birkas Kohanim 4:6

There is a common practice in Babylonia and Spain that one who has had a seminal emission does not daven before washing his entire body in water. This is based Amos 4:12, “Prepare to meet your God, Israel.” This practice applies to a healthy person or to a sick person who has engaged in marital intimacy. If a sick person had an emission because of his illness, there is no practice for him to bathe because of it. Similarly, this practice does not apply to a zav who has a seminal emission or to a menstruating woman who expels semen after intimacy. Such people should simply clean themselves, wash their hands like anyone else, and then daven.

Tefillah u’Birkas Kohanim 4:7

Covering one’s nudity (4:1) refers to the following: Even if one covers his genitals sufficiently for reciting Shema, he may not daven until he covers his heart. If one did not do so, or if he was unable to do so, then as long as his genitals were covered when he davened, he has fulfilled his obligation after the fact. One should not, however, act this way at the outset.