86. What to Skip

14:7 If one said the blessings mentioned above (in 14:6) and has already put on his tallis and tefillin, he may skip if necessary to catch up to the minyan for Shemoneh Esrei, even to join the minyan at the blessing of Yotzeir Ohr (before Shema). Time permitting, one should recite Baruch She’amar, Ashrei and Yishtabach. If he has more time, he should also recite Psalm 150. Given more time, Psalm 148. With enough time, one should recite all the Psalms that begin “Hallelujah” (of which there are five). If he has time beyond that, a person should say Vayevarech David and, if he has even more time, one should recite Hodu until V’Hu Rachum (skipping from there to the V’Hu Rachum immediately before Ashrei). The verses recited daily take priority over those specially added for Shabbos and holidays. Given time to add some of the additional verses, one should say Mizmor Shir L’Yom HaShabbos (Psalm 92) and Hallel HaGadol (Psalm 136) on Shabbos and Yom Kippur, though only Hallel HaGadol has priority on holidays. The next in priority are Psalm 19, Psalm 34 and Psalm 90. All of these should be recited before Yishtabach and, after davening, one should recite the paragraphs he skipped. However, the blessings of Baruch She’amar and Yishtabach may not be recited after davening . If one sees that, even if he skips straight to Yotzeir Ohr, he won’t be able to catch up by Shemoneh Esrei without rushing, then he should forget about catching up and pray at his own pace with proper concentration. (Mishnah Brurah 52:6 says that, though we permit one to skip in order to say Shemoneh Esrei with a minyan, that does not justify saying kriyas Shema without proper concentration.)

14:8 If a person arrives in shul without tallis and tefillin and the minyan is already saying pesukei d’zimrah, if he expects that a tallis and tefillin will be brought to him, he may say pesukei d’zimrah with them. When the tallis and tefillin arrive, he should put them on after Yishtabach, before Yotzeir Ohr. (Mishnah Brurah 53:5 says that one may put them on and recite the appropriate blessings between the paragraphs of pesukei d’zimrah, though not between the last paragraph and Yishtabach.) If he is concerned that by doing so he will be unable to say Shemoneh Esrei with the minyan, he should skip from the V’Hu Rachum in Hodu to the one in Ashrei, or from Vayosha Hashem until Yishtabach. In this way he can put the tefillin on after he says Yishtabach before the shaliach tzibbur (prayer leader) says Kaddish.