Every Jewish man must pray three prayers daily. Women must also pray every day; however, their base obligation is one prayer per day. Nevertheless, if they wish, they may pray all three prayers. According to the Ashkenazi custom, some say that women are obligated to pray Shacharit and Mincha every day, however, they are not obligated to pray Arvit. We have discussed this in a different Halacha.
Concentration During Prayer
The Baraita (Berachot 34b) states that preferably, one should concentrate on the words one is reciting throughout all the blessings of the Amida. If one finds it too difficult to concentrate throughout the entire Amida, one must at least concentrate on the words one is reciting during the “Avot” blessing, i.e., the first blessing of the Amida, which bears special significance since it extolls the praises of Hashem.
One Who Did Not Concentrate
There is a disagreement among the Rishonim whether one who has prayed without concentration must repeat one’s Amida prayer, or perhaps one has nevertheless fulfilled one’s obligation post facto. Although some maintain the latter, the Rambam, Rosh, Rabbeinu Yonah, and many others rule that if one prayed without concentrating during the “Avot” blessing (although one may have concentrated on the rest of the blessings of the Amida), one must repeat the Amida.
The Tur rules that nowadays, we customarily do not repeat the Amida after not having concentrated during the first blessing, for it is almost certain that even when one repeats the Amida, one will not concentrate properly again and therefore, there is no use in repeating the Amida.
Maran Ha’Shulchan Aruch rules in accordance with the letter of the law that one who has not concentrated on the words of the first blessing of the Amida must repeat one’s prayer and he makes no mention of the Tur’s opinion. The Rama adds the Tur’s opinion that nowadays, one should not repeat the Amida for a lack of concentration.
Maran Ha’Chida writes that although according to Maran, one must repeat one’s Amida if one did not concentrate in the “Avot” blessing, even Sephardic and Middle Eastern Jews do not rule in accordance with Maran here. Rather, they rely on the Tur, Rama, and other Poskim who rule that one fulfills one’s obligation even without having concentrated at all.
Summary: One must concentrate on the words of the Amida, especially the first blessing of the Amida, which is the most significant. If one did not do so, one should not repeat the Amida prayer after the fact.
We shall discuss some more details regarding this law in a following Halacha.
