Shulchan Arukh Orach Chayim · Siman 93

Shulchan Arukh Orach Chayim 93 — English translation

Translation: Sefaria Community Translation. Section numbers match the Hebrew text above.

1. 1Before One Prays, One Needs to Wait: containing 4 s'ifim. One should wait one [halakhic] hour before he rises to pray [the Amidah] in order to focus his heart to the Omnipresent. And [one should wait] one [halakhic] hour after the prayer, so that it should not seem like a burden to him, that he is quick to leave it.
2. 2One should stand to pray with reverence and humility and not in the midst of laughter, frivolity or purposeless matters, and not in the midst of anger. Rather [he should pray] in the midst of joy, like the words of comfort from the Torah, for example those that follow the redemption from Egypt [i.e. the blessing after the Recitation of the Sh'ma] or that follow Tehila l'David [i.e. Psalm 145], where it is written in it "He will do the will of those who revere Him" [and] "Hashem guards all those who love Him." [Psalms 145:19-20].
3. 3We do not stand to pray in the midst of (ie. immediately after) judging a case, or in the midst of [studying] Jewish law, so that one's heart will not be troubled with it (ie. he will be distracted by it), rather [we stand to pray] in the midst of [studying] conclusive Jewish law. Rem"a: For this is also like being in the "midst of joy", because of [the verse] "the precepts of Hashem are upright, delighting the heart" [Psalms 19:9] (Tur, Orach Chaim 93:1)
4. 4One who is engaged in communal needs is like someone who is engaged in Torah, meaning, in regards to standing in midst of it to pray, that it too is a joy for the one who is engaged in communal needs. And there are those who explain that this [comparison] means that one does not need to interrupt [serving communal needs in order] to pray.

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