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Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 96
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Read the full text in the readerOrach Chayim Siman 96
Orach Chayim Siman 96 is a source-text unit from the Shulchan Arukh with 2 seifim. Its reading map separates the practical rule, its conditions and the points that need comparison with the surrounding text.
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Original text
<b>שימנע כל הטרדות כדי שיכוין. ובו ב סעיפים:</b><br>כשהוא מתפלל לא יאחוז בידו תפילין ולא ספר מכתבי הקודש ולא קערה מלאה ולא סכין ומעות וככר מפני שלבו עליהם שלא יפלו ויטרד ותתבטל כוונתו ולולב בזמנו מותר לאחוז ביד כיון שהאחיזה בידו היא מצוה אינו נטרד בשבילו:
That One Should Prevent All Distractions in Order to Concentrate, containing 2 s'ifim. When one is praying, one should not hold in one's hand tefillin, and not a book of holy writings, and not a full plate, and not a knife, or money, or a loaf [of bread] because one's heart is [focused] on them that they should not fall, and one will be distracted and will lose one's focus. And [regarding] a lulav at its time [i.e. performing its mitzvah]: it is permitted to hold it in [one's] hand, [and] since the holding [of it] in one's hand is the mitzvah, one will not be distracted because of it.
מותר לאחוז מחזור תפלות בידו בשעה שמתפלל הואיל ותופס לצורך תפלה עצמה לא טריד דומיא דלולב דמשום דלקיחתו מצוה לא טריד: הגה ומ"מ אם לא היה בידו קודם שהתחיל לא יחזיר אחריו בתפלה ליטלו אלא אם כן היה במקום מיוחד שהוא מוכן אז מותר ליטלו אפילו בתוך התפלה כדי להתפלל מתוכו (הר"י פרק מי שמתו):
It is permitted to hold a prayerbook in one's hand at the time that one is praying, [and] since one is holding it for the purpose of the prayer itself, one is not distracted [by it]. It is similar to [holding] a lulav, that since its "taking" is the mitzvah, one is not distracted. Gloss: Nevertheless, if [the prayer book] was not in one's hand before one started [praying], one should not go looking for it during [the middle of the] prayer [i.e. Amidah] to pick it up, unless it is the case that it was in a particular place which one prepared. Then it is permitted to pick it up, even in the middle of the prayer, in order to pray from it (Rabbeinu Yonah - [Tractate Berachot - Chapter 3] "Mi Shemeito")
English translation: Sefaria Community Translation · CC0