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[[Image:Prayer.jpg | 200px | link=Prayer | right]] | [[Image:Prayer.jpg | 200px | link=Prayer | right]] | ||
==General Obligation== | ==General Obligation== | ||
# Some early authorities consider the mitzvah to pray as a biblical mitzvah based on the | # Some early authorities consider the mitzvah to pray as a biblical mitzvah based on the verse “ולעבדו בכל לבבכם”<ref>Deuteronomy 11:13/דברים פרק יא פסוק יג</ref> which Chazal explain as a reference to the service of the heart<ref>Tanit 2a</ref>, ולעבדו connoting worship through prayer. [[Tefillah]] is listed as the fifth mitzvah in the Rambam's ספר המצות.<Ref>Rambam Tefillah 1:1,ספר המצוות לרמב"ם מצות עשה ה</ref> However, many early authorities argue that the entire obligation is rabbinic and only biblical in times of great distress (בעת צרה). <Ref>Ramban on ספר המצות, Mishna Brurah 106:4 </ref> | ||
# One who lengthens his [[prayers]] will merit a longer life. <ref> Sh"t Rivivot Ephraim 1:50:7 says that although the gemara Brachot 54b says this in reference to the amida, it is true for all [[prayers]] </ref> | # One who lengthens his [[prayers]] will merit a longer life. <ref> Sh"t Rivivot Ephraim 1:50:7 says that although the gemara Brachot 54b says this in reference to the amida, it is true for all [[prayers]] </ref> | ||