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Shacharit: Shema: El Melech Ne'eman

Situation

You are not with a minyan. You begin saying the shema and you realize you had forgotten to say El melech ne'eman before beginning the shema.

What To Do

Finish the shema; do not go back to say El melech ne'eman (and your saying the shema is still valid).

Shacharit: Might Return To Sleep and Miss Latest Time To Say Shema
SITUATION You wake up after daybreak, but you might go back to sleep and thereby miss the time for saying mekadeish et shimcha ba'rabim and shema (both of which must be said by the third halachic hour of the day).
WHAT TO DOYou should say at least the:
  • Blessing on washing your hands,
  • Blessings on studying Torah, including Elohai neshama and all other related sayings, and
  • Complete shema--with the condition that:
    • If you sleep past the latest time for shema (sof zman kriat shema), this shema fulfills your obligation; but
    • If you do not go back to sleep, this shema does not fulfill your obligation.
    Then, whether you go back to sleep or not, having made the condition allows you to say the full blessing of mekadeish et shimcha ba'rabim, including God's name, if you get to l'olam yihei adam... before the third hour of the day.
    NOTE If you said the shema when you woke up but did not made the condition, you would not be able to say the concluding blessing mekadeish et shimcha ba'rabim with God's name when repeating the shema (but you may say it without using God's name: see When To Say Mekadeish et Shimcha BaRabim).
    NOTE If you go back to sleep, don't repeat the blessings on washing hands and studying Torah when you wake up.
Shacharit: Psalm of the Day/Shir Shel Yom: Daytime
You may fulfill your requirement of saying Psalm of the Day (shir shel yom) only during the daytime.
Shacharit: Tachanun: When Not To Say
Tachanun is related to judgment. Tachanun is NOT said at times of din/judgment:
  • At night,
  • On Tish'a B'Av,
  • In a house of mourning, and
  • Yom Kippur.
Tachanun is also NOT said at times of simcha/happiness:
At mincha before (and certainly not on):
  • Shabbat,
  • Jewish festivals,
  • Rosh Hashana, and
  • Rosh Chodesh.
At any prayer service on:
  • Isru chag (the day after each of the Jewish festivals),
  • Entire month of Nisan.
           Reason   Nisan has more than 15 days that we omit tachanun, and once we omit it for most of the month, we don't say it at all.
  • All of Chanuka, Purim, Shushan Purim, Tu B'Shvat, Rosh Chodesh, and from Rosh Chodesh Sivan until the day after Shavuot.
  • Tishrei from shacharit before Yom Kippur until after Simchat Torah (Shmini Atzeret in Eretz Yisrael). Resume saying tachanun:
    • Second day of Cheshvan, or
    • Day after isru chag of Simchat Torah (this is the more prevalent custom among Ashkenazim). Each person should follow his or her family or community custom.
Any time these people are present in your minyan (or in any other minyan in the building) either before a circumcision or while still involved in the brit or meal:
  • Mohel,
  • Sandak, or
  • Father of a boy having his circumcision.
       Note This even applies to mincha if the brit will take place after mincha.
 
Any time a groom is present during the first week after marriage.
Shacharit: Tachanun: How To Say
See the Tachanun Section in How To Pray in Synagogue.
Shacharit: Earliest Time for Blessings over Tefilin and Tzitzit
Earliest time to say blessings over tefilin and tzitzit/talit is mi'sheyakir (in New York, 36-40 minutes before sunrise).
Introduction: Shacharit: When To Begin
B'di'avad, you can say shema and amida as early as 72 minutes before sunrise (alot ha'shachar).  You can put on tefilin and tzitzit/talit even earlier, although you may not say the blessings over them until “mi'sheyakir”—which is later than you can say shema and amida!  (See above.)
Pre-Shacharit: Greeting People
Greeting people before shacharit is OK; just don't go out your way to meet someone.
 
Very Early Shacharit: How To Begin
If you must say shacharit very early:
     1. Say birchot ha'shachar;
     2. When you reach the end of yishtabach, if it is:
  • 36 minutes (or less) before sunrise:
    • Pause after the blessing (ending El chay ha'olamim),
    • Put on your talit and tefilin, and
    • Say the appropriate blessings.
  • More than 36 minutes before sunrise:
    • Put on your talit and tefilin WITHOUT saying the blessings. Later, after it is less than 36 minutes before sunrise:
      • Hold your tzitzit and say the tzitzit blessing,
      • Move your tefilin slightly,
      • Say the tefilin blessings (if you are in a place in the prayer service where you are permitted to interrupt).
 
When To Pray: Shacharit: What Time To Finish
You must say the shema no later than the end of the third halachic hour of the day in the morning. If you did not say it in time:
  1. If it is before the fourth halachic hour of the day, say the entire shacharit service, as long as you will complete the amida before the end of the fourth halachic hour.
  2. If it is after the fourth halachic hour of the day but before the end of the sixth halachic hour of the day, say birchot ha'shachar (and you may also say korbanot) and then skip all of shacharit up to the amida, which you should say as soon as possible.
Women and Shema in Shacharit
Women are not required to say the full shema or the blessings before it.  Even if women do not say the whole shema, it is proper for them to say the first line of the shema and baruch shem kevod malchuto l'olam va'ed.
Note If women say entire shema, even though they are not required to do so, it is a mitzva.
Men and Shema in Shacharit
Men must say shema in shacharit and the blessings before and after.
 
Introduction to Morning Prayers/Shacharit (Weekday): Order of Prayers
Here is a typical order of waking/morning prayers for weekdays (many people say these blessings at the synagogue instead of at home):
  • Wake
    Wake and wash hands (Three-Times Method).
  • Bathroom
    Take care of any toilet needs, wash your hands (One-Time Method).
    Say blessings al netilat yadayim and asher yatzar (until l'fgarim meitim).
  • Torah Blessings
  Say Torah blessings (from la'asok bi'divrei Torah until talmud Torah ki'negged
  kulam).
  • Talit Katan
    Put on talit katan (for men).
    Say blessing if not married or if not putting on talit gadol later.
      Note You may put on the talit katan before washing your hands
  • Birchot HaShachar
  Say birchot ha'shachar (from natan la'sechvi…until ven brit) before, or at,
  synagogue.
  • Talit/Tefilin
  Put on:

 

  • Talit (for married men or other men with that custom).
  • Tefilin (for men).
  • L'olam Yihei Adam/Korbanot
   Say:
  • L'olam yihei adam,
  • Short shema,
  • Paragraph ending mekadeish et shimcha ba'rabim,
  • Readings on sacrifices/korbanot,
  • 13 rules.
  • Psukei D'Zimra
  Say:
  • Psalm 30/Mizmor Shir Chanukat habayit.
  • Baruch she'amar through yishtabach (includes ashrei).
  • Bar'chu/Shema/Amida
  Say bar'chu through end of amida (including shema, with two blessings before and
  one after), tachanun (when appropriate) and ashrei through to alenu.
  • Psalms/Alenu
  Say alenu and psalm for the day.
 
Terms To Know
  • Neitz, HaNeitz—Sunrise
  • Alot HaShachar—72 minutes before sunrise
  • MiSheyakir-- 36 minutes before sunrise in New York in winter and 40 minutes in summer. Nearer to the equator, the maximum time is shorter.
Note Even though mi'sheyakir means when there is enough light to identify your friend, it also means when you can differentiate between blue and white threads in the tzitzit, since the mitzva of tzitzit is only during the daytime.

When Things Happen
Before Alot HaShachar (72 minutes before sunrise)
You can put on tzitzit/talit and tefilin without blessings.

Alot HaShachar
You can say:
  • Birchot ha'shachar.
  • Shema and amida, b'di'avad.
Mi'sheyakir (36-40 minutes before sunrise)
You can say:
  • Blessings over tefilin and tzitzit/talit.
  • Shema and amida as necessary.
K'Vatikin
You can say shema l'chatchila--and begin saying the amida exactly at sunrise.

By Third Halachic Hour of the Day
You have until the third halachic hour of the day to say:
  • The blessing mekadeish et shimcha ba'rabim if you want to include the word Adonai.
  • Morning shema.
By Fourth Halachic Hour of the Day
You have until the fourth halachic hour of the day to say any of the prayers from barchu until the end of the amida.

Halachic Mid-Day
You have until halachic mid-day, b'di'avad, to say the shacharit amida.

          
Tefilin: When To Touch: Shacharit
When praying on weekday mornings, touch and “kiss” the tefilin at:
  • Places in the shema that mention tefilin, and
  • Potei'ach in ashrei.
Reason  When wearing tefilin, you should be constantly conscious that you are wearing them. One way of reminding ourselves that we are wearing tefilin is to touch them at these times.
Note To “kiss” tefilin, touch the box with one or more fingers and then kiss those fingers.
What To Wear for Shema in Shacharit
Men should wear a talit katan (for married men, also wear a talit gadol) and tefilin in order to say shema in shacharit. However, if none are available, say the shema without them.