Shulchan Aruch: Chapter 80 - [Laws Relating to] One who Cannot Control Flatulence

SECTION 80 [Laws Relating to] One who Cannot Control Flatulence. (1–3)

1 If a person with flatulence vents wind in the morning and is certain that he will not be able to refrain from doing so throughout the time that he recites Shemoneh Esreh, it is preferable [that he allow] the time for prayer1 to pass [without praying] rather than recite Shemoneh Esreh while he is not in a state of bodily purity. For it is possible to compensate for [the failure to recite] Shemoneh Esreh; i.e., if one was prevented by forces beyond his control from reciting the morning Shemoneh Esreh, he can recite the afternoon Shemoneh Esreh twice. So, too, a person in the situation described above is constrained by forces beyond his control. He cannot recite Shemoneh Esreh without bodily purity, since it would be very shameful to vent wind while standing before the King and speaking to Him; it would entail great disgrace and anger.2 For one is required to move four cubits away when he feels an uncontrollable need to vent wind while reciting Shemoneh Esreh, as will be explained in sec. 103[:2].

2 Since the above individual3 does not recite the morning Shemoneh Esreh, he should likewise not recite Pesukei DeZimrah,4 unless he [does so] without its blessings, as if he were [merely] reading [these passages] from the Torah. [The rationale is that] their recitation with a blessing5 was ordained in order to make the praises of the Holy One, blessed be He, precede Shemoneh Esreh, as explained in sec. 51[:1] and 52[:1].

3 The Shema and its blessings, by contrast, must be recited at their appropriate time6 even without bodily purity,7 for one is not considered to be speaking to the King except when he stands before Him and recites Shemoneh Esreh, as stated in sec. 74[:7]. Though he will be reciting the Shema without tefillin — for tefillin require bodily purity8 — he should not wait, thereby letting the time for the recitation of the Shema pass, so that he will be able to recite it while wearing tefillin, as stated in sec. 66[:11].

If he feels that he can control himself while he recites the Shema, he should put on tefillin between [the blessing] Ahavah [Rabbah] and the Shema, recite the blessing, and remove them immediately after [the Shema]. He may, however, put on his tallis and recite the appropriate blessing before beginning the blessings [of the Shema], for bodily purity is not a prerequisite for [the mitzvah of] tzitzis.