Shulchan Aruch: Chapter 131 - Laws Relating to [Supplications that Follow Shemoneh Esreh]

The term used in the above titles, nefilas apayim, literally means “falling on one’s face” because, as will be explained, these supplicatory prayers were originally recited while prostrating oneself (Rambam, Hilchos Tefillah 5:13). In fact, only certain passages are recited while prostrated; one stands while reciting the preceding and following passages. Nevertheless, the name nefilas apayim is often applied also to all these prayers collectively. This bracket of prayers, which is omitted on festive occasions, is also commonly known as Tachanun — lit., “supplication.” These occasions are listed in footnote 84 below.

When praying individually, it is also customary to recite these supplications (Ketzos HaShulchan 24:1).

In his Siddur, as is also the case in all Siddurim of Nussach Sephard, the Alter Rebbe follows the Kabbalistic custom of including the alphabetic confessional (Ashamnu, bagadnu,...) and the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy (VaYaavor...) before these prayers of supplication.

In the content of Tachanun in particular, there is considerable diversity between the wording that appears in the Ashkenazic order of prayer (Nussach Ashkenaz) and the Sephardic order of prayer (Nussach Sepharad, popularly pronounced Nussach Sephard).

To briefly clarify the key terms: Sephardim are Jews originating from Spain (“Sepharad”) or the Orient, as distinct from Ashkenazim (“Ashkenaz” being the classical Heb. name for Germany), who originate from other European countries. However, the prayer rites known as Nussach Sephard and Nussach Ashkenaz do not coincide with these “ethnic” categories. True, Nussach Ashkenaz is the prayer rite that developed in German-speaking and other European lands. But many of the worshipers whose Siddurim follow Nussach Sephard are not of Spanish or Oriental origin; they include many chassidim and non-chassidim of Ashkenazic background, both in Eretz Yisrael and the Diaspora. And the prayer rite followed by the Sephardim proper, basically of North African origin, is different again.

The prayer rite sometimes referred to in these footnotes as “the Lubavitch custom” is the version laid down by the AriZal — a variant of Nussach Sephard — as defined by the Alter Rebbe in his Siddur.

See Megillah 22b.

The corresponding nouns in the original are chovah (lit., “obligation”) and reshus (lit., “permission”).

If this prostration were obligatory, R. Eliezer ben Hurkanos would not have refrained from observing this practice, as related in Bava Metzia 59b. (See the Responsa of Rivash, sec. 412.)

They should nevertheless be recited (Eliyah Rabbah 131:1).

Accordingly, one is obviously permitted to respond to Kedushah, Kaddish, or any other davar shebikedushah (lit., “a holy pronouncement”; Rambam, Hilchos Tefillah 8:4-6, et al.) between the end of Shemoneh Esreh and these supplications. (See Shaarei Teshuvah 131:1.)

At this time one may also respond Amen whenever this is called for (Piskei Teshuvos 131:2). By contrast, one may not join the congregation in saying Vayehi binso’a haaron... when the Ark is opened before the Reading of the Torah (Responsa Shevet HaLevi, Vol. 7, sec. 12).

Lit., “to fall on one’s face.”

Bamidbar 14:5 describes how Moshe “fell on his face” in supplication before G‑d, and Yehoshua made supplication in a similar manner (Yehoshua 7:6). From Megillah, loc. cit., and Taanis 14b, it appears that supplicating in this manner was considered an integral part of the prayer service, at least on fast days. From these Talmudic passages, however, it is also evident that this could be done in a variety of positions, as the Alter Rebbe proceeds to explain.

Yehoshua 7:10.

The Scriptural prohibition applies only to a stone floor. It does not apply to a wooden floor, nor to a floor (even of stone) that is covered with an intervening substance such as linoleum. (See Rambam, Hilchos Avodas Kochavim 6:7; Rama, Yoreh Deah 131:8.) Therefore, while saying Aleinu in the course of the Mussaf services of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, when it is customary to kneel and to prostrate oneself until one’s forehead touches the floor, one should first spread a handkerchief or the like on the floor if it is made of stone. (See sec. 621:12 in the volume on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur in the present Bilingual Edition; Sefer HaMinhagim: The Book of Chabad-Lubavitch Customs, p. 120.)

Sefer HaMitzvos (prohibitive commandment 11) and Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 493) include this prohibition among the Torah’s 613 commandments. Rambam explains that pagans would prostrate themselves in such a manner before their deities (loc. cit., 6:6).

Vayikra 26:1.

In the original, even maskis — also translatable as “a kneeling stone” (Targum Onkelos), “a decorated stone” (Targum Yonasan), et al. See Encyclopedia Talmudis, Vol. 1, p. 82.

This law is not found in the extant sections of the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch. See the Shulchan Aruch of R. Yosef Caro and Rama, 131:8.

The Alter Rebbe appears to be speaking about an instance in which one desires to recite these supplications after reciting the whispered Shemoneh Esreh. Sec. 123:4 states that some authorities do not require one to return to his place of prayer after stepping back at the end of the whispered Shemoneh Esreh. In practice, even when one prays individually, these supplications are universally recited after taking three steps forward to return to one’s place of prayer.

Covering one’s face with his sleeve is acceptable (Badei HaShulchan 24:4).

Tehillim 121:5.

Shir HaShirim 2:6.

As if to say that “His left hand [which is opposite my right hand] is supporting my head.”

I.e., within the Ashkenazic community.

Accordingly, a left-handed person who wears tefillin on his right arm should lean to his left during the Morning Service as well (Pri Megadim: Mishbetzos Zahav 131:2).

The Menorah lit in the synagogue on Chanukah is placed at the south side, recalling its position in the Beis HaMikdash — to the right of the congregants who face the Ark at the east (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 671:7). It was once customary in certain communities to light up the south side of the synagogue with additional candles throughout the year, not only on Chanukah. And it is recorded that in the fourteenth century, the Maharil used to pray near the Menorah that stood in his synagogue — evidently a permanent fixture — to the south of the Ark (Minhagei Maharil: Minhagei Tefillah).

Zohar, Vol. III, p. 120b. See also Tanya — Iggeres HaTeshuvah, ch. 10.

Psalm 25.

This is the custom in the Ashkenazic community. In his Siddur (and this is also the custom of Nussach Sephard), the Alter Rebbe prescribes that Psalm 25 should in fact be recited.

At this point in his Siddur, the Alter Rebbe includes several requests, all beginning Avinu Malkeinu, that are recited while sitting. On Mondays and Thursdays, however, people often recite them while standing, because on those days they are immediately preceded — in Nussach Ari — by prayers that are recited while standing, viz., the extended version of Tachanun that includes the passage beginning VeHu Rachum (Rama, Orach Chayim 134:1).

II Divrei HaYamim 20:12.

At this point, it is customary to rise (Shelah, as quoted in Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 22:3).

Devarim 9:9. The verb va’eisheiv, translated here as “I abided,” also means “I sat.”

Loc. cit., v. 18. The Alter Rebbe does not mention standing. It has been noted that the Tur cites Devarim 10:10: “And I stood on the mountain.” Perhaps that verse was omitted because of its resemblance to the verse cited previously. Alternatively, perhaps there is no need to bring support for the obligation to pray while standing, for that is the position in which Shemoneh Esreh is recited.

In fact, several other brief supplications are recited immediately after that verse.

Popular name for the bracket of verses comprising Tehillim 84:5 (whose first word is Ashrei), 144:15, 145:1-21, and 115:18.

Psalm 20; this is its first word.

Yehoshua 7:6.

And in such a case one may recite the supplications while standing (Derech HaChayim 38:5).

This is also the Lubavitch custom — except in Jerusalem, as noted in Ketzos HaShulchan 24:4.

Here the Alter Rebbe is speaking about a prayer service conducted by a group of men in an unoccupied women’s synagogue.

In the original, “the azarah in front of the synagogue,” here translated not as “courtyard,” but as “the entrance hall in front of the synagogue” — in order to distinguish it from the “synagogue courtyard (chatzer) that is open to the synagogue” which is spoken of at the beginning of the paragraph. Unlike the women’s synagogue, people do not usually pray in the entrance hall in front of the synagogue.

See sec. 90:10.

Pesachim 85b.

Or, in the code language of the original, mitaam hayadua layod’im — lit., “for a reason that is known to those who know.”

The Alter Rebbe is evidently referring to “the long Avinu Malkeinu” which is recited on fast days and throughout the Ten Days of Repentance, and which, in Ashkenazic custom, precedes the Tachanun prayers. By contrast, as noted in Siddur Tehillat HaShem (p. 59), in Lubavitch custom “the long Avinu Malkeinu” follows those prayers, at the same point at which “the short Avinu Malkeinu” (see footnote 27 above) is said throughout the year.

This difference in sequence presents another instance of the standard divergence of customs between the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch and his Siddur: his Shulchan Aruch cites the Ashkenazic order of prayer (Nussach Ashkenaz), whereas his Siddur follows the AriZal’s version of the Sephardic order of prayer (Nussach Sephard).

On these terms, see footnote 1392 above.

I.e., after the appearance of stars.

In the original, bein hashmashos — defined as the time between sunset and the appearance of three stars.

Which are recited during the week before Rosh HaShanah, and in many communities, between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur as well. See sec. 602:3 and footnotes there.

In the original, ad nechon hayom (Mishlei 4:18).

In view of this consideration, the Lubavitch custom is not to prostrate oneself during Selichos at all (Sefer HaMinhagim: The Book of Chabad-Lubavitch Customs, p. 115).

In Talmudic times and thereafter, it was customary for the groom, his friends and family to celebrate — and to pray together — for seven days in one house, “the house of the groom” (see sec 639:10).

Subsection 6 below gives more details regarding this exemption.

Shabbos 130a.

This appears to be referring to a groom on the day of his wedding, as stated in Divrei Nechemiah. (See the supplements (Hosafos) to sec. 131 in the reset Heb. edition (5763) of the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, Vol. 4, p. 425.) Lubavitch halachic authorities have understood this as applying to both the Morning and Afternoon Services. Moreover, even if the wedding will not be held until shortly after nightfall, some authorities recommend that Tachanun should be omitted in the preceding Afternoon Service. As stated in subsection 6 below, some authorities maintain that this exemption should be continued throughout the seven days of the wedding celebration. In his Siddur, the Alter Rebbe accepts this view.

The whole of the above discussion relates to everyone apart from the groom himself, for whom his wedding day is his private Day of Atonement. At Minchah, therefore, he recites Vidui — the entire confessional of Yom Kippur — just before completing Shemoneh Esreh, even though he omits nefilas apayim after Shemoneh Esreh.

This applies even when the mourner is only a child and even when praying in the house of the deceased when there are no mourners present. When, for various reasons, a mourner prays in the synagogue, he should not recite Tachanun, but the other congregants should (Ketzos HaShulchan 24:7).

Since the term used is “the seven days of mourning,” Tachanun is also omitted in the Afternoon Service of the seventh day, even though the mourner already formally rose from his state of mourning at the beginning of that day (ibid.). If the mourner attends the Afternoon Service in the synagogue, then only he omits Tachanun. Indeed, even if a mourner attends services in the synagogue at any time during the seven days of mourning, the congregation still recites Tachanun (Eliyah Rabbah 131:9).

Moed Katan 15b.

Amos 8:10.

For a complete listing of the times at which Tachanun is omitted, see footnote 84 below.

In his Siddur, following a directive of the AriZal, the Alter Rebbe prescribed that these supplications be recited after prostrating oneself. However, the prevailing custom is not to recite these prayers after leaving the house of mourning.

This section is not extant in the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch. See the Tur, and the Shulchan Aruch of R. Yosef Caro, sec. 134:1.

The Alter Rebbe sometimes uses parentheses to indicate additional reasoning that underlies a law that has already been stated.

Alternatively, for fear that people will forget to recite Hallel afterwards, it is customary in certain communities for the mourner to leave the room and for the others to recite Hallel in his absence. This leniency is granted only when the deceased did not pass away in the mourner’s home (Pnei Baruch, p. 119).

Megillah 20b.

I.e., though Hallel is ordinarily recited after Shemoneh Esreh, there is no intrinsic connection between the two prayers.

This section is not extant in the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch. Magen Avraham 422:6 rules that when a person arrives at the synagogue at the time the congregation has reached Hallel, he should join them even though he has not yet recited Shemoneh Esreh. The Alter Rebbe mentions this ruling in sec. 488:3.

In practice, however, chassidim endeavor to keep pace with the minyan and join it in the recitation of Hallel. If one arrived too late to recite Shacharis together with the congregation, which is already about to recite Hallel, instead of reciting Hallel before having completed Shacharis, one is advised to proceed at his own pace through Shacharis and then to recite Hallel individually, at the proper juncture. As the author of Kaf HaChayim writes (Orach Chayim, sec. 422:38), “The saintly AriZal disapproved of the arguments that favor the recitation of prayers out of sequence.” This approach underlies the directives given orally by the Rebbes of Chabad in their respective generations. See Siddur Rabeinu Hazaken Im Tziyunim Mekoros V’Heoros, p. 732, footnote 6.

I.e., the recitation of Hallel on Rosh Chodesh is a custom and does not have the authority of a Rabbinic ordinance, as does the recitation of Hallel on festivals. On the different laws that apply to an individual and to a congregation with regard to the recitation of Hallel on Rosh Chodesh, see the Shulchan Aruch of R. Yosef Caro, sec. 422:2 and Siddur Rabeinu Hazaken Im Tziyunim Mekoros V’Heoros, p. 728.

In the original, zerizin makdimin lemitzvos (Rosh HaShanah 32b). For another application of this principle, see sec. 156:17.

This statement is explained in the opening lines of the present subsection.

Tehillim 115:17.

In the original, lo’eg larash (cf. Mishlei 17:5). On the basis of this verse we are enjoined not to perform mitzvos in the presence of a corpse — described as “poor,” i.e., unable to perform mitzvos — since this would be “mocking” him (Berachos 18a). For other applications of this concept, see sec. 23:1 in Vol. 1 of the present Bilingual Edition, et al.

On the possibility of praying while walking, see sec. 94:5 above.

See parallels in sec. 71:6 and 72:3.

Taanis 28b.

Ibid.; Arachin 10a. The Alter Rebbe does not mention the recitation of Hallel on festivals, because the laws of mourning are suspended at those times.

In Lubavitch custom, he does not serve as sheliach tzibbur — even at Maariv and Minchah — on any day on which there is a Mussaf service (Sefer HaMinhagim: The Book of Chabad-Lubavitch Customs, p. 68-69). On Chanukah, by contrast, he does serve as sheliach tzibbur, though not for the recitation of Hallel (op. cit., p. 161).

And the custom is that on those days a mourner does not lead the prayers (Rama in Yoreh Deah, end of sec. 374:4).

See also sec. 338:8, sec. 347:7, et al.

In the original, baal habris (in the singular). This term includes the father, the sandak (the person accorded the honor of holding the infant while he is being circumcised), and the mohel (the person who performs the circumcision). See Divrei Nechemiah, p. 73 and the Hosafos referred to in footnote 42 above.

Based on the principle that “those who are eager hasten to [observe] the mitzvos” (see sec. 156:17), it is customary to perform a circumcision in the morning (see Pis’chei Teshuvah, Yoreh Deah 262:2).

As evident from the contrast that follows, this phrase relates to a prayer service that is not held in a synagogue.

In the original, shivas yemei hamishteh — lit., “the seven days of feasting,” popularly known as “the week of Sheva Berachos.” During these days, the Seven Blessings that were first recited under the marriage canopy are appended to the Grace after a Meal whenever a minyan celebrates together in the company of the bride and groom — provided the joy at each such occasion is heightened afresh by the presence of “a new face” (panim chadashos).

Thus, if the wedding took place on Tuesday afternoon, the following Tuesday is the eighth day, and Tachanun is omitted at the Morning Service. The current ruling is different to the one followed in relation to reciting the Seven Blessings at the celebratory meals in the course of the week following the wedding. In that instance there is an issue of reciting blessings in vain, and therefore a stricter approach is followed, whereby the seven days will end — in our example — on Monday afternoon. By contrast, since the recital of Tachanun is a custom, the more lenient ruling is followed.

This is the accepted custom. It goes without saying that if the child has not been circumcised before the Afternoon Service, Tachanun should be omitted at that time.

A passage that is recited before the Kaddish that precedes Aleinu, on the days that Tachanun would have been recited had it been a weekday. Here the Alter Rebbe identifies this passage by the two words that appear first in Siddurim that follow the custom of Nussach Ashkenaz. In his own Siddur, the passage begins with the opening words of a different verse, Tzidkas’cha keharerei E-l.

As is clear from a comparison with the parent Shulchan Aruch of R. Yosef Caro, the Alter Rebbe’s manuscript text of the remaining subsections of sec. 131 has been lost. In response to that challenge, the missing continuation has been supplied as a conjecture in the supplements of Divrei Nechemiah, on the basis of the author’s own scholarship.

A major subject there is the days on which Tachanun is omitted. (The author’s extrapolation builds on the beginning of subsection 5 above and on the list that the Alter Rebbe inserted in his Siddur, immediately before LaMenatzeiach... Yaancha in the weekday Morning Service.)

Those days include: Shabbos and the preceding afternoon; Motzaei Shabbos (until midnight); Rosh Chodesh and the preceding afternoon; the entire month of Nissan; Pesach Sheni (the 14th of Iyar); Lag BaOmer and the preceding afternoon; from the afternoon of erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan through the 12th of Sivan; Tishah BeAv and the preceding afternoon; the Fifteenth of Av and the preceding afternoon; erev Rosh HaShanah and Rosh HaShanah; erev Yom Kippur through the end of the month of Tishrei; Chanukah and the preceding afternoon; the Fifteenth of Shvat and the preceding afternoon; the afternoon of the Fast of Esther when the fast immediately precedes Purim; Purim and Shushan Purim (and, in the First Adar of a leap year, also Purim Katan and the preceding afternoon, and Shushan Purim Katan).

Additional circumstances: When there is a circumcision in the synagogue, or in the presence of the father, the sandak or the mohel; when a groom is present at a prayer service on his wedding day and during the week of Sheva Berachos; in the house of a mourner.

According to Chabad custom, Tachanun is also omitted on certain chassidic festivals, including the 12th and 13th of Tammuz and the preceding afternoon; the 10th of Kislev and the preceding afternoon; the 19th and 20th of Kislev and the preceding afternoon.

The omission of certain other prayers is linked to the omission of Tachanun in the above list. These passages are all indicated in every Siddur; e.g., certain components of Kerias Shema she’al HaMitah, the Prayer before Retiring at Night.

Cf. Sanhedrin 111a. The publishers appended these two sentences to the printings of Shulchan Aruch HaRav from the Warsaw edition of 5598 (1838) onward.

Cf. Devarim 32:17.

These two sentences — and sec. 155 and 156 that follow hereunder — were included in the printings of Shulchan Aruch HaRav from the Zhitomir edition of 5616 (1856) onward.