Question: Do women have an obligation to pray three times a day, or does it suffice for them to pray one time per day?

Question: Do women have an obligation to pray three times a day, or does it suffice for them to pray one time per day?

Answer: Rambam writes that there is positive biblical mitzvah to pray each day. This is learned  from the pasuk ועבדתם את ה׳ אלקיכם וכו׳ which הלכה למשה מסיני tells us is referring to prayer as the pasuk says לאהבה את ה׳ אלקיכם ולעבדו בכל לבבכם  and the service of the heart is prayer. Furthermore, on a biblical level there is no set time to pray and thus women are obligated to do so as it is not a timebound mitzvah. Praying three times a day at specific times was only a later rabbinic enactment.

Rav Ovadia writes that the Talmudic source for the Rambam is the Talmud (Brachot 20:) which says נשים חייבים בתפילה וברכת המזון, but there are different versions to the way this statement ends. Our Talmud says משום דרחמי נינהו, that women are obligated to pray because it is an innate call to Hashem for mercy and such applicable to women as much as men. However, the Rambam and others have the words because דמצות עשה שאין הזמן גרמא היא, that it is not timebound.

According to the Rambam two things are true:

1. Prayer is a biblical mitzvah.

2. It is not time bound and thus women are obligated.

Based on the above, tt was Chazal who later added the three set times a day to pray, but they did not come to be more lenient than the Torah itself, but rather to add to it. So the requirement was added for men to pray at three set times a day, but that timebound addition does not apply to women. To the contrary, the biblical obligation for women remains in effect, and thus they have to pray one time each day.

However, this is all based on the opinion of the Rambam. Other Rishonim, the Ramban most notably, argue that prayer is only rabbinic in nature and the pasuk mentioned above ולעבדו בכלל לבבכם  referring to prayer is only an אסמכתא, an allusion to support the rabbinic mitzvah. This means that the entire mitzvah is rabbinic and was in its origination setup with the timely requirement to pray at three set times of the day. However, despite it being timebound, women are obligated based on the reason found in our version of the Talmud משום דרחמי נינהו, that it is an innate call to Hashem for mercy. The ramification is tremendous in that according to this approach women are obligated to pray three times a day.

Maran Beit Yosef in Shulchan Aruch rules like the Rambam that women are obligated to pray since it is not timebound and thus they are only obligated to pray once a day.

The next question is what is required in that once a day prayer?

The Magen Avraham makes a comment that according to the Rambam, women would fulfill their daily obligation with a בקשה אחת, one simple request from Hashem. This could be done without any formal text and in just a minute of time. However, Rav Ovadia quotes a litany of poskim who say this is not correct. To be qualified for tefilla, one has to pre-empt any requests with שבח, praise of Hashem, and conclude with הודאה, thanks to Hashem. Accordingly, women have to recite the שמונה עשרה  text once a day which contains all of the basic elements of prayer.

Summary: Women are obligated to pray once a day. It is preferable that they pray שחרית so they can begin with ברכות השחר, ברכות התורה which they are independently obligated in. They can then recite שמע and שמונה עשרה. If time does not permit a woman to pray שחרית, she can pray מנחה. However, if a women would like to pray three times each day, that is a praiseworthy choice. Rav Ovadia even encourages women to do this on days when time permits them to do so.

Author’s Postscript – it is important to note that the Ashkinaz approach is different on two details:

1.     The Mishnah Berurah rules like the Ramban above that prayer is Rabbinic and the timebound tefilot were part of the original enactment which includes women since it is דרחמי נינהו. This means that praying שחרית is not sufficient. Women would also be obligated to pray מנחה.

2.     Women would not be obligated to pray מעריב. There is a larger debate beyond the scope of this article about the general obligation of מעריב, is it obligatory or voluntary. We assume it was originally voluntary and then men took it upon themselves as obligatory. The Mishnah Berurah writes that women never accepted this upon themselves.

(Summary based on יחוה דעת חלק ג׳ סימן ז׳)