WOMEN IN THE MINYAN AND AS SHELIHOT TZIBBUR

Women, slaves, and minors are exempt from reciting Shema and from tefillin and are obligated in [reciting] Shemoneh Esrei and in [affixing a] Mezuzah and in [reciting] Birkat HaMazon.

It is a positive commandment to pray every day, as it is written: "You shall worship the Lord your God" (Ex. 23:25). By tradition, they learned that this worship is prayer, as it says: "and to worship God with all of your heart" (Deut. 11:13)—the sages said what is worship of the heart? This is prayer. The number of prayers is not biblical, the form of prayer is not biblical, and prayer has no biblically fixed time.

Therefore, women and slaves are obligated in prayer because it is a positive commandment lacking a fixed time, but the obligation of this commandment is as follows: a person should supplicate and pray every day and relate the praise of God, and afterwards ask for their needs as a request and a supplication, and afterwards give praise and thanks to God for the good that has been bestowed upon them, each person according to their ability.

When Israel was dispersed in the days of Nebudchadnezzar the evil, they were in foreign lands and they had children in the foreign lands and their children spoke babble. And everyone’s language was this one and this one and languages were very mixed. And since the speaker was not able to speak all, they needed one language, rather that they should be confused. As it is said: “And half their children spoke in the language of Ashdod, etc” [Nehemiah 13:24]. And none knew how to speak “Yehudit” and spoke the language of the people. And because of this, when one prayed, his tongue was shortened to ask for his needs, or to give praise to the HKBH in the holy language until that their tongues were mixed up. And when Ezra and his Beit Din saw this was, they rose and instituted for themselves the 18 blessings in the order of three first praises to HaShem, and three last thanksgivings, and the middle there were in them requests on all the things that are like the foundations of every person’s desires/needs, man to man. And the needs of the community should be set in the mouths of all and they will learn them. And there will be a prayer, even the stutterers will pray wholly like the prayers of the smooth talkers, because this matter was set, all the blessings and prayers were ordered in the mouths of all Israel so that the whole matter was set in the mouths of the stutterer.

And so, they decreed that the number of prayers should be like the number of offerings: two prayers each day, corresponding to the two continual offerings. And for every day that has an additional offering, they decreed a third prayer, corresponding to the additional offering. And the prayer that corresponds to the morning continual offering is called "the dawn prayer," the prayer that corresponds to the afternoon continual offering is called "the gift prayer," and the prayer that corresponds to the additional offerings is called "the additional offerings prayer."

And so, they decreed that a person pray one prayer at night, as the limbs of the afternoon continual offering would continue to be consumed all night. As it says (Leviticus 6:2), "it is that which goeth up ...," along the lines of what it says (Psalms 55:18): "Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I complain, and moan; And He hath heard my voice." But the evening prayer is not obligatory like the dawn and gift prayers, but even so, all of Israel, in all of their places of residence, are accustomed to pray the evening prayer, and they accepted it upon themselves like an obligatory prayer.

They also established a prayer after the afternoon prayer, just before sunset, only on the day of the fast [of Yom Kippur], in order to increase in pleading and supplication on account of the fast. This prayer is known as Ne'ila ("closing"), that is, [it refers to] the closing gates of Heaven as the sun sets, since it is only ever recited just before sunset.

In conclusion, we now have three daily prayers, Aravit, Shacharit and Mincha, and on Shabbat and festivals we have four - the three daily prayers and the additional Mussaf prayer. On Yom Kippur we have five - the four aforementioned prayers and the concluding Ne'ila.

Women, slaves and minors are obligated to pray. Ever person who is exempt from reciting the Shema is exempt from the Amida; and all those who escort the dead [for burial], even if they are not needed to carry the coffin, are exempt from the Amida.

All negative commandments in the Torah, both men and women are obligated, except for [not destroying the beard and sideburns] and the Kohen's prohibition of defiling himself to the dead [that apply only to men]. And every positive commandment that is occasional and not constant, women are except, except for Kiddush, eating matzah on the night of Pesach, slaughtering and eating the Pesach sacrifice, Hakhel, and rejoicing [on Festivals] which women are obligated to do.