The Shema is followed by the Standing (Amidah) prayer, composed of eighteen blessings. The Standing prayer of the morning can be said until midday. Rabbi Yehudah disagrees and says that its time lasts only until four hours into the morning. But didn't we say that the proper time for morning prayer is at sunrise? – True, this refers to the prayer of the refined ones. But did not Rabbi Yochanan say that one can pray all day? – That is also true, but in that case one only gets the reward for prayer, while the reward for “timely prayer” is not given to him.
What if one missed a prayer? – He can say it two times in the next time period, such as if he missed a morning prayer, he can say the afternoon prayer two times. Some even say that any number of missed prayers can be restored in this way. But King Solomon said, “Twisted cannot be made straight” - about a one who missed Shema or Standing prayer!? – This refers to one who did it on purpose.
Rabbi Yose says that prayers were established by Abraham (morning), Isaac (afternoon), and Jacob (evening), while Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says that the Sages established them based on the sacrifices in the Temple. The precise timings of the prayers seem to indicate that they were modeled after sacrifices. What does Rabbi Yose have to answer? – That they were established by the Patriarchs, and the later Sages added timings based on the sacrifices.
Art: Isidor Kaufmann - Chassid in Gedanken
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