✦ ❖ ✦
DAAT · LEVEL 1 — INTRODUCTION

Siman ק״ד · Not to interrupt the Amida

שלא להפסיק בתפלה — not to interrupt during the Amida: to a Jewish king one does not answer, but before a gentile king one shortens, steps aside, or interrupts; stepping aside for an animal or a wagon; the snake, the scorpion and the ox; where to resume after a pause; and staying silent and listening (שומע כעונה) for the קדיש and the קדושה
סימן ק״ד · ח׳ סעיפים
שלא להפסיק בתפלה
🌱 Introductory level · Beginners
✦ ❖ ✦

This siman teaches not to interrupt the Amida: to a Jewish king who greets him one does not answer (לא ישיבנו), but before a gentile king (danger to life) one shortens, steps aside, or interrupts; one steps aside for an animal or a wagon; a coiled snake — one does not break off (but may move away), while a scorpion and an ox — one breaks off; where to resume after a pause; and שומע כעונה for the קדיש and the קדושה. Hebrew text, fluent English translation and explanation of the ח׳ seifim, with a section of practical cases.

Topic: Not to interrupt the Amida — מלך, נחש ועקרב, שור, החזרה, שומע כעונה
Source: שולחן ערוך אורח חיים סימן ק״ד · ח׳ סעיפים

Compiled by: רב יוסף חיים סממה
DAAT · daattorah.com

Our Sages taught that one who prays stands לפני מלך מלכי המלכים — before the King of kings. Therefore he does not interrupt his Amida, not even to greet a king of flesh and blood. The siman defines the only cases in which one steps aside or breaks off: danger to life (a hostile king, a scorpion, an ox) always overrides (פיקוח נפש). We study here at the level of principle; for personal conduct, one refers to the custom and to the ruling of the Rav.

📑 Study outline

A. The ח׳ seifim — the מלך (séif 1), animal or wagon (séif 2), נחש ועקרב (séif 3), שור (séif 4), the חזרה (séif 5), shiur of כדי לגמור (séif 6), קדיש וקדושה (séif 7), אחר סיום י״ח (séif 8)
1. Practical case — a danger during the Amida (snake, scorpion, ox)
2. Practical case — the kaddish and the kedusha: stay silent and listen (שומע כעונה)
3. Practical case — where to resume after a pause (שהה כדי לגמור את כולה)
+ Comprehension questions and going further

A. Not to interrupt the Amida — the ח׳ seifim

שֶׁלֹּא לְהַפְסִיק בַּתְּפִלָּה — not to interrupt the Amida — one who prays stands before the King of kings, and so does not cut off his prayer by speech. Two forces may exempt him: danger to life (פיקוח נפש), which overrides everything (a hostile king, a scorpion, an ox); and mere movement (stepping over, turning aside), which is not an interruption by speech. Hence the laws of the king, of the dangers, of the resumption (חזרה), and of silence for the קדיש and the קדושה (שומע כעונה).

Séif 1 — the king: לא ישיבנו למלך ישראל

לא יפסיק בתפלתו, ואפילו מלך ישראל שואל בשלומו לא ישיבנו; אבל מלך אומות העולם, אם אפשר לו לקצר — דהיינו שיאמר תחלת הברכה וסופה קודם שיגיע אליו — יקצר, או אם אפשר לו שיטה מן הדרך יטה ולא יפסיק בדבור, ואם אי אפשר לו יפסיק.
Séif 1: one does not interrupt one's prayer; even a king of Israel who greets him — one does not answer him (לא ישיבנו). But a king of the nations (מלך אומות העולם): if he can shorten — that is, say the beginning and end of each berakha before the king reaches him — he shortens (יקצר); or if he can step off the road, he steps aside (יטה) and does not interrupt by speech; and if he cannot do otherwise — he interrupts (יפסיק).
Two kings. Before a Jewish king there is no danger: one does not break off — he already stands before a greater King. Before a gentile king, where one fears he may kill him (שמא יהרגנו), one first prefers to shorten, then to step aside (which is not speech), and only as a last resort to interrupt by speech — for פיקוח נפש overrides.

Séif 2 — an animal or a wagon on the road

היה מתפלל בדרך ובאה בהמה או קרון כנגדו — יטה מן הדרך ולא יפסיק; אבל בענין אחר אין לו לצאת ממקומו עד שיגמור תפלתו, אלא אם כן הוא בתחנונים של אחר התפלה.
Séif 2: if he was praying on the road and an animal or a wagon (קרון) comes toward him — he steps off the road and does not interrupt; but for any other reason, he does not leave his place until he finishes his prayer, unless he is in the supplications after the prayer (the תחנונים after the Amida).
Stepping aside to avoid an animal or a wagon is not an interruption by speech: it is permitted. But one does not leave one's place during the Amida needlessly — except once one has reached the תחנונים (the personal supplications after the eighteen berakhot), which are no longer the body of the prayer.

Séif 3 — the snake and the scorpion

ואפילו נחש כרוך על עקבו — לא יפסיק (אבל יכול לילך למקום אחר כדי שיפול הנחש מרגלו); אבל עקרב פוסק, לפי שהוא מועד יותר להזיק; ונחש נמי, אם ראה שהוא כעוס ומוכן להזיק — פוסק.
Séif 3: and even a snake coiled on his heel (נחש כרוך על עקבו) — he does not interrupt (but he may go to another place so the snake falls off his foot); a scorpion (עקרב), however — he interrupts, since it is more prone to harm (מועד יותר להזיק); and likewise a snake, if he sees it is angry and about to strike — he interrupts.
An ordinary snake usually does not bite: one does not break off by speech, but one may move to another place to be rid of it. A scorpion, however, almost always stings (מועד) and endangers life — so one breaks off, even by speech. And a snake visibly angry becomes a real danger — one breaks off too. Always the same principle: פיקוח נפש overrides.

Séif 4 — the ox coming toward him

אם ראה שור בא כנגדו — פוסק, שמרחיקין משור תם חמשים אמה, וממועד מלא עיניו; ואם שוורים שבמקום ההוא מוחזקים שאינם מזיקים — אינו פוסק.
Séif 4: if he sees an ox (שור) coming toward him — he interrupts, for one keeps away from an "innocent" ox (שור תם, one not accustomed to harm) fifty cubits (חמשים אמה), and from a "forewarned" ox (מועד, one accustomed to harm) as far as the eye can see (מלא עיניו); but if the oxen of that place are known to be harmless — he does not interrupt.
The ox is a real danger: one keeps away from it — fifty cubits from a שור תם, and "as far as the eye can see" from a שור מועד (one that has already gored). Where the danger is real, one interrupts. But oxen that are tame and known to be harmless pose no danger: one does not break off. It all depends on the actual danger.

Séif 5 — where to resume after a pause

בכל מקום שפוסק, אם שהה כדי לגמור את כולה — חוזר לראש; ואם לאו — חוזר לתחלת הברכה שפסק בה; ואם פסק בג׳ ראשונות — חוזר לראש, ואם באחרונות — חוזר לרצה.
Séif 5: wherever he interrupts — if he paused long enough to say the whole prayer (כדי לגמור את כולה) — he returns to the beginning (ראש); and if not — he resumes at the start of the berakha in which he interrupted; and if he interrupted in the first three berakhot — he returns to the beginning, and if in the last — he returns to רצה.
The length of the pause decides the resumption. A long pause (enough to say the whole Amida) → one starts over from the beginning. A short pause → one resumes only at the start of the berakha interrupted. The first three berakhot and the last three each form one block: a break in the first sends one back to the very start, in the last to רצה.

Séif 6 — the shiur of « כדי לגמור »

הא דאמרינן אם שהה כדי לגמור את כולה — בקורא משערינן; ומי ששח בתפלה, דינו לענין חזרה כדין ההפסקות האמורות בסימן זה.
Séif 6: what we say, "the time to finish the whole prayer" — we estimate it בקורא (by one who reads at a normal pace). And one who spoke during the prayer (שח בתפלה) — his status, regarding resumption, is like that of the interruptions stated in this siman.
How does one measure "the time to say the whole thing"? Not by this person (fast or slow), but בקורא — by the reading of an average person. And one who chatted deliberately during the Amida follows the same rule of חזרה as the interruptions of the siman.

Séif 7 — the קדיש and the קדושה: שומע כעונה

אינו פוסק לא לקדיש ולא לקדושה, אלא ישתוק ויכוין למה שאומר השליח ציבור ויהא כעונה; היה עומד בתפלה וקראוהו לספר תורה — אינו פוסק.
Séif 7: he does not interrupt for the קדיש or the קדושה; rather he stays silent and focuses on what the chalia'h tsibbour says, and he is as one who answers (כעונה). If he was standing in prayer and he was called to the Torah — he does not interrupt.
During the Amida, one does not answer aloud to the קדיש or the קדושה. One stays silent and listens attentively to the chazan: שומע כעונה, "one who listens is as one who answers" — one is thus joined to the sanctity without cutting off one's own prayer. Likewise, one does not interrupt in order to go up to the Torah.

Séif 8 — after the eighteen berakhot

אחר שסיים י״ח ברכות, קודם אלהי נצור — יכול לענות קדושה וקדיש וברכו.
Séif 8: after finishing the eighteen berakhot (י״ח ברכות), before אלהי נצור — he may answer the קדושה, the קדיש and the ברכו.
Once the eighteen berakhot are finished, one is in the supplications (before and during אלהי נצור): this is no longer the body of the Amida. One may therefore answer the words of sanctity — קדושה, קדיש and ברכו — since one is no longer cutting off the obligation itself.
The siman in one sentence: one does not interrupt the Amida — not even for a Jewish king — but before a hostile king one shortens, steps aside, or breaks off; one steps aside for an animal, a wagon or a snake (without breaking off), whereas a scorpion, an angry snake and an ox require breaking off (פיקוח נפש); after a pause one resumes at the start of the berakha, or at the very beginning if one waited long enough to say it all; and for the קדיש and the קדושה one stays silent and listens (שומע כעונה), answering only once the י״ח are finished.

Practical cases

Case 1 — A danger during the Amida

Situation: during the Amida, a snake coils on his foot; or a scorpion, an ox approaches. Must he interrupt?
Conduct: for an ordinary snake — one does not break off by speech, but one may move to another place to be rid of it. For a scorpion, an angry snake or a threatening ox — there is danger to life, so one interrupts, even by speech (פיקוח נפש). For the concrete assessment of the danger, one follows one's Rav.

Case 2 — The kaddish and the kedusha during the Amida

Situation: he is in the middle of his Amida and the chazan reaches the קדיש or the קדושה. Must he answer?
Conduct: he does not answer aloud; he stays silent and listens attentively to what the chazan says — שומע כעונה, he is as one who answers. Once the י״ח ברכות are finished (before אלהי נצור), he may answer the קדושה, the קדיש and the ברכו. For cases of doubt, one follows one's Rav.

Case 3 — Where to resume after a pause

Situation: he had to break off in the middle of the Amida (danger, constraint). Where does he resume?
Conduct: if the pause lasted the time to say the whole prayer (measured בקורא, by an average reader), he starts over from the beginning; otherwise, he resumes at the start of the berakha in which he broke off. A break in the first three berakhot sends one back to the very start, in the last three to רצה. For the precise application, one follows one's Rav.

Comprehension questions

Check your understanding:
  1. Why does one not answer a Jewish king, and what does one do before a gentile king (séif 1)?
  2. Why does the snake not require breaking off, whereas the scorpion does (séif 3)?
  3. How far does one keep away from a שור תם and a שור מועד (séif 4)?
  4. After a pause, what decides whether one returns to the beginning or only to the berakha (séif 5-6)?
  5. What does « שומע כעונה » mean and when may one at last answer the קדיש (séif 7-8)?

Going further

If you wish to deepen this siman:
Continue to the next simanSiman 105 →
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
DAAT · רב יוסף חיים סממה

סימן ק״ד · ח׳ סעיפים · Level 1 — Introduction
♥ Support DAAT
📖Join the khavroutha