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Priorities when Praying a Short Shacharis

Now and again I find myself in the situation that I only have, say, fifteen minutes to pray shacharit, for a variety of reasons. I choose to pray then rather than later because I know that by the time I next have a chance it will be already past the time for mincha, so think that it’s better to pray short in the proper time than have to do a tashlumin (make-up prayer).

In such circumstances, is there any halacha guiding what one should pray? My practice, when I only have 15 minutes, is to make birkhat hatorah, kriat shema (with berachot), the shemoneh esrei, and aleinu.

I figure that as those are all the d’oraita parts that I’m prioritizing correctly. Is that right?

Answer:

If you find yourself with only fifteen minutes to the end of the time for praying Shacharis, then you’re past the time for Krias Shema. Therefore, make sure that when this happens, you recite Krias Shema earlier on. Concerning priorities, it would be best to pray the first berachos (al netilas yadayim, elokai neshamah… birkos hatorah). Leave the rest of the blessings for later. Then say a small part of the Pesukei de’zimrah: Baruch She’amar, Ashrei, the final Haleluyah, Yishtabach. Then Shema and the blessings, and then Shemoneh Esrei. This is the basic order of prayer, and you could probably make it in 15 minutes. After this, continue the prayer service as usual, if it’s possible, and make up the morning blessings over the course of the morning.

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