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Alcohol Consumption and Prayer

Question:

Dear Rabbi, I have a few questions regarding alcohol consumption and prayer.
1. How long after drinking 1 or 2 drinks can one pray Amidah, personal prayer and Shema?
2. Is it ok to do morning prayers if I had a drink at night?
3. Can one pray if they feel hungover in any way?

 

Answer:

Hello,

Praying and say Kriyas Shema and Birkas Kriyas Shema, after drinking alcoholic beverages is a very individual thing, and it doesn’t work by amount of drinks. Rather, it depends on how drunk the person is, which will depend on the persons nature, if it was together with food, and the amount of time that elapsed from when the drinking occurred. Therefore, here are the guidelines.

  1. If one drank less than 3 ounces or even more during a meal, and the person feels that the drink is not having any effect, then it is permitted to daven etc.
  2. If the person feels that the wine did have an effect, however he can still talk to a dignitary, in a straight clear fashion, then he should wait to daven until the wine is no longer making his mind unclear. If waiting will cause him to miss zman tefillah etc. then it is permitted for him to daven, however he should use a siddur etc.
  3. If the person can’t talk to a dignitary in a clear fashion (other people can help verify this for him), then he may not daven even if it means missing the zman, (he should however say kriyas shema). When he sobers up, and he missed a davening then he will daven a tefillas tashlumin (a make-up Shemona Esrei, said right after the Shemona Esrei that has to be said at that time).
  4. If your head has already cleared up, but you have a hangover headache from the wine, then you can daven.

Best wishes

Sources:

אורח חיים הלכות תפילה סימן צט סעיף א  “שתה יין כדי רביעית, אל יתפלל עד שיסיר יינו; ואם שתה יותר, אם הוא יכול לדבר לפני המלך, אם התפלל תפלתו תפלה, ואם אינו יכול לדבר לפני המלך, אם התפלל תפלתו תועבה וצריך לחזור ולהתפלל כשיסיר יינו מעליו; ואפילו אם עבר זמן התפלה, משלים אותה בתפלה שאחריה, כדין שוגג. הגה: ודין ק”ש כדין תפלה, וע’ משנה ברורה שם ס”ק ב “כדי רביעית – דוקא אם שתאו בבת אחת אבל בשני פעמים או שמזגו במעט מים מותר ואם שתה יותר מרביעית בכל גווני אסור עד שיסיר יינו מעליו” וס”ק ג, “אל יתפלל – ואפילו אם עי”ז יעבור זמן תפלה”. וס”ק ז “וברכות ק”ש ג”כ דינם כק”ש”.

 

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