Women & Pre-Dawn Prayer

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Note: The questioner lives in a city where sunrise is as late as 08:44am (in early January).

Dear Rabbi Simon
I have a question. During the winter I daven before the halahic time because I can’t pray after the kids get up, I can’t go to shul (like my husband – as women don’t go in the morning), I’m not comfortable praying on the train and I can’t pray at work! So the only time I have is before everyone gets up!!
My husband and I have been disagreeing about my davening before the halachic time. My argument is that, as a woman, I’m not bound by time and therefore I should be able to pray before the official time!
Does my argument hold?
Many thanks,
Sharon

Hi Sharon,
Nice to hear from you. Sorry to say that, fundamentally, your husband is right 🙂, here. Shacharit still may not be recited at night, ie before dawn. However, under the circumstances you describe, many aspects of tefillah may be recited well before sunrise, ie from 72 minutes prior. Indeed, morning blessings may certainly be recited even earlier than that. Shema too (since, as you note, women are not obligated in the time-bound aspect). But not the blessings of Shema. The main difficulty is the amidah, which may not be recited before dawn = 72 minutes before sunrise. But there may be grounds to permit that, too, if we regard it as Amidah for maariv, which may still be recited at that time!
Let me know if I can be of any further help.
Rabbi Rashi Simon

Dear Rabbi Simon,
Thank you for your reply but note that I daven Maariv as well at night, anyway. (No time or place for Mincha at work, so I do Maariv instead.) So, do I have to wait to recite the Amidah in the morning?
Sharon

Dear Sharon
If you are among the devout women who recite the maariv prayers, you’re right that you should not be saying the Amidah for Maariv a second time, before dawn! There are opinions which reckon alot ha-shachar (halakhic dawn) earlier than 72 minutes before sunrise, but in my opinion, it is difficult to rely on them. So, I’m afraid there are a few weeks in the winter which pose a difficulty for early morning Shacharit prayers.
Sharon, you are an exemplar to your peers!
Best wishes
Rabbi Rashi Simon

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Ask the Rabbi: Quinoa on Pesach
Dear Rabbi Simon,
Where do you stand on quinoa (and the kitniyot ban) for Pesach?
Many thanks,
Tzippy
***
Dear Tzippy,
In line with other American authorities, I am in favour of quinoa. Although I reject completely the voices (mostly from Israel) seeking to abolish the ban on kitniyot entirely, IMO we do not need to include in the prohibition pseudo-grains that were unknown in the Old World until modern times. Best to buy with a Pesach hechsher though, to be free of any possible wheat contamination.
Rabbi Rashi Simon
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