The Laws of Prayer for Those Who work at Night and Sleep by Day

Hello and greetings,

First of all, I greatly appreciate your strict adherence to your work times while fulfilling your duties to the Creator, there is no doubt that this is the exact “recipe” that brings a person a faction of heaven in this world and in the world to come.

You must find a time before or shortly after midnight to read the Shema without the blessing of the mopil. ^[1]

In such a way that you have been awake all night, at dawn (check the calendar according to where you live), you must wash your hands in vessels 3 times, and you do not bless על נטילת ידיים. ^[2]

Regarding morning prayers: There is no doubt that the appropriate time is, at the end of your work before you go to bed and complete your night’s sleep, because after that it will already be after the time of prayer and Shema reading.

However, when praying this prayer, you should take care to be as alert as possible, despite the increased fatigue of the night.

You should not pray morning prayer during ‘na’atz hchama’, at the expense of working time. And even though it is a high level, but since you are busy with your work, your mind will not be well settled on you, nor is it true of your duties to the workplace.

Regarding the Mincha prayer: Apparently, you have no problem praying the prayer during the day, since during the Mincha prayer you have already slept, and on the other hand, this is the time before your work.

As for Aravit prayer, it begins before you begin your work, and you must first pray before you come to work, although if you have not had the chance to pray beforehand, for whatever reason to pray earlier, since the Aravit prayer is short, and obviously the landlord does not have such a short prayer time, it should be easier to pray at the expense of work time^[3], and its time all night until dawn.

Of course, regarding the rest of the matters of serving God and keeping the commandments, you must wisely balance between your obligations toward the Creator and your obligations towards your place of work, and usually things can be coordinated without any fear, in such a way that things contradict and meet with each other, you will have no escape, but to do the will of our Creator, but due to fear of theft, you must consult a clear teacher about each specific question, Because sometimes there are special mitigations in such ways, and it also depends on the type of work you do.

We will be happy to answer any questions:

Rabbi Meir Pinchasi

[1] ע”פ מה שכתב הבן איש חי (פרשת פקודי אות יד) שהנעורים כל הלילה, יאמרו ק”ש של המיטה עם כל הפסוקים מעט קודם חצות, אמנם מכיון שהינך טרוד ועסוק בעבודתך, יש להקל לקורא רק את ג’ הפרשיות של ק”ש ללא הפסוקים שלאחריה.

[2] ע”פ שולחן ערוך (או”ח סימן ד’ סעיף יג).

[3] שולחן ערוך אורח חיים הלכות תפלה (סימן קי סעיף ב):

הפועלים שעושין מלאכה אצל בע”ה, אם אינו נותן להם שכר  חוץ מסעודתן, מתפללין י”ח, אבל אין יורדין לפני התיבה ואין נושאין כפיהם; (י) ואם נותן להם שכר, מתפללין  הביננו. “והאידנא, אין דרך להקפיד בכך, ומסתמא אדעתא דהכי משכירין אותם שיתפללו י”ח”. ע”כ. אע,ג דיש להתבונן מזה באופן שבעל הבית אינו יהודי, מ”מ אין דרכו של בעל הבית להקפיד על צורכי פועליו כשעושים כן לא על חשבון העבודה באופן קבוע, כלענ”ד.