Page "Jewish prayer" Paragraph 13

According to the Talmud ( tractate Taanit 2a ), prayer is a Biblical command: "' You shall serve God with your whole heart.

' () What service is performed with the heart?

This is prayer.

" The prayers are therefore referred to as Avodah sheba-Lev (" service that is in the heart ").

The noted rabbi Maimonides likewise categorizes prayer as a Biblical command, but believed that the number of prayers and their times are not.