Berakhot 5

אֵין עוֹמְדִין לְהִתְפַּלֵּל אֶלָּא מִתּוֹךְ כֹּבֶד רֹאשׁ. חֲסִידִים הָרִאשׁוֹנִים הָיוּ שׁוֹהִים שָׁעָה אַחַת וּמִתְפַּלְּלִים, כְּדֵי שֶׁיְּכַוְּנוּ אֶת לִבָּם לַמָּקוֹם. אֲפִלּוּ הַמֶּלֶךְ שׁוֹאֵל בִּשְׁלוֹמוֹ, לֹא יְשִׁיבֶנּוּ. וַאֲפִלּוּ נָחָשׁ כָּרוּךְ עַל עֲקֵבוֹ, לֹא יַפְסִיק:

One should not rise to pray except with koved rosh [humility and fear, it being written (Psalms 2:11): "Serve the L-rd with fear"; and this "service" is prayer.] The early pietists would abide one hour [in the place where they came to pray] before beginning to pray in order to direct their thoughts to the L-rd. Even if the king greets him (while he is praying), he may not answer him. [the king of Israel, specifically; but he does interrupt his prayer for a heathen king, lest he kill him.] And even if a snake is wound around his ankle he may not interrupt his prayer. [a snake, specifically, for in most instances they do not bite; but for a scorpion or an adder, things which certainly bite and kill, he does interrupt it.]

מַזְכִּירִין גְּבוּרוֹת גְּשָׁמִים בִּתְחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים, וְשׁוֹאֲלִין הַגְּשָׁמִים בְּבִרְכַּת הַשָּׁנִים, וְהַבְדָּלָה בְּחוֹנֵן הַדָּעַת. רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא אוֹמֵר, אוֹמְרָהּ בְּרָכָה רְבִיעִית בִּפְנֵי עַצְמָהּ. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, בְּהוֹדָאָה:

Gevuroth geshamim ("the mightiness of rain") is mentioned in techiyath hamethim (the resurrection prayer) [Gevuroth geshamim: "Mashiv haruach," which is not an expression of imploration, but of remembrance and praise. It is called "gevuroth geshamim" because rain is one of the mighty acts of the Holy One Blessed be He, viz. (Job 9:10): "He does great things, beyond searching out"; (Ibid. 5:10): "He gives rain upon the face of the earth."]; and rain is requested ["veten tal umatar livracha," (which is a request)] in birchath hashanim (the blessing of the years). [Because rain is sustenance, they placed the request for rain in the blessing of sustenance.]; and havdalah [at the conclusion of the Sabbath] is recited in chonen hada'ath ("who bestows knowledge") [which is the first weekday blessing. And, in the Yerushalmi: "Why was havdalah placed in chonen hada'ath? For without knowledge there is no havdalah ('discrimination')." And this is the halachah.] R. Akiva says: It is recited individually as the fourth blessing. R. Eliezer says: It is recited in the thanksgiving benediction.

הָאוֹמֵר עַל קַן צִפּוֹר יַגִּיעוּ רַחֲמֶיךָ, וְעַל טוֹב יִזָּכֵר שְׁמֶךָ, מוֹדִים מוֹדִים, מְשַׁתְּקִין אוֹתוֹ. הָעוֹבֵר לִפְנֵי הַתֵּיבָה וְטָעָה, יַעֲבֹר אַחֵר תַּחְתָּיו, וְלֹא יְהֵא סָרְבָן בְּאוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה. מִנַּיִן הוּא מַתְחִיל, מִתְּחִלַּת הַבְּרָכָה שֶׁטָּעָה בָהּ:

If one says: "To a nest of birds, let Your mercies extend" [Just as Your mercies extended to birds and You decreed (Deuteronomy 22:6): "You shall not take the mother-bird together with the young," so be compassionate and merciful to us, he is to be silenced. For he makes the mitzvoth of the Holy One Blessed be He functions of mercy, whereas they are nothing else but decrees of the King to his subjects.]; or (if he says): "For good let Your name be remembered" [the implication being: We shall acknowledge You for good, but not for evil — but we must bless for the evil as well as for the good.]; or: "We thank You," "We thank You" [the impression being given that two divinities are being accepted. (In the Yerushalmi it is explained that this applies to prayer in a congregation, but in the instance of an individual, it is (warranted) supplication)], he is to be silenced. If the prayer leader erred, another should be appointed in his place, and he (the other) should not demur at that time [as one, in general, who is asked to serve as prayer leader, should decline the first request. In this instance, however, he should not decline, for it is demeaning for the prayer to be interrupted that long.] From which point does he begin? From the beginning of the blessing in which the first one erred.

הָעוֹבֵר לִפְנֵי הַתֵּיבָה, לֹא יַעֲנֶה אַחַר הַכֹּהֲנִים אָמֵן, מִפְּנֵי הַטֵּרוּף. וְאִם אֵין שָׁם כֹּהֵן אֶלָּא הוּא, לֹא יִשָּׂא אֶת כַּפָּיו. וְאִם הַבְטָחָתוֹ שֶׁהוּא נוֹשֵׂא אֶת כַּפָּיו וְחוֹזֵר לִתְפִלָּתוֹ, רַשַּׁאי:

The prayer leader should not answer Amen after the Cohanim [at the end of each blessing, as the rest of the congregation do] because of teruf (confusion) [lest he become confused and err. For the prayer leader must begin the next blessing and recite it to them word by word, and if he answered Amen, he could not concentrate and return to the prayer quickly enough and begin the next blessing.] And if there is no other Cohein but he (the prayer leader), he should not recite the priestly blessing [lest he not be able to concentrate and return to his prayer to begin "Sim shalom," being distracted by "awe of the congregation."] Ve'im havtachato [that is, if he is confident (batuach) that he will not be distracted by "awe of the congregation"], he is permitted to do so.

הַמִּתְפַּלֵּל וְטָעָה, סִימָן רַע לוֹ. וְאִם שְׁלִיחַ צִבּוּר הוּא, סִימָן רַע לְשׁוֹלְחָיו, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁשְּׁלוּחוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם כְּמוֹתוֹ. אָמְרוּ עָלָיו עַל רַבִּי חֲנִינָא בֶן דּוֹסָא, כְּשֶׁהָיָה מִתְפַּלֵּל עַל הַחוֹלִים וְאוֹמֵר, זֶה חַי וְזֶה מֵת. אָמְרוּ לוֹ, מִנַּיִן אַתָּה יוֹדֵעַ. אָמַר לָהֶם, אִם שְׁגוּרָה תְפִלָּתִי בְּפִי, יוֹדֵעַ אֲנִי שֶׁהוּא מְקֻבָּל. וְאִם לָאו, יוֹדֵעַ אֲנִי שֶׁהוּא מְטֹרָף:

If one errs in his prayer, it is a bad sign for him. And if he is a prayer leader, it is a bad sign for those who deputed him, for a man's deputy is as the man himself. They said about R. Chanina b. Dossa that he would pray for the sick, and would say: "This one will live and this one will die." When asked how he knew this, he answered: "If my prayer is shagur in my mouth [ordered and flowing, and I do not stumble in it], I know that it has been accepted, and if not, I know shehu meturaf" [that the sick one is meturaf ("torn away"), as in (Genesis 44:28): "Surely, he (Joseph) has been torn ('tarof toraf')." Another interpretation: It may be understood in the sense of (Berachoth 5b): "Torfim lo tefilato befanav" ("His prayer is 'torn up' in his face"); that is, the prayer that he prayed for the sick one is torn away and taken from him and is not accepted.]