Reply To: Chabad minhagim

“The Lubavitcher Rebbe Zatzal was an Odom Godol.”

It is well-known that Rav Schach did not consider the Lubavitcher Rebbe to be an Odom Godol.

We are not allowed to bend the rules and requirements of the Torah and of Chazal (davening in the appropriate time, not eating before davening) in order to fufill what we consider to be a more “important” objective (e.g., eating in order to supposedly daven with more kavana – especially since nowadays most people don’t have such great kavana anyway).

“I had a Chabad friend who would say Sh’ma, eat breakfast, learn Chassidus from 8-10 am, then daven. I never understood that. In my opinion, if you feel that learning 2 hours is necessary preparation, then wake up 2 hours earlier and daven at 8.”

Not a bad suggestion. If Chazal said that davening before zman tefilla is mandatory, one is not allowed to say, “Well, I feel that learning Tanya is more important to me personally than davening at the correct time.” Halacha is not determined by how someone “feels,” but by what Chazal declared to be mandatory.

“Many great Chassidishe Rebbes and Chassidim of old davened after zman tefillah because of their intense hachanos for tefillah.”

“Great” people are those who follow halacha, not those who recite their morning prayers in the afternoon.