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In Orthodox practice it is commonly thought that women are not obligated in T'fillah (parts of it anyway) due to its time-bound nature. However, what is a woman's obligation? Which prayers must she say and when must she say them? A list of some sort from a reputable source would be greatly appreciated.

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I think you assume a lot in the question. –  Double AA Dec 1 '11 at 14:03
Also, are you referring to tefilla like shemone esrei, or all the parts of tefilla like kriat shema uvirchoteha and psukei dizimra? –  Double AA Dec 1 '11 at 14:06
@DoubleAA: I edited the question based on your comments. I was thinking all of Tfillah, not just shemone esrei. I know that women are obligated in some prayers but I am unsure which ones and when must those be said? –  morah hochman Dec 1 '11 at 14:15
related: judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/248/… –  Double AA Dec 1 '11 at 15:41
@msh210 I edited the question to try to reflect your comment, thank you for clarifying my question. –  morah hochman Dec 1 '11 at 16:16

2 Answers 2

Women are exempt from kriat shema as it is a positive time bound commandment; however it is proper for them to read the first verse in order to accept God's kingship daily (Shulchan Aruch 70:1).

The Shulchan Aruch in OC 106 says that women are obligated in tefilla implying shmone esrei. The Magen Avraham there points out that he doesn't see many women praying all 3 tefillot. He attempts to justify the practice by saying that the obligation of the women is to say a short prayer at some point once during the day. The Mishna Berura there, and many modern poskim (see Piskei Teshuvot there) all agree that the Magen Avraham's reasoning is a limmud zechut and that women should attempt to daven the full shemone esrei. (Rav Chaim Brisk is quoted (Nefesh Harav p. 103) as saying that the words of the Magen Avraham are תמוהים מאד וכשגגה היוצא מפי השליט.)

The Mishna Berura there points out that since maariv is a reshut, just that men have accepted it upon themselves as an obligation, it's possible that women never accepted it upon themselves. As such, women may need to daven maariv only as a reshut. Not all poskim agree with the Mishna Brurah's distinction (eg. Aruch HaShulchan there and Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik)

In terms of birkot kriat shema, women should be patur as they have no need to say shema, but as ashkenaziyot can say brachot they are exempt from, it might be a good idea to say at least the last bracha to create semichat geulah letfillah.

Pesukei dizimra seems to be an introduction to shmoneh esrei and it seems women should be equally obligated (Mishna Berurah 70:2 quoting Rebbe Akiva Eiger).

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"Women are without a doubt patur from kriat shema": I seem to recall (no source at hand) that some maintain that they are obligated in z'chiras y'tzias Mitzrayim. –  msh210 Dec 1 '11 at 16:14
from the article I linked to in my answer: "The Alter Rebbe (70:1) writes that P'sukei d'zimra is optional for women. The Mishna Brura (70:2) argues that since P'sukei d'zimra were instituted as a preface to Shmona Esrei, which women are required to say, they should also be obligated in P'sukei d'zimra." –  Menachem Dec 1 '11 at 17:18
related vbm-torah.org/vtc/0062507.html –  Double AA Apr 21 '13 at 21:52
Do you have a source for your second to last paragraph? I would think it would be problematic to pick just one Bracha out like that, especially if they aren't saying the whole Shema. They can say a Bracha like a man, but they have to do the Mitzvah like a man as well. –  Yishai Jun 18 '14 at 17:00
@Yishai In terms of what? Each bracha is its own mitzva. Consider OC 60:2-3. Consider also 66:10 though I recommend reading the original source for that inside (the Girsa in the Mosad HaRav Kook version is clearer IMO) as it is very likely the Magen Avraham misunderstood the Rama there. –  Double AA Jun 19 '14 at 3:12

This article, Women's Obligations in Tefillah and Blessings, goes through the different parts of prayer and discusses what the woman's obligations in each of those prayers are. It brings many different opinions and the sources for each of them.

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the domain is down :( –  Shmuel Brin Feb 10 '12 at 18:55
@ShmuelBrill: different link added –  Menachem Feb 10 '12 at 21:42

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