Question Pious Jews attend the synagogue twice daily. How many times a day is a Jew required to pray?

Answer In reality, on each weekday there are three prayers, in the morning, afternoon and evening. For convenience, the prayer schedule is generally arranged so that the afternoon prayer is said toward the very end of the afternoon, and the evening prayer at the very beginning of the evening. This way, the latter two prayers are combined. On Sabbaths and festivals, an additional prayer is added, and this follows the morning service. On Yom Kippur, as the sun is about to set and the day to end, a fifth prayer is added, giving the person one last chance to pray to God on this solemn day.  

Question What are the names of these prayers, and where are these names derived from?

Answer Of the five different kinds of services, three derive their names from the sacrifices which were brought in the Temple in Jerusalem, for, as the Sages tell us, once the Temple was destroyed, the prayers were instituted to replace the sacrifices. Thus the morning prayer is known as Shaharit and the afternoon prayer as Minhah, these being the names of the sacrifices brought in the morning and the evening. The additional prayer on Sabbaths and festivals is known as Musaf, which in Hebrew means "additional," and the prayer is meant to be the counterpart of the additional sacrifices which were brought on these special days. The evening prayer is known as Ma'ariv or Aravit, from the Hebrew root ERV, which means the evening. It is not the counterpart of any sacrifice, because sacrifices were not brought at night. Finally, the prayer added at the very end of Yom Kippur is called Ne'ilah, implying the “locking” of the gates as the festival draws to a close, and the last chance to pray for the coming year to be a good one.  

Question How does one define "morning," "afternoon" and "evening" in terms of the prayers?

Answer The Jewish "clock" is oriented entirely to the sun. It too has a 24 hour day, but its "hours" are radically different from the standard clock hour to which we are accustomed. For ritual purposes, each day - and the day begins at sunrise and ends at sunset - is divided up into what one may refer to as 12 "relative hours." Of course in the winter these "hours" may be 50 minutes each or less, while in the summer they may be more than 70 minutes long. The night - from sunset to sunrise - is also divided up into twelve "relative hours." Based on the above, the morning prayer may be said from sunrise until four "relative hours" (1/3 of the daylight) have passed, although one section of the service, the reading of the Shema portion, must be completed within the first three "relative hours." The afternoon service can be said no earlier than half an hour after mid-day (the mid-point between sunrise and sunset), and no later than sunset. As to the evening prayer, it should ideally not be said earlier than nightfall, and one should not pray it later than midnight (the halfway point between sunset and sunrise).  

Question The Jewish tradition requires a quorum of ten men, known as a minyan for communal prayers. What is the origin of that requirement?

Answer The source for this number is a most unlikely one. When Moses sent twelve spies to the Land of Canaan to spy out the land, all but two - Joshua and Caleb - came back with a report which plunged the Israelites into gloom and depression. When the ten spies who had distorted the truth were to be punished for their actions, we are told that God exclaimed (Num. 14:27), "How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me?" From this, we deduce that a "congregation" consists of ten men, just as was the case with the "congregation" of the ten spies.  

Question Why do Jews face east when praying?

Answer Jewish law does not refer to east as such. Instead, it specifies that one should pray toward Jerusalem, the place where the holy Temple once stood. In actual fact, the majority of Jews, who lived in Europe, did indeed face east, but those in countries east of the Land of Israel, such as Iran or Turkey, should face west. Jewish law specifies further that a person praying in Jerusalem must face the place where the Temple once stood. Incidentally, as a simple rule of thumb, when flying to Israel one should generally face the front of the plane when praying; and when flying from Israel one should face the rear.