Shaḥarit, Minḥah and Ma'ariv, mapped unit by unit: the order of each service, who says it, and what needs a minyan.
Each block is a service; the bar inside it is that service’s run of liturgical functions, drawn to scale. Choose a service to read its whole spine below.
Preliminaries → Pesukei DeZimra (praise) → Shema and its blessings (acceptance) → Amidah (petition) → Taḥanun (supplication) → Torah reading on Mon/Thu → Concluding.
Amidah from sunrise (be-di'avad from alot ha-shaḥar) until the end of the 4th halakhic hour; be-di'avad through ḥatzot with lesser reward. Shema itself until the end of the 3rd hour. SA OC 58:1, 89:1.
Chabad: said individually at home or at one's seat; the minyan formally begins aloud only at Hodu. Sephardi/Nusaḥ Sefard practice is often for one person to say them aloud so others answer Amen.
Never skipped; required before any Torah study that day.
Weekday only. Not worn on Shabbat or Yom Tov.
Parashat HaTamid treated as obligatory by many poskim; the remainder is minhag. Mourners omit Korbanot.
Lev Shalem retains it in the weekday siddur, with alternative closing texts.
POSITION IS THE NUSAḤ MARKER. Nusaḥ Ashkenaz: Barukh She'amar first, then Hodu. Nusaḥ Sefard / Ari (Chabad): Hodu first, then Barukh She'amar. Chabad additionally adds Ps. 98 and reorders Ps. 121-124.
Opens the Pesukei DeZimra 'envelope' — no interruptions permitted until Yishtabaḥ. Said standing.
Includes Ashrei (Ps. 145) and the Hallelu-psalms 146-150.
The irreducible content of Pesukei DeZimra — the two bracketing blessings may not be said with nothing between them.
Often sung; leader takes over aloud at Ki laShem ha-melukhah.
Said aloud by the leader; congregation answers Amen. Closes the Pesukei DeZimra envelope.
Congregation answers Amen, yehei shmei rabba…, Brikh hu (Chabad answers Amen here).
Leader: Barekhu et Hashem ha-mevorakh. Congregation: Barukh Hashem ha-mevorakh le-olam va-ed. Leader repeats. Mishnah Megillah 4:3.
NOT a devar she-bikdushah — an individual praying alone does say it (SA OC 59:3; Rema: the custom has spread to recite it). Distinguish carefully from the Kedushah of the Amidah.
Nusaḥ Ashkenaz: Ahavah Rabbah at Shaḥarit. Nusaḥ Sefard: Ahavat Olam. Gather the tzitzit at the closing line.
Verse 1 aloud in unison with eyes covered; Barukh shem kevod in an undertone (aloud only on Yom Kippur); the three paragraphs then read privately at each person's pace. Leader repeats 'Hashem Elokeikhem emet' aloud.
Semikhat ge'ulah li-tefillah: no interruption whatsoever between the ḥatimah Ga'al Yisrael and the Amidah. At Shaḥarit this outranks starting the Amidah together with the congregation.
Nineteen blessings on a weekday. Feet together, facing Jerusalem, audible to oneself only (SA OC 101:2). This is the halakhic core of the service.
SA OC 124:1 — instituted so one who cannot pray is discharged by listening. 124:3 — performed even when all present are competent. 124:4 — if fewer than nine listen and answer Amen, the leader's blessings approach berakhot le-vatalah.
Congregation says Kadosh kadosh kadosh, Barukh kevod and Yimlokh aloud; leader repeats each. ASHKENAZ: connective lines (Nekadesh et shimkha, L'umatam, Uvdivrei kodshekha) are the leader's alone. NUSAḤ ARI / CHABAD / SEPHARAD: the congregation says the connectives quietly first and the leader then repeats them aloud. Chabad opens Nakdishakh v'na'aritzakh, not Nekadesh et shimkha. Feet together; rise on the toes at each of the three verses.
One of the very few places the congregation speaks during the repetition — its own bowed text, in undertone, while the leader says Modim aloud.
Daily in Israel; in the Ashkenazi diaspora only at Musaf on Yom Tov. Without kohanim the leader says Elokeinu velokei avoteinu…; Ashkenazim answer Ken yehi ratzon, Sephardim and Chabad answer Amen.
Said seated with the head resting on the forearm (nefilat apayim). The Thirteen Attributes within it require a minyan as petition; an individual may read them only as plain text, not as supplication (SA OC 565:5).
V'hu raḥum often chanted in unison; Shomer Yisrael said aloud.
Ten Days of Repentance and public fast days.
Mondays, Thursdays, Rosh Ḥodesh, fasts and festivals. Ein Kamokha / Vayehi binsoa in unison; leader alone says Gadlu, congregation responds Lekha Hashem ha-gedullah. Chabad says Berikh Shemei only on Shabbat and Yom Tov.
Ba'al korei chants with cantillation; congregation follows silently from a printed text and must not read audibly. Aliyah blessings are call-and-response (oleh: Barekhu…; congregation: Barukh Hashem ha-mevorakh…).
V'zot haTorah said aloud in unison while pointing. Ashkenaz lifts after the reading; Sephardim and Chabad lift before it.
Uva LeTziyon is Kedushah d'Sidra — Torah-with-Targum in form, therefore sayable without a minyan.
Chabad adds Hoshi'einu year-round after it, then the psalm corresponding to one's age and the daily Tehillim portion.
ASHKENAZ DIASPORA: Shabbat and Yom Tov only. CHABAD / NUSAḤ SEFARD: said DAILY, followed by Pittum HaKetoret and Kaddish d'Rabbanan.
Bow at Va'anaḥnu kore'im. Chabad recites Al ken nekaveh quietly at each person's own pace.
Now near-universally said by all mourners in unison. Many Conservative congregations have the entire congregation stand.
CHABAD: daily from bar mitzvah, donned after Shaḥarit without a berakhah; while wearing them one reads the three paragraphs of Shema plus Vayedaber and V'hayah ki yevi'akha. Not general Ashkenazi practice.
The shortest service — Ashrei → Amidah → Taḥanun → conclusion. Structurally the Amidah with a psalm in front of it.
Minḥah Gedolah from 6.5 halakhic hours; Minḥah Ketanah (preferred) from 9.5; Plag HaMinḥah at 10.75; latest is sheki'ah. SA OC 233:1. Sephardi leniency to ~13.5 minutes after sunset.
Chabad prints these before Ashrei at Minḥah; most Ashkenaz siddurim do not.
Customary opening, not strictly required. No preceding blessing at Minḥah, so semikhat ge'ulah li-tefillah does not apply.
Identical weekday nineteen blessings. THE OBLIGATORY CORE OF MINḤAH.
See heicha-kedushah below for the abbreviated form used under time pressure.
SA OC 124:2. Permitted only in real need — insufficient time before sheki'ah, or a minyan that will not answer Amen. Variant 1 (standard Ashkenaz): leader says the first three blessings ALOUD with Kedushah in place through ha-El ha-Kadosh; congregation then begins its own silent Amidah from the beginning. Variant 2 (most pressed): everyone says the first three blessings quietly along with the leader and continues silently from Atah Ḥonen, with at least one person staying silent to answer Amen. There is no repetition afterward. Standard in Chabad, yeshivot, workplace minyanim and Israeli weekday minyanim; common at Minḥah erev Shabbat and on fast days.
Omitted at Minḥah of the day preceding any day Taḥanun is not said — except Minḥah before Erev Rosh Hashanah and before Erev Yom Kippur, when it IS said.
Chabad says L'David Hashem Ori immediately before Aleinu at Minḥah during Elul through Hoshana Rabbah.
Shema and its four blessings → Amidah. No repetition, ever — Ma'ariv's Amidah is formally reshut.
Ideally from tzeit ha-kokhavim; from plag ha-minḥah only if Minḥah was already prayed before plag. Should be said before ḥatzot; be-di'avad until alot ha-shaḥar. SA OC 233:1, 235:1,4.
First verse aloud in unison; remainder read privately.
Mi Khamokha sung in unison. Ḥatimah: Ga'al Yisrael.
Weekday ḥatimah: Shomer amo Yisrael la-ad. Counted as an extension of the ge'ulah blessing, which is why at Ma'ariv praying with the congregation outranks strict semikhat ge'ulah li-tefillah.
FORMALLY RESHUT (Berakhot 27b) — the only one of the three whose Amidah is technically optional. Rambam, Hil. Tefillah 1:6: 'the people accepted it upon themselves as an obligation.' Practical residue: NEVER repeated, and greater leniency on omitted insertions (one who forgot Ya'aleh V'Yavo at Ma'ariv on Rosh Ḥodesh does not repeat).
49 nights between Pesaḥ and Shavuot, after the Amidah.
The weekday cycle is the Amidah-centred one: Shaḥarit and Minḥah repeat the Amidah aloud with Kedushah, while Ma'ariv has no repetition. Two things follow for a latecomer — what the map lets you drop to catch up, and the rules for joining a service already under way.
First block dropped when arriving late.
First thing dropped when late; internal priority Tamid > Ketoret > Eizehu Mekoman.
SA OC 52 skip-order when late: drop Ps. 148, then 149, then the rest, retaining Barukh She'amar → Ashrei → Yishtabaḥ as the minimum frame.
If you can finish your silent Amidah before the leader reaches Kedushah, begin immediately. If you entered after Kedushah, you must be able to finish before the leader reaches Modim. Otherwise wait and begin with the leader.
Where it bites: Shaḥarit · MinḥahWhen praying alongside the leader, say Kedushah word for word with him and bow at Modim with the congregation.
Where it bites: Shaḥarit · MinḥahOne already standing in the Amidah when the congregation reaches Kedushah, Kaddish or Barekhu STOPS AND LISTENS SILENTLY — shome'a ke-oneh. He does not answer verbally.
Where it bites: Shaḥarit · Minḥah · Ma'arivSomeone who omitted a required insertion (e.g. Ya'aleh V'Yavo) fulfils his obligation by listening to the entire repetition without interruption and stepping back at the end.
Where it bites: Shaḥarit · MinḥahOne who finishes his own Amidah as the congregation is answering Amen may join, even without having heard the blessing, if he knows which one it was.
Where it bites: Shaḥarit · Minḥah