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Does prayer at a time of danger (eis tzarah) require a full Shemoneh Esrei, or is crying out "Help!" sufficient? The shiur develops from Rashi (רש"י) on Parshas Beshalach that when the Jews cried out at the sea, they prayed using "the craft of the Avos"—the structured daily prayers—not just spontaneous pleas. This supports the Rambam (רמב"ם)'s view that even eis tzarah demands a formal Shemoneh Esrei.
The shiur opens with the Rambam (רמב"ם)'s position that there are two distinct Torah (תורה) obligations to pray. The first is a daily obligation to pray at least once every day, which the Rambam derives from one source. The second is an obligation to pray specifically at an eis tzarah—a time of impending danger or tragedy for the Jewish people—which the Rambam learns from a different passage. The Ramban (רמב"ן) disagrees with the Rambam regarding the daily obligation, holding that it is only rabbinic in origin, but concedes that the obligation at an eis tzarah may indeed be Torah-mandated as the Rambam says. Rabbi Zweig explains that according to the Rambam, even if a person has already prayed Shemoneh Esrei in the morning, if danger suddenly arises—for example, a surprise attack or war breaks out—there is an additional obligation to pray again for that emergency, beyond the daily requirement. The daily cycle runs from morning to morning, so an event occurring after morning Shacharis but within that cycle would create a separate obligation.
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Parshas Beshalach (Shemos 14, Rashi on vayitz'aku)
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Why didn't Noach daven for his generation while Avrohom advocated for Sedom? Noach viewed each person as an independent island responsible only for their own teshuvah. Avrohom understood that all humanity is interconnected through shared perspective and values, making prayer for others both possible and necessary.
