Prayer

Someone close to me once told me they chose Reformed Judaism because deaf people were excluded from Orthodox Judaism Minyans and that person thought the Orthodox cruel (the opposite of loving kindness) for excluding them. SO, the question beckons: Why aren't deaf people accepted/admitted as participants in prayer groups of 10 (Orthodox Minyans)? What in the Torah states clearly that deaf men cannot participate and what is the main, most widely accepted rabbinical opinion for the reasoning? Why not?

Dear Rabbi, I am a doctor. Is it appropriate for me to say any special prayers for the good health of my patients, besides of course treating them medically to the best of my ability? Thank you.

On any given day, how do you calculate the earliest time one can daven mincha?

After being unemployed for 5 months, I recently started a new job where I work until 3 in the morning. When I get home, I go to sleep around 4 AM. I don’t feel like getting up until at least noon, which is obviously too late to daven Shacharis. I very frequently wake up briefly around 7-8. At this time, I don’t have the energy to get out of bed and stand or sit up very long, but I feel capable of reading in bed and reciting morning prayers while lying in bed. Since I started this routine, I’ve been davening Shacharis without tefillin while lying in bed and then going back to sleep. I’ve even been reciting Amidah while lying down. I then put on tefillin later after I am fully awake and able to function out of bed. I don’t know what else to do. As a rabbi, would you say that for someone in this predicament, is it preferable to daven Shacharis while lying in bed or not to daven at all? Am I doing the right thing or should I stop? Changing my routine at this time is simply not an option at this time.

In a leap year, we add a verse to the Rosh Chodesh Amidah for the forgiveness of willful sin. Does that mean that G-d only forgives willful sin during leap years? Does that mean that those who die during leap years go to their graves more forgiven for willful sin than those who die during non-leap years?

Shalom aleichem Rabbi Lauffer. Thank you for answering my last question. For someone who davens without a minyan, is it obligatory for him to say Selichos, given that the Rema in o.c. 565:5 rules that he is not allowed to say selichos without a minyan, to which the Mishnah Beruah disagrees and only says it is “permissible,” implying that it is only permissible but not an obligation. Does anyone hold that one is obligated? Thank you.