“They decreed that the number of [daily] prayers should coincide with the number of sacrifices [in the Holy Temple]: Two daily prayers corresponding to the two Temidim, and, for days on which there was a Korban Mussaf, they instituted a third prayer for the Mussaf sacrifice. The prayer corresponding to the Daily Offering of the morning was called Shacharit; the prayer corresponding to the Daily Offering of the afternoon was called Minchah, and the prayer corresponding to the Additional Sacrifice was called Mussaf. They also established the requirement for an evening prayer since the limbs of the afternoon sacrifice would continue to burn and be consumed throughout the night. The evening prayer, Arbit [as Sephardim refer to it] or Ma’ariv [as Ashkenazim refer to it] is not of the same obligatory standard as Shacharit and Minchah. However, all of Israel, wherever they resided, followed the custom of reciting the Arbit or Ma’ariv and took it upon themselves as an obligatory prayer.”
We see from all of the above that Ezra the Scribe and his Beit Din established the text as well as the times for the prayers.
The Rambam (Hilchot Tefillah 8:9-12) proceeds to discuss variations in the prayers, namely, additions depending on special occasions, as well as various laws pertaining to prayer. He covers the function of the sheliach tzibbur, the reader (or cantor) who leads the congregation in prayer, and the required qualifications of one who is appointed to that job.
He states that the sheliach tzibbur is delegated to fulfill the obligation of the congregation, i.e., those of the assembled who listen and respond “Amen” at the conclusion of each berachah. But this function of the sheliach tzibbur was established only for those who don’t know how to pray, whereas those who do know how to pray fulfill their obligation only if they themselves recite the prayers. (In Tractate Rosh Hashanah (35a) we are told that Rabban Gamaliel also used to allow those working in the fields – who were prevented by their work from coming to synagogue at the required times and were therefore considered anusim – to have their prayer obligations fulfilled by the cantor.)
The fact that a distinction was made between those who know how to pray and those who do not is proof that some had memorized the text of the prayers while others had not mastered.
(To be continued)