Question
What is the basis for women being required to pray?
Answer
There aren’t any explicit instances of women praying in the Torah, but in the Prophets (1 Samuel Ch.1) we find a detailed account of Hannah’s prayer for a child and her prayer of thanks; many of the laws of prayer are derived (in the Talmud: Berachos 31) from this account. Maimonides derives the commandment of prayer from Deut.11:13, “… and to serve Him with all your heart” — the service of the heart is prayer (Talmud Taanis 2a). Since this commandment is observed at non-fixed times, it applies to men and women equally (Mishnah Berachos 3:3). The daily prayers are a Rabbinical ordinance; many women pray daily even though the daily prayers are said at specific times.