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Prayer Posture, Preparations, Time and Place
#1
Is there any specific posture that needs to be observed or avoided for a Noahide during prayer, such as folding the hands? I'm aware of Maimonides' writings on posture, standing, facing Jerusalem, etc. but for spur of the moment 'thank you' prayers and the like are these things necessary? Also, is there a way to read relevant portions of his Mishneh Torah (Hilchot Tefilla?) online in English? I know AskNoah.org has audio but it's difficult for me to hear well.
Thanks,
Jake
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#2
There is no specific prayer posture that needs to be observed or avoided by Noahides, as long as your prayers are directed sincerely to the One True G-d. More important is that if it is not an emergency situation G-d forbid, the location should be acceptable (no nearby filth or disturbing bad odors), at least one's private body parts should be covered (including those of others around you), and if one needs to relieve himself, that should be done before praying, and the hands should be clean (Psalm 24).

You can find the general guidelines for preferred cleanliness of the person and the place where he or she is praying in this booklet:

"Prayers, Blessings, Principles of Faith, and Divine Service for Noahides"
https://asknoah.org/books/prayers-blessi...r-noahides
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#3
Director Michael Wrote:at least one's private body parts should be covered (including those of others around you),

But didn't Adam and Chava pray with their body "exposed"? And since G-d knows what we look like why would it be wrong?

Thanks & shalom!
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#4
Adam and Chava were allowed to stand naked in prayer only before they ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. (Gen. 2:25)

After the evil inclination had entered into them, it was henceful shameful for them to stand naked before G-d (Gen. 3:10), and therefore G-d taught them to wear clothing. (Gen. 3:21)

In a similar context, one who goes naked in public is disqualified from serving as a witness in a Noahide court.
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#5
In many parts of Genesis we can read that prostration was practiced in many different occasions, for example: 18:2, 19:1, 22:5, 23:7, 24:26, 33:3-7, 42:6, 48:12.

Also in Psalms 95:6 it mentions bending, prostration and kneeling.

Can Noahides do this, and how can they include it in their prayers?
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#6
It is permissible for Noahides to prostrate themselves in prayer to G-d, providing there are no objects in front of them that could be misconstrued as them prostrating to that object. Muslims prostrate themselves during their prayers but not on a bare floor, they always have a prayer rug under them.

Jews no longer prostrate themselves in prayer with the exception of on the High Holy Days, and then only during 2 prayers; the "Aleinu" prayer* and on Yom Kippur during the Avoda prayer which tells of the service of the High Priest in the Temple on Yom Kippur. Jews also during these prayers spread a cloth on the floor if needed so as not to bow on a bare stone or tiled floor.

A Noahide could incorporate prostration during a prayer that they felt was appropriate and mentions prostration.

*For the "Aleinu" prayer, see our web page
https://asknoah.org/faq/noahide-prayers-...h-hashanah
Rabbi Yitz
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#7
Deuteronomy 23:14-15 states about a Jewish army camp:

"And you shall keep a stake in addition to your weapons; and it shall be, when you sit down outside [to relieve yourself], you shall dig with it, and you shall return and cover your excrement. For the L-rd, your G-d, goes along in the midst of your camp, to rescue you and to deliver your enemies before you. [Therefore,] your camp shall be holy, so that He should not see any nakedness among you and would turn away from you."

This implies that nakedness of the private parts, and also a *place* where people expose their private parts (even if no one there is exposed at the time), is not appropriate to be a place for G-d to "turn" to a person - meaning G-d's focusing on the person's prayers. Therefore, prayers should not be recited in a bathroom. The Talmud says clearly that a latrine is not a fit place for prayer, even if there is no excrement present at the time. Although a modern bathroom does not have the full strictness of the type of latrine that was used in earlier generations before modern plumbing and running water, it is equivalent in regard to refraining from prayer. Of course, in dire emergency (e.g. if one's life was in danger, G-d forbid) one could prayer there, but not with one of G-d's holy Names, and not with verses from the Hebrew Bible.
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#8
Is it permissible to give thanks to G-d immediately after a workout? I workout at a gym, but I don't shower there... I do, however, feel the need to thank HaShem for watching over me and keeping me safe during exercise once I'm outside the confines of the gym (so my clothes are a bit sweaty at this point). Is this disrespectful? Should I wait until after I get home and showered before I to give thanks? or is OK to immediately show gratitude?
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#9
Johnzo Wrote:Is it permissible to give thanks to G-d immediately after a workout?

Yes.

Johnzo Wrote:I workout at a gym, but I don't shower there... I do, however, feel the need to thank HaShem for watching over me and keeping me safe during exercise once I'm outside the confines of the gym (so my clothes are a bit sweaty at this point). Is this disrespectful?
Should I wait until after I get home and showered before I to give thanks? or is OK to immediately show gratitude?

To give some immediate words of thanks to HaShem would not be disrespectful, provided that you're dressed and not in the locker room (the place where people using the gym change clothes).
For a more concentrated/devout session of prayer, it would be preferred to clean up beforehand, if possible.
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#10
Director Michael Wrote:Adam and Chava (Eve) were allowed to stand naked in prayer only before they ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. (Gen. 2:25)

After the evil inclination had entered into them, it was henceforth shameful for them to stand naked before G-d (Gen. 3:10), and therefore G-d taught them to wear clothing. (Gen. 3:21)

In a similar context, one who goes naked in public is disqualified from serving as a witness in a Noahide court.

Some non-Jews find fault with a prophet of God walking around in public nude. I forget which one. Elijah, maybe?
Anyway, how can I answer this question of why a prophet would do such a thing?
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