Ask the Rabbi: Transporting Children before or after Shacharit?

Beit Midrash

Sections
Chemdat Yamim
Bemare Habazak - Rabbis Questions

קטגוריה משנית

Parashat Hashavua Series'Library Piskei Din (Hebrew)Test Yourself

Question: I need to take our kids to daycare in the morning. I can do it either before davening or after a pre-netz minyan. Which is better?

Answer: Personal concerns can significantly affect the best choice for you. These include the impact on your wife’s morning, your sleep needs, and the subjective quality of your tefilla. Since you do not raise these issues, we will focus on the generic halachic issues, starting with the issue of davening before netz (sunrise).
The optimal time to daven Shacharit is "as vatikin" – starting Shemoneh Esrei as the sun rises (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 89:1). One can fulfill the mitzva as early as alot hashachar (72 minutes or more before sunrise), but this is on the level of b’di’eved and is recommended only for those in extenuating circumstances, e.g., they must be on the road at the optimal time (ibid. 8). Soon after alot hashachar, there is also a problem that it is, under normal circumstance, too early to recite Kri’at Shema and its berachot (ibid. 58:1,3), which is to precede Shemoneh Esrei. The starting time for Kri’at Shema is called misheyakir, some 50 minutes before netz (with variations due to various opinions and geographical adjustments). What is less clear (see Igrot Moshe, OC IV, 6; Minchat Yitzchak IX, 10) is whether davening at any time before netz is only b’di’eved (see Yalkut Yosef, OC 89:14) or is after misheyakir fine, and it is just less preferable than vatikin (Shut Pri Yitzchak I, 2). "Fine" can come in different gradations (see Ishei Yisrael 13:2).
The next question is whether and/or to what degree it is objectionable to get involved in an activity like taking children to daycare before Shacharit. Among the things that are forbidden before Shacharit is "involvement in one’s affairs" and traveling (Berachot 14a; Shulchan Aruch, OC 89:3). Arguably, taking children to daycare is both. However, there are possible leniencies.
Taking care of children, intrinsically, and as help to one’s wife, is likely an involvement of mitzva (see Halichot Shlomo, Tefilla 2:5; Living the Halachic Process, VII, H-1), which is permitted before davening (see Mishna Berura 89:36). This may apply to taking to good daycare. Also, there are indications that short trips are not considered traveling (see Living the Halachic Process VI, A-1). On the other hand, while simple help in the house with children might not be involved enough to qualify as involvement in affairs, presumably taking children to daycare is usually a formal and serious enough chore to be considered involvement. The Rama OC 89:3) cites an opinion that if one recites Birchot Hashachar beforehand, it is permitted to do tasks and travel. While we avoid relying on this alone (ibid.), poskim factor in reciting Birchot Hashachar first regarding borderline cases of activity (see Ishei Yisrael 13:23-24). There is also a possibility that if one has a set time for a minyan, then fitting in tasks before that time is permitted (Halichot Shlomo, Tefilla 2:(8)).
Putting our findings into perspective, neither davening between misheyakir and netz nor taking kids to daycare before davening is ideal, nor highly objectionable. It is often difficult to find sources and decide between two b’di’eved situations. (That said, if one must do real work early, he should first daven even before netz (Tefilla K’hilchata 3:(63)).) It is logical to consider subjective factors to help decide, and you can change schedules from day to day according to need. It may be worthwhile to consider how likely you are to come late to minyan if you take the kids first, or have to leave a little early if you take them later.
After weighing the factors, we suggest the following. If your community is like many, where main minyanim are in the pre-netz time slot (but Shemoneh Esrei is after misheyakir), at least during much of the year, and you sometimes attend such a minyan for convenience, it seems better to start the day by davening first with a clear mind. If you have set as a priority not to daven before netz, then take the kids first.