Where a person is so all consumed in their learning that they would not interrupt for any reason other than complete bodily necessities, they are exempt from prayer. Even in the time of the Shulchan Aruch it was not considered that such people existed and so for us, we must interrupt Torah study for saying the Amidah.

We discuss the concept of exemption from a second mitzvah (praying the Amidah) if you are already occupied in a mitzvah. We also see the argument between the Rambam and Ramban in the nature of the obligation for prayer - whether biblical or rabbinic, and the implications for womens' prayer.

It is not allowed to interrupt the amidah by speaking in almost all cases. Even to answer kaddish and kedusha is not allowed - rather a person should be silent and listen to the. words of the chazan and it is as if one has answered.

There are certain circumstances when interrupting one's prayer and moving to another location is necessary and is not called an interruption. Speech should be avoided under most circumstances. If there is a large interruption, the Halacha discusses where we should restart our davenning following the interruption.

The Halacha discusses what a person should do if they feel a great need to pass wind during the Amidah.

This siman discusses the care we must take not to disturb someone who is praying by sitting next to him/her or passing in front of them.

Whilst Hebrew is the language of choice for all of our prayers and has special qualities that transcend other languages, it is permitted to pray in any language that one understands as long as this does not become a permanent feature of synagogue life and Jewish practice.

The essential requirement is to be focussed and concentrate on every word of the Amidah. Minimally, we need to have concentration for the first brocho of Avot. Without this minimum level of concentration we haven't truly fulfilled our obligation of saying the Amidah.

The basic Halacha is that a person should not pray if they have drunk a reviit (86ml) of wine or more but should rather wait and let the effects of the wine wear off. This is qualified in today's discussion where we learn about different levels of intoxication and abilities to concentrate during the amidah, Shema, and other brochos such as birchat hamozon.