Sunday Class March 15 2009-tfillah

The Rambam defines t'filla as Avoda. This is clear from the formulation of Mitzvat T'filla in Mishne Torah as we see in the כותרת:

א) לעבוד את ה' בתפילה בכל יום

But what exactly is the meaning of formulating a mitzva of doing Avoda by means of tefilla at a specific time? If t'filla is in reality Avoda, why not just call it mitzvat Avoda and give halachot of how and when this Avoda should be done?

This strange equation of T'filla and Avoda is only amplified in the sefer Ha-mitzvot, where Rambam, in fact, does refer to t'filla as a Mitzva of Avoda. I present this in abbreviated form

המצווה החמישית
היא הציווי שנצטווינו לעבדו יתעלה.

In the ensuing discussion Rambam shows yet a deeper problem with this equation of t'fillah and Avoda.

ונכפל הציווי הזה כמה פעמים
ואף על פי שגם הציווי הזה הוא מן הציוויים הכללים - כמו שביארנו בכלל הרביעי - הרי יש בו ייחוד, כי הוא ציווי על התפילה.

The problem with equating t'filla and Avoda is far beyond the particular nature of t'filla in isolation, it goes to the first principles of Mitzva itself. Even if we were to forget the strange equation of t'fillah and Avoda, the very idea of there being a Mitzva of Avoda at all is impossible. As Rambam points out in the fourth principle of Mitzvot, a mitzva must constitute a distinct component part of serving G. It cannot be the totality of this service. Calling T'fillah, Avoda, would seem to be a direct contradiction of this principle. Avoda is, after all, the complete service to G. How can there be a distinct Mitzvah of Avoda then?

Rambam's solution to this problem of first principles is mystifying. Though T'fillah is Avodah, it nonetheless can be a mitzvah in its own right, because of a specifying property -a ייחוד as Rambam puts it. What is the meaning of this ייחוד ? How does it address our problem?

To make matters even worse, it does not seem that t'filla is the only mitzva with the right to be called Avoda. Talmud Torah also claims this mantle. This is also brought down in the sefer ha-mitzvot:

ולשון ספרי:

"ולעבדו - זו תפלה".
ואמרו עוד: "ולעבדו - זה תלמוד