Rabbi Akiva Eiger on Blessings and Morning Prayer

Rabbi Akiva Eiger (Berakhot 15:1) raises a pointed difficulty against any reading that would extend the requirement of audible recitation — which he anchors strictly to the biblical obligation of Shema — into the domain of brachot, since the Mishnah in Terumot already establishes that even a mute who recited no blessing at all has performed valid terumah, proving that brachot do not carry that stringency.

Building on that distinction between biblical and rabbinic obligations, Rabbi Akiva Eiger (Teshuvot Rabbi Akiva Eiger 1) rules that members of a household who forgot to mention the festival in Birkat Hamazon were correct to repeat it, drawing a sharp line between Yom Tov — where repetition is required — and Rosh Chodesh, where it is not, a difference he describes as fully established in the Gemara.

In the realm of Musaf prayer, Rabbi Akiva Eiger (Berakhot 28:1) presses the analogy between the view of Rabbi Yehuda and standard halakhic practice: just as we hold that Musaf has no compensatory prayer in Maariv once its time has passed, so too according to Rabbi Yehuda once seven hours have elapsed the time for Musaf has expired with no remedy, since it corresponds to a sacrificial offering whose hour has come and gone.