Saying the Amidah, you discover it's unsuitable to daven

Question

Lets say you're saying the Amidah when a condition that would make davening unsuitable, i.e. ervah, tumah, ruach ra, a mirror or some sort of picture in front of you, suddenly enters your purview.

What should you do? Can you/should you interrupt your tefila? Move? How far?

Related: Saying the Amidah, you find yourself in yichud

Also related: Davening in front of a picture of 'Avodah Zarah (covers one of your cases - maybe a duplicate?) and If you must stop shmoneh esrai, should you take 3 steps back? — Rish, Jun 04 '17 at 10:13
I believe @DoubleAA has pointed out elsewhere that moving/walking during tefilah does not itself constitute a hefsek. — Isaac Kotlicky, Jun 05 '17 at 13:58
Ruach ra, such as flatulence, I believe, is mentioned directly in O.C. in the area that discusses the rules of Amidah. — DanF, Jun 05 '17 at 14:39
See https://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/65805/11501 for a relevant answer — mbloch, Jun 06 '17 at 18:04
What do you mean by ruach ra and how would it affect prayer? — mevaqesh, Oct 24 '17 at 23:46

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 24 '17 at 23:30

3

According to Shulchan Aruch (OC 90:27), he should remain silent until it passes or relocate 4 amot, forward or to the sides, or leave the shul entirely. Rema adds that it is preferable to relocate rather than wait silently, because by waiting he may come to pause for a period of time longer than it would take to complete the entire Amidah, necessitating him to restart the Amidah.

answered Oct 24 '17 at 23:30

I found this but I have no idea what the source is besides "Congregation IKLF": http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs003/1101944367721/archive/1102622769878.html : "28. If a child accidentally soils himself from behind in shul in middle of Sh'mona Esrei, those within 4 Amos must stop their tefillah until it is removed or covered. If those within 4 Amos do not realize, one should step out of his Sh'mona Esrei and even speak if he has to, to let them know that it is an issur Dioraysah to continue their tefillah. {If it is covered, but still smells, one may not continue his + – SAH Jan 09 '18 at 13:57
" [...] tefillah and should step out and move more than 4 Amos away}. If the waste is only urine, one may not speak in the middle of his Sh'mona Esrei, because urine is only a problem m'dirabbonon. Shulchan Aruch with Mishna Brurah 90:26" – SAH Jan 09 '18 at 13:57

Saying the Amidah, you discover it's unsuitable to daven

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