Interruptions During Shemone Esrei

I was in the middle of davening Shemonei Esra, when someone rang at the door, no one else was home. Do I stop and open and continue from where i stopped, or do I start all over again?

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

As a general rule, it is forbidden to interrupt the recitation of the Shemone Esrei. This is true whether the interruption is by talking, walking, hinting, and the like.

Nevertheless, walking is not always considered a significant interruption. For example, if one begins Shemone Esrei in a place where one finds it difficult to concentrate one is permitted to move to a different place. (Mishna Berura 104:2,10). Similarly, if people in the area are making noise and one is distracted one may hint to them to quiet down. One who is praying by heart and requires a siddur to continue is permitted to walk to get a siddur. (Mishna Berura 96:7).

Based on the above, one who gets a knock at the door and is not able to concentrate on the Shemone Esrei is permitted to open the door and hint to the person that he cannot talk right now.

One who interrupts the Shemoneh Esrei , whether verbally or silently, is to continue from where one left off, if the interruption was brief. However, if the interruption was long enough that one could have recited the entire Shemone Esrei from beginning to end is to return to the beginning of the Shemone Esrei. This is the Sefardic custom (OC 104:5). According to Ashkenazi custom, one only returns to the beginning of Shemone Esrei if the interruption was due to circumstances beyond one’s control, otherwise one always continues from where one left off (Rema, OC 65:1; Mishna Berura 104:16)