There’s an old joke about a Jewish astronaut who is part of a
successful space mission. When it returns to earth, his colleagues look
wonderful—vital and healthy—but the Jewish astronaut looks exhausted and
haggard. “What’s wrong?” people ask. He responds, “Every ninety minutes,
Shacharit, Minchah, Ma’ariv; Shacharit, Minchah, Ma’ariv.”
Jewish tradition prescribes three daily prayer services:
morning, afternoon, and evening. The source of these is found in the daily
Temple sacrifices and the requirements to recite Shema evening and morning,[1] yet the Rabbis sought to connect the three
daily prayer services with the three patriarchs, grounding them in the
personal, spontaneous prayers of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When they
prayed determines when we pray, the Rabbis tell us, but why they prayed
may give us clues about the purpose of prayer.
Parshat Vayeitzei begins with a leave-taking. Jacob, having
cheated his brother Esau out of their father Isaac’s blessing, flees the home
tent in Beersheba and heads to Haran. Fearing Esau’s wrath, Jacob needs a safe
hideout, which he will find with his uncle Laban, the brother of Rebekah.
וַיֵּצֵא יַעֲקֹב, מִבְּאֵר שָׁבַע; וַיֵּלֶךְ, חָרָנָה. וַיִּפְגַּע בַּמָּקוֹם וַיָּלֶן שָׁם, כִּי-בָא הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ, וַיִּקַּח מֵאַבְנֵי הַמָּקוֹם, וַיָּשֶׂם מְרַאֲשֹׁתָיו; וַיִּשְׁכַּב, בַּמָּקוֹם הַהוּא
Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. He encountered a
certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one
of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that
place. (Genesis 28:10-11)
Va-yifga ba-makom — What does “he encountered
the place” mean? The Rabbis read much into two Hebrew words. The term “makom”
is among the stable of favorite terms the Rabbis use to connote God, the Place
of the universe. That night Jacob encountered
God for the first time and was inspired to pray to God. His prayer established
Ma’ariv, the evening prayer service. As R. Yehoshua b. Levi explains, Abraham
established Shacharit, the morning prayers; Isaac established Minchah, the
afternoon prayers; and now Jacob establishes Ma’ariv, the evening prayers:
R. Yehoshua b. Levi said, “The first fathers established three
prayers. Abraham established the Shacharit (morning) prayer as it says, Abraham
woke up early in the morning to go to the place where he had stood before
God (Genesis 19:27) and there is no standing (Amidah), except in
prayer, as it says, Pinchas stood and
prayed (Psalm 106:30). Isaac
established the Minchah (afternoon) prayer, as it says, Isaac went out
to converse in the field (Genesis
24:63) and there is no conversation aside for prayer, as it says, I
will pour out my conversation in front of [God] (Psalm 142:3). Jacob
establish the Aravit (or: Ma’ariv, evening) prayer, as it says, he
encountered the place (Genesis 28:11) and there is no encounter aside
for prayer, it says, do not raise a cry of prayer on their behalf and
do not plead with Me… (Jeremiah 7:16).” (Genesis Rabbah 68:9)
The Rabbis derive each set of daily prayers based on a term in
the verse cited, and then prove that the
term actually means “prayer” by its use in yet another verse. We will explain
each in turn, and as we do, let us also consider the situation and emotions
that inspired the patriarchs to pray.
We begin with Abraham: When Genesis 19:27 says that Abraham “stood
before God,” the term “stood” refers to the Amidah (standing prayer). This is
reinforced by Psalm 106:30, which says that Pinchas “stood and prayed.” Abraham
has been through a lot with and for God. He left his homeland and family in
obedience to God’s call, settled in a new and foreign place, circumcised
himself and all the males in his household to forge a covenant with God, and
negotiated with God concerning the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Genesis
19:27, Sodom and Gomorrah have been annihilated with sulfurous fire from
heaven. When morning dawns and Abraham arises and stands before Adonai, imagine
his horror and terror as he looks over the plain of destruction, smoke rising “like
the smoke of a kiln.” It is in this moment, at dawn, R. Yehoshua b. Levi tells
us, that Abraham feels the need to pray. Thus Abraham is credited with
establishing Shacharit, the morning prayers.
Isaac “converses” in
the field just before he meets Rebekah (Genesis 24:63). R. Yehoshua b. Levi
explains that “converse” connotes prayer, as we learn from Psalm 142:3, where
Pinchas’ conversation is with God is termed prayer. Isaac, who lived his life quietly in the tent
of his mother until his father took him on a “camping trip” and came close to
sacrificing him on an altar—which the Rabbis say so traumatized Sarah that she
died upon learning what happened— awaits the arrival of his bride, whom Eliezer
is bringing from abroad. Isaac’s prayer derives for his longing for a wife,
made all the more poignant by this grief for his lost mother.[2] Since it is “toward evening” (v. 63),
Isaac is credited with establishing Minchah, the afternoon prayers.
Jacob provides the third instance of prayer. R. Yehoshua b.
Levi understands Isaac's “encounter” with God to be an act of prayer, supported
by Jeremiah 7:16, where the phrase “do not encounter [meaning: plead with]” is
parallel to “do not pray,” thereby establishing “encounter” as a synonym for
prayer. Jacob is running for his life, keenly aware that he has cheated his
brother out of the birthright and stolen from him their father’s blessing.
Jacob is carrying a heavy load of guilt with him when he reaches out for God in
prayer. Since this happened “after sundown” (see Genesis 28:10-11 above), Jacob
is credited with establishing Ma’ariv, the evening prayers.
Anne Lamott wrote that there are three essential prayers:
Help, Thanks, and Wow. R. Yehoshua b. Levi, however, suggests a different three
essential prayers: I’m scared; I need; and I’m sorry. Abraham turns to
God in terror, horrified by the annihilation of Sodom and Gomorrah. Isaac turns
to God out of his longing and need for a wife to comfort him. Jacob turns to
God when he is mired in guilt. Fear, longing, and guilt are all impetuses to
prayer, emotions that inspire us to look for help, strength, and comfort.
R. Yehoshua b. Levi is telling us that when our emotions overwhelm us, when
they are a burden too heavy to carry alone, we can share them to God.
There is a prayer I often recite prior to El Malei Rachamim
or Kaddish at a funeral, whose origin I cannot recall, but one
particular sentence of it is germane here: “In life and in death, we cannot go
where You, O God, are not, and where You are, hope endures.” We reach out to God
when we are afraid, when we are long for something, and when we are wracked
with guilt, because God offers hope: hope to hold strong and not be overcome by
our fear, hope that our worthy desires may be fulfilled, hope that we can
repent and be forgiven. The thrice daily formal prayers offer us ample
opportunities to pray, but in truth we can at pray any time, in any place,
because as this same midrash also reminds us: “God is ha-Makom the place
of the universe, but the universe is not God’s place.” (Genesis Rabbah 68:9)
God is not limited by time or space and therefore God is all the time and
everywhere available for us.
[1] The daily Tamid
and Minchah offerings in the Temple were “replaced” by Shacharit (morning
prayers) and Minchah (afternoon prayers). Torah requires that Shema be said “when
you lie down and when you rise up,” hence Shacharit includes a recitation of
Shema. Ma’ariv (evening prayers) also includes a recitation of Shema to cover
nighttime requirement to say Shema, but since Ma’ariv does not correspond to an
offering in the Temple, the Rabbis debated whether it was optional or
obligatory (and eventually decided it was obligatory). This notwithstanding,
there is a formulation of the Shema to recited at bedtime.
[2] Rebekah will be
Isaac’s wife, but she will also take the place of his mother: Isaac then brought [Rebekah] into the tent of his
mother Sarah, and he took Rebekah as his wife. Isaac loved her, and thus found
comfort after his mother’s death. (Genesis 24:67-68)
