OUR ANCESTERS AS MODELS FOR PRAYER*
The obligation to pray three timesdaily is Rabbinic. Maimonides (d. circa 1203) holds that, according to BiblicalLaw, every Jew is mandated to “converse with God” only once a day.
After the destruction of the secondTemple, the Rabbinic legislative body known as the Sanhedrin mandated prayerthree times daily.
One Talmudic opinion (Berachot 26b) assertsthat these three daily prayers were established by our ancestors, Abraham,Isaac, and Jacob.
Abraham established the morning service (Shacharit), as Genesis 19:27 states: “Abraham arose early in themorning and went to the place where he had stood confronting God (in prayer).” Abraham’sprayer in this context was his passionate plea in defense of the inhabitants ofSodom and its suburbs.
The Talmud continues to explain thatIsaac established the afternoon service (Mincha), as indicated by the following verse(Genesis 24:63): “Isaac went out to speak (Hebrew, lasuach) in the field before evening…” Thatcontext continues to describe how Isaac met his intended bride, Rebecca. “Isaacbrought her into the tent of Sarah his [deceased] mother, she became his wife,and he loved her, and Isaac was consoled after the [loss of his mother].”
Finally, Jacob established the eveningprayer (Ma’ariv), when forced to leave home and the Holy Land as he fled for his lifefrom the rage of his brother Esau, (Genesis 28:11): “He prayed to the Makom (Omnipresent), because the sun had set…”
I would suggest that the foregoing threeprecedents do not only model the appropriate times for prayer, but also indicate theappropriate catalysts or motivations for prayer in the human condition.
Abraham represents the idealism of youth,the “morning” of our lives. During this period, we tend to be oblivious of ourown ultimate mortality. Like Abraham, the empathetic personality is primarilyconcerned for the welfare and the survival of those whose lives are threatened.Abraham thus approaches God in supplication for the welfare of other humanbeings, exclusive of himself.
Isaac represents the waning of the sun,symbolized by the loss of a parent. The time for Mincha is “…when the shadows of eventide beginto grow long. (Jeremiah 6:6)” With the loss of parents, death “hits home” – thelight of day begins to fade. Our ownmortality, which until our parents died had been only a concept, now becomes anongoing feeling – a defining aspect (be it implicit or explicit) of our innerworld. Isaac has no maternal siblings with whom to share his loss. His father,Abraham, had just remarried, and was no longer a co-mourner. Who else is ableto empathize with him totally in his mournful loneliness, other than God, Who,in His own uniqueness, understands the pain of each unique infinite soul whichHe created in His image?!
Finally, Jacob represents theindividual’s direct confrontation with death. He knows that his brother plansto murder him as soon as their father dies. Also, he is forced into exile,which Biblical narrative always views as a death experience.
Although Judaism views prayer asmandatory, our ancestors as modelsn teach us that prayer must also well-up fromwithin.
*Written for the Cleveland Jewish News