Traditionally we Jews pray
three times a day, the first service is in the evening, because the Jewish day
begins at sunset, and it is then followed by a service in the morning and then
one in the afternoon. The morning service is called ,hrja – shacharit, the name is related to the word rja – shachar, meaning the morning light; the afternoon service is
called vjbn – minchah,
which was the name of a sacrifice offered at the Temple in Jerusalem; and the
evening service is called chrgn
– maariv, coming from the word crg – erev, meaning evening.
Each
one of these services is slightly different in terms of the prayers that are
recited; the morning service is the longest and the afternoon service is the
shortest. The major constant among all three services is the vshng – Amidah, the
central prayer around which the services are built. While we consider
the gna – Shema as
a central prayer in our liturgy it is not included in the afternoon service. And
for some prayers there are different versions in the morning and evening, so
before the gna – Shema
in the morning we say vcr vcvt – Ahavah rabbah, and in the evening we say okug ,cvt – Ahavat olam.
One
of the reasons given for us praying three times is a day is that it provides a
link back to each one of our three Patriarchs. According to this understanding
each one of our three prayer services was introduced by a different one of our
ancestors. Abraham introduced the morning prayers, because we read in Torah
that he rose up early in the morning (Genesis 19:27). Isaac is responsible for
the afternoon service, because he went out to meditate in the field in the
afternoon (Genesis 24:63). And Jacob is responsible for the evening service
because he came to a certain place in the evening (Genesis 28:11). This
interpretation, which is found fully elaborated in the Talmud Berachot 26b,
allows us to related to each one of the Patriarchs when we are praying.
Praying
three times a day may also be related to the order of service that existed in
the Temple in Jerusalem. Our prayers replaced the sacrificial system, and so
the timings of our prayer services correspond to when there had previously been
sacrifices offered. The other indication that this is the case is the fact that
on Shabbat and festive days when there would have been an additional sacrifice
offered, in Conservative and Orthodox communities, an additional service is
added. On Shabbat, in these communities, rather that the regular three prayer
services, there are actually four with the addition of ;xun – musaf.
For
us who may not pray three times a day the challenge is whether we can find
three prayerful moments during the day.
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