The Afternoon Check in
After reading about the death of Sarah and the subsequent burial, mourning and eulogy for her the Torah immediately turns its attention to the narrative of Abraham instructing his loyal servant Eliezer to find a wife for Isaac. The rest of the Parsha is dedicated to the intricate details of how Rebecca was identified by Eliezer via a special test he devised which revealed her extra levels of kindness and sensitivity.
Eventually Eliezer returns with Rebecca and many camels laden. As they reach Isaac the verse states
“And Isaac went out to commune in the field towards evening,”
Our sages comment that Isaac was praying the afternoon prayer which we know as Mincha.
The Talmud tells us that Mincha is especially precious time to pray as this was when Elijah the prophet prayed in his show down against the false prophets of Baal (an ancient pagan deity) and he was answered immediately (see I Kings 18 one of the most famous chapters in all Tenach).
Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz (1550 – 21 April, 1619) in his famous commentary on the Torah writes that whilst Abraham and Jacob instituted Shacharit and Maariv, their respective prayers were not immediately answered. In contrast the Kli Yakar explains that Isaac’s prayer in the field was answered immediately as it is understood that Isaac’s prayer was for Hashem to provide him his soul mate. And this Rebecca arrived at that very moment!
However in the real world Mincha can be quite a challenge as we are right in the midst of our busy schedules. We are running here and there, answering and making calls, emails, texts, shopping or whatever. To pause what we are doing and change our mindset from what we were doing to “check in ” with God is difficult . And that is what makes this Teffilah so precious.
Shacharit whilst a longer prayer is at the start of the day when we are renewed and refreshed (we hope) from a nights sleep.
Jeremiah says in Lamentations (Eicha read on Tisha Beav)
“They are renewed every morning— Ample is Your grace!” (Lamentations 3:23)
Rashi explains on this verse : “Your kindnesses are renewed from day to day.”
In other words each day we are completely renewed even on a spiritual level. Our souls have been returned to us. We are more likely to have the mental and emotional capacity to tune ito Hashem and thank and praise Him.
At the start of Shacharit we recite a most powerful Teffilah as follows:
“My God! the soul which You bestowed in me is pure; You created it, You formed it, You breathed it into me and You preserve it within me. You will eventually take it from me, and restore it in me in the time to come. So long as the soul is within me I give thanks to You, Adonoy my God, and God of my fathers, Lord of all creatures, Master of all souls. Blessed are You, Adonoy, Who restores souls to dead bodies.
But as the day progresses we become enmeshed in our material concerns.
Mincha is a small offering so to speak but connects us to an even deeper place.
Shachairt is more about a ladder to heaven where we connect to our Source, disconnecting from the physical to transcend the mundane so that we can be inspired and spiritually invigorated, ready for the challenges that lay ahead that day.
But Mincha is even higher because with Mincha we pray to Hashem in the middle of all the chaos of life. And by doing this we elevate all aspects of our existence to a higher plane
Mincha then is not just an escape from our physical reality. It is moment for us to “check in ” with God to remind us in the words of Ethics of the fathers “that all your deeds should be for the sake of heaven”
So maybe thinking about Mincha in this way will inspire us to take that few minutes in the middle of the day. It s a discipline that reaps incredible spiritual dividends.
PS if you find yourself in a place without a siddur eg in the supermarket you can always use your smart phone!
Shabbat Shalom