Chayei Sarah 5773

Rabbi Soloveichick dedicated this shiur in memory of Dr. Oberlander’s son, Moshe Itzchak, Mitchell.

                  

Bereishit 24:63 Vayeitze Itzchak lasuah basadeh lifnot arev

                        Isaac went out to pray in the field toward evening

This weeks sidra, Torah portion, talks about Itzchak instituting the tefillah of minchah, the afternoon prayer.  Avraham instituted shacharis, the morning prayer, based on the last week’s sidrah the part after he pleads about Sodom:

Bereishit 18:33 Vayeilech Hashem cha’asher kilah l’daber el Avraham

                        God departed when He finished speaking to Abraham

                        V’Avraham shav lim’komo

                        And Abraham returned to his place

19:27 Va’yashkem Avraham baboker el hamakom asher amad sham et pnei Hashem

Abraham arose early in the morning to the place that he had stood there before the presence of God.

Avraham got up in the morning to the place where he stood before God (amida – standing while davening). 

Itzhak went out l’suah -according to Targum Onkelos, Gemarrah, l’suah means praying, davening, from Aramaic sihu.  The simple meaning of the phrase is to take a walk, go out in the field to speak to people, but Gemarrah says l’suah means to pray – lifnot erev – towards evening, minchah time.

Yakov instituted maariv, the evening prayer, when he is running away from Esau -  he encounters the place, he has an encounter with God – what is davening, if not the encounter with God. 

28:10 Jacob departed from Beer-sheba and he went toward Haran. 

28:11 Vayifgah bamakom He encountered the place and spent the night there because the sun had set.

It seems though that the simple reading of the previous sidra that Avraham instituted minchah.  In Vayeira it says vayaskem avram baboker Avraham arose early to the place where he stood previously before God.  When was the previous time – when he pleaded for people of Sodom.  Before that he was seating in the heat of the day, which was noon, then three strangers come, he tends to their needs, then malachim, the angels, went to Sodom, and while they are gone Avraham was talking to God – that was between noon and when malachim came to Sodom in the evening.  Why did it take malachim so long to reach Sodom – because they waited, procrastinated to see if God will accept tefillah of Avraham.  That means that he davened between noon and night time, which is minchah.

 

So why is Itzhak identified with minchah, and not Avraham?  Tosefot refer to minchah as the prayer of Avraham, they why does Gemarrah identify minchah with Itzhak? 

I mentioned many times the argument between Rambam and Ramban.  We all know that you are supposed to daven 3 times a day, but it is a rabbinic requirement.  What is the biblical requirement.  According to Rambam the biblical requirement is to pray once a day.  Ramban says that we only pray in time of trouble, if there is a war, famine, enemy at the gate, Obama elected president of the U.S.  Many times in the Torah it mentions the mitzvah of blowing the trumpets in time of trouble – trumpets and shofar are the form of tefillah, expressed with sounds, it is tefillah as the expression of emotions.

 

There is a story about Baal Shem Tov when he was in a shul in a village, and he davened very hard.  Things looked really bad to Hassidim, because for Hasidim his fervent davening meant things were not well upstairs, in heaven.  Then a shepherd boy comes into the shul and starts playing his flute.  People start shouting at the boy, but Baal Shem Tov told people to stop, leave the boy alone.  He explained that God was angry at people, but when this boy started playing his flute the heavenly forces were placated, because his music was the true service of the heart, the music conveyed the thoughts, the feelings of the heart and found favour in heaven. Amen.

Trumpets are the form of tefillah, because Torah declared it as a form of davening, this includes davening to God at the time of trouble.  The Beit Din used to proclaim a fast as a form of crying out to God, and this is also a mitzvah.

There was a dispute between Reb Chayim (Rav Moshe’s great-grandfather) and Chofetz Chaim.  They were such close friends, that Rav Chayim felt that his sons don’t have to listen to his own sermons, not to waste time from learning, but they had to listen to Chofetz Chaim rather than learning. 

Under the Tsar there were all kinds of decrees against Jews, so Chofetz Chaim wanted to proclaim a fast, but Reb Chayim said the only significance of the fast is if we change our ways, take the path of teshuvah, so having a fast day in the time of trouble only has significance if the people were going to do teshuvah, and he thought the people of his time did not have enough ruach to change their ways.  What can be said of people in our time?  Now we recall that according to Ramban the biblical requirement is to daven at the time of trouble. 

Rav Moshe’s father and uncle suggested that we should pray every day because man is always in trouble, it s just that we don’t see the trouble or we become used to it.  When we are used to something we don’t feel the significance of it. 

Tzemach Tzeddek, the third Lubavitcher Rebbe and Rabbi Chaim Volozhiner, the leader of the mitnagdim, were the leaders of Jews in Russia.  They met with the Tzar on behalf of the Jews, and by the way the Volozhiner rebbe was sure that the Tzar was from Amalek.  The tzar’s minister of the interior said to him - you Jews always talk about great miracles, where are these miracles now, look how downtrodden you are.  The Volozhiner rebbe replied – I don’t know where are the miracles, but you do.  The minister said, how come?  The rebbe asked him - how many times you had meetings and came up with one decree or another to annihilate Jews and how many times those decrees did not come to fruition – I don’t know about miracles but you do!

 

In every generation there are people of power that have the same attitude as Hitler, but for one reason or another they did not succeed.  But kadosh baruchu matzileinu, God saves us from their hand. 

We are part of the American community as well, you think there are no miracles in U.S. – every country has it – the greatest miracle here is that there were no major acts of terrorism since 9/11 – you know how many attempts were made to wreak havoc on the entire country.  In the general community our lives are in danger.  Individual are not even aware of all troubles about to destroy them, but kadosh baruchu matzileinu. 

Davening is not just the meeting with God.  There is a difference between spiritual experience of Buddism and Jewish prayer, which is a request of God – we recognize that are in need of His help and He is the one who is the provider, and he does provide.  We have to understand that we have needs and that we are in trouble.  The richest people overnight became impoverished  - someone invested money for them, etc… - don’t think it can only happen to them – we are all in trouble.  We talk about the economy, the unemployment – when economy is bad you don’t have to be the investor to feel the effect.  You can have blessings and curses that don’t affect you, don’t reach you, but it all reaches you – we are all in trouble, and this is the part of the mitzvah of tefillah – to recognize that regardless of the situation, health or economics or security – we are hanging in the air – that’s why the mitzvah of Shemoneh Esrei is that whatever our needs are we have to daven for them.  Shemoneh Esrei consists of three parts – praise of God, asking for our needs, and thanking God for the miracles that He does every day with us, and the wonders, the good that He does evening, morning and afternoon – we don’t always see those miracles.  Nature itself is a miracle, the world is recreated all the time, even within Nature there are so many things that can go wrong. 

Someone goes for a routine medical procedure and things go wrong – injections can be contaminated – a normal medical procedure has possibility of danger – our lives are hanging in the balance, we cannot even imagine what can go wrong, the dangers we are not aware of – that’s why there is a biblical mitzvah to daven every day, because our lives are in danger every day.  The definition of davening is to have a meeting w/God, talking to God.  You need God’s permission to talk to Him, but he gives us permission when we recognize that we are in need – because we are always in need. 

At one time I was involved with a certain Buddhist group that tried to get converts from among Jews and others – you sit there and you become one with nature, one with God.  In prayer, on the contrary, we approach God with our needs, when we recognize that we are always in need, and he sustains our needs. 

It is a problem for Americal Jews – we thought we had everything here, then why do we need to approach God – it is because we are always in need, in trouble.

When Avraham davened michah he pleaded for a specific need, for the people of Sodom.  But this is not the purpose of the daily prayer - Shacharit, Minchah, Maariv – it is not to pray for a specific need, but the recognition that we are always  in need.  It reminds us that we cannot take anything for granted.  In Torah portion Maaseh it describes all different stops in the desert.  We tend to generalize and don’t see everything that God is doing for us.  Dayeinu – mitziat Mizraim, we don’t realize how much is involved in the exodus from Egypt, how much we need Him.  Avraham went to daven for specific need, but the daily prayer of Shacharit, Minchah and Maariv is to recognize constant need. 

It is easy to recognize God where we have Beit HaMikdash, but harder when we feel that God abandoned us, as Catholic church wants us to think

God is there taking care of us, Jews are the only people who survived 2000 years of exile.  In time of destruction we also can appeal to God and recognize not just our needs, and recognize who sustains us.