Midrash su Salmi 90:1

(Gen. 37:1:) NOW JACOB DWELT IN THE LAND WHERE HIS FATHER HAD SOJOURNED, < IN THE LAND OF CANAAN >. This text is related (to Deut. 33:27): THE ETERNAL GOD IS A DWELLING PLACE. R. Jeremiah said: We do not know (from the Hebrew text of Scripture) whether a DWELLING PLACE is GOD or whether GOD is a DWELLING PLACE. ¹Gen. R. 68:9 states the problem more clearly: “We do not know whether the Holy One is the place for his world or whether the world is his place.” Similarly, M. Pss. 90:10. When it says (in Ps. 90:1): A PRAYER OF MOSES, THE MAN OF GOD: O LORD, YOU HAVE BEEN OUR DWELLING PLACE, [here the Holy One is the dwelling place for his world and the world is not his place]. Although the Holy One created his world, he did not dwell in the land but a righteous one;²Cf. MS 1240 from the De Rossi library in Parma: “He did not dwell in the land with < the > righteous.” Perhaps the text should read: “He did not dwell in the land but with the righteous. So Y. Elman in a private communication. and by their merit < such righteous > ones sustain the world, as stated (in Deut. 33:27, cont.): AND UNDERNEATH ARE THE ARMS OF THE WORLD.³English translations generally render ARMS OF THE WORLD as “everlasting arms,” but here the midrash views the merits of the righteous as supporting the world like the arms of the mythological Atlas. Come and see how, during all the time the wicked are in the world, the righteous never appear. And so you find that, during all the time Esau was in the land of Israel, Jacob was unable to appear. Esau passed on, as stated (in Gen. 36:6): THEN ESAU TOOK HIS WIVES, < AND WENT INTO A LAND AWAY FROM HIS BROTHER JACOB >. Immediately (one reads in Gen. 37:1): NOW JACOB DWELT < IN THE LAND >. Therefore, (according to Deut. 33:27, cont.): SO HE DROVE OUT THE ENEMY FROM BEFORE YOU. At that time (according to vs. 28): THUS ISRAEL DWELT SAFELY ALONE.

(Ezek. 11, 16) Yet will I be to them as a minor sanctuary. R. Samuel b. Isaac said: "This refers to the houses of study that are in Babylon." R. Elazar said: "This refers to the house of our master who is in Babylon; i.e., Rab]." Raba lectured: What is the meaning of the passage (Ps. 90, 1) Lord, a place of refuge hast thou been unto us. That refers to the prayer- and learning-houses." Abayi said: "Formerly I used to learn at home, and pray at the house of Prayer; but since I heard what David said (Ps. 16, 6) Lord, I love the site of thy house, I began to study in the prayer-house also." In a Baraitha it was taught, R. Elazar ha-Kapar said: "The prayer - and learning - houses outside of the land of Israel will in the future be established in the land of Israel, as it is said (Jer. 46, 18) As Thabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel is by the sea, so shall He come, etc. Can this not be inferred through a fortiori conclusion? If Thabor and Carmel, at which only occasionally the Law was studied, are deemed within the land of Israel, how much more so will the prayer-houses and schools, at which the Law is studied, be established in the land of Israel?" Bar Kapara lectured: "What does this passage mean (Ps. 68, 17) Why watch ye enviously, ye many-peaked mountains? This means: A heavenly voice went forth and said to the mountains: 'Why should ye be jealous of Mount Sinai? Ye, all great mountains, are blemished in comparison with Sinai; for it is written Gabnunim in connection with mountains, and the same analogy of expression is used (Lev. 21, 20) A Giben (crook-backed) ." .From this," said Abaye, "we may infer that a man who is haughty is to be considered as blemished." (Fol. 31) R. Jochanan said: "Whenever you find in the Scripture a description of the greatness of the Holy One, praised be He! you find also a description of His modesty. This is written in the Pentateuch, repeated in the Prophets, and mentioned a third time in the Hagiographa. In the Pentateuch it is written (Deut. 10, 17) For the Lord your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of Lords; and immediately follows. Who executeth justice for the fatherless and the widow. It is repeated in the Prophets (Is. 57, 15) Thus hath said the High and Lofty One, who inhabiteth Eternity, whose name it Holy; and after this it is written: Yet also with the contrite and humble in spirit. The third time in Hagiographa (Ps. 68, 5) Extol him who rideth upon the heavens. The Everlasting is His name; and after this it is written: A father of the fatherless and the judge of the widows."

And he came upon (vayifga') the place (Genesis 28:11) - Rav Huna says, in the name of Rabbi Ami: why do we substitute the name of the Holy Blessed One and use Place? Because God is the Place of the world, and the world is not the place of God. From what is written "Here there is a place with Me" (Exodus 33:21) the Holy Blessed One is the place of the world and the world is not the place of the Holy Blessed One. Said Rabbi Yitzchak: from "The ancient God is dwelling" (Deut. 33:27) we do not know if the Holy Blessed One is the dwelling of the world or if the world is the dwelling of the Holy One, but from what is written "Hashem, You are a dwelling" we see that the Holy Blessed One is the dwelling of the world and the the world is not the dwelling of the Holy One. Rabbi Aba bar Yudan said about a warrior who rides on a horse having plenty weapons on both his right and left: the horse depends on the rider, and the rider does not depend on the horse, as it is said: "when you ride on your horse" (Habakuk 3:8). Another explanation: what is "vayifga"? It is he prayed. He prayed on the place, the place of the Beit Hamikdash. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: the first ancestors fixed three Prayers. Avraham fixed the morning prayer, as it is written "Next morning, Abraham rose to the place where he had stood before " (Genesis 19:27), and the term stood can only be Prayer, as it is written "And Pinchas stood and prayed" (Psalms 106:30). Yitzchak fixed the afternoon prayer, as it is written "And Isaac went out to converse in the field toward evening" (Genesis 24:63) and the term converse can only be Prayer, as it is written "I pour out my conversation before God" (Ps. 142:3). Yaakov fixed the evening Prayer, as it is written "And he came upon the place" and the term vayifga' can only be Prayer, as it is written "As for you, do not pray for this people, do not raise a cry of prayer on their behalf, do not tifga' Me; for I will not listen to you." (Jer. 7:16), and the text also says: " If they are really prophets and the word of Hashem is with them, ifge'u Hashem of Hosts" (Jer. 27:18). Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said: three times the day changes. At evening, a person needs to say "may it be Your will, Hashem my God, that you will bring me from darkness to light." At morning one needs to say "I thank you Hashem my God, that you brought me from darkness to light." In the afternoon a person needs to say "may it be Your will, Hashem my God, that just as I merited to see the sun rise, may I merit to see the sun set." Another explanation of vaiyfga' - the rabbis say the prayers were fixed according to the Tamid sacrifices. The morning prayer according to the morning Tamid offering. The afternoon prayer according to the Tamid of the late afternoon. The evening prayer has no set moment, it was established according to the limbs and fat pieces that were consumed by the fire of the altar.