תִּכּ֤וֹן תְּפִלָּתִ֣י קְטֹ֣רֶת לְפָנֶ֑יךָ מַֽשְׂאַ֥ת כַּ֝פַּ֗י מִנְחַת־עָֽרֶב׃
Nawa'y matanggap sa harap Mo ang aking panalangin na tulad ng insenso, at ang pagtataas ng aking mga kamay ay tulad ng handog sa takipsilim.
Olat Reiyah
“A tanna teaches like R. Yosi bar R. Chanina – Avraham established the morning prayer, as it says ‘Avraham rose early in the morning to the place where he had stood before G–d…’ (Bereshit 19:27) and there is no standing (amidah) other than prayer, as it says ‘ Pinchas stood up and prayed.’ (Tehillim 106:30) Yitzchak established the afternoon prayer, as it says ‘Yitzchak went out to converse (lasuach) in the field at evening time…’ (Bereshit 24:63) and there is no conversation (siach) other than prayer, as it says ‘A prayer of the afflicted, when he faints and pours out his complaint (sicho) before G–d.’ (Tehillim 102:1) Yaakov established the nighttime prayer, as it says ‘He encountered (va’yifgah) the place, and stayed the night there…’ (Bereshit 28:11) and there is no encounter other than prayer, as it says ‘Therefore pray you not for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, nor make intercession (tifgah) to me…’ (Yermiyahu 7:16)” [Berachot 26b]
These three expressions – standing, conversing and encounter, are aligned with three principle benefits that prayer brings to the service of G–d. The first act of prayer is to root firmly in the heart all the holy concepts and lofty images, the foundations of awe and morality which one has acquired in their soul, so that they will not falter under the storm winds which devastate morality and Divine service through desires of the heart and the passions of the time. The primary time for this rooting is the morning. That before one turn to the business of life and the inevitable feelings of bodily desire, they prepare a strong and well-founded moral posture for themselves which will standup under the oppositional trials of the waves of the times; therefore, the prayer which is oriented toward this activity is known as amidah, standing. To this end our father Avraham, first of the faithful, who withstood ten wondrous trials, and against all the multitude that opposed the path which rises in the light of G–d, who stormed in order to scatter and push him aside, was most fit; he fought to find a well-founded and enduring place to stand.
Prayer is called sichah54See gemara Avodah Zarah 7b where siach is the language associated with personal prayer (conversation), sharing a name with the plants and trees which are called sichim55See Bereshit 2:5 which in this light could be read as “before there was any conversation.” This fits the nature of the second story of creation, which in its opening verse (Bereshit 2:4) uses the form of the word creation הבראם (in their being created) in contrast to the form ברא (created) in the first verse of the Torah. In general one can explore these two story as the first representing a subject/object relationship between G–d and creation and the second a subject/subject relationship. Hence the appearance of conversation at the outset of the second story. See footnote 2., due to the blossoming of the soul with new powers, which branch out naturally through the excitation of the soul in the service of the heart. This is most fit to the time of the evening offering, (see Tehillim 141:2) when one is close to casting off their troubles. Then their soul can elevate her nature, and the natural holy emotions stored up in her, to join to the living G–d and overflow with His pure love and awe, increasing fertile fruit and sending out shoots and branches, taking the likeness of a mighty tree56It is this aspect of prayer which ties the disparate pieces of creation together into a whole, a conversation. Note that the in the first story of creation there are individual plants (see Bereshit 1:11-12) but there is no field. It will take the type of prayer conversation which emerges in the second story, the siach hasadeh (see Rashi on Bereshit 2:5), to bind the blades of grass, the pieces of creation, into a whole that could be named a field. See Orach Chaim 61:3 and the Rama’s statement about how the gematria of two names of G–d, that which represents essence and that which represents expression, combine to equal 91, which is also the gematria of ilan, tree. The Maharal Be’er HaGolah, be’er chamishi says – know, that this world is similar to a single tree (ilan) which stretches from the root to the end of the tree, and it has many branches, drawn one after the other. So too it is with the world which is drawn from the First Cause that is the root, which is what we mean when we call heresy ‘to deny the root principle.’Its parts descend one after another until the final descent of the pieces of existence. - one of the sichim.57One of the pieces of creation, or ‘in the conversation.’ This natural blossoming from within the rightness of the soul is the root of the judgment which is passed upon the one who turns aside from the straight path of life. The attribute of judgment, in so far that it has a natural law, is exacting with one who changes its ways and strays from its path; and this is the attribute of Yitzchak, as it is written “Were it not that the G–d of my father, the G–d of Avraham and the Fear of Yitzchak, had been with me…” (Bereshit 31:42), as our Sages taught with thorough explanation.
However, there is another great advantage to prayer, that she find her essential purpose in those of the highest level and value, the highest holy ones who draw near to G–d, who rise up in prayer and lift themselves to the level of prophecy, or near to it, as is written in Tur/Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 98; they encounter states well beyond the ways of nature, because they are lifted up far beyond the natural condition and cleave to the living G–d in purity of heart and soul. And the night is best suited for this, in its respite and solitude, as the chasid explained in The Duties of the Heart58R Bachya ibn Pakudah wrote Duties of the Heart in Arabic in 1040 under the title "Al Hidayah ila Faraid al-Ḳulub" (Guide to the Duties of the Heart), it was translated into Hebrew by Judah ibn Tibbon under the title "Ḥobot ha-Lebabot. R’ Bachya was a court judge and philosopher in Saragossa Spain. This work is the first systematic presentation of Jewish ethics and drew heavily from contemporary Arab thinkers. It presents ethics and philosophical understandings as the duties of ‘the heart’ in opposition to those of ‘the limbs’ which are the outward observance of the Law (Gate of Love of G–d, ch. 6) on the advantage of nighttime prayer, which also facilitates visitation of sacred lofty visions and awesome intellectual fruits, that cannot be apprehended in the company of the physical senses. Things grasped from beyond the conceptual processes embedded in nature come not according to the natural gradual order of simple to profound, or through individual analytic pathways gathered together into a framework. Rather the great light of the sweetness of G–d is revealed suddenly, happy is the one who merits to it! Prayer is called encounter (pgiya), as when one happens upon something, as a result not only of the nature of the path which the traveler takes but also of the immanent nearness of the one encountered. And so it was for our father Yaakov, peace be upon him, for it is a certainty that his prayer prepared him for the lofty prophetic vision of the ladder and all its particulars (see Bereshit 28:10-17) , and that is why the name encounter is associated with his prayer, “and he encountered the place.” This is befitting the nighttime prayer.
These three expressions – standing, conversing and encounter, are aligned with three principle benefits that prayer brings to the service of G–d. The first act of prayer is to root firmly in the heart all the holy concepts and lofty images, the foundations of awe and morality which one has acquired in their soul, so that they will not falter under the storm winds which devastate morality and Divine service through desires of the heart and the passions of the time. The primary time for this rooting is the morning. That before one turn to the business of life and the inevitable feelings of bodily desire, they prepare a strong and well-founded moral posture for themselves which will standup under the oppositional trials of the waves of the times; therefore, the prayer which is oriented toward this activity is known as amidah, standing. To this end our father Avraham, first of the faithful, who withstood ten wondrous trials, and against all the multitude that opposed the path which rises in the light of G–d, who stormed in order to scatter and push him aside, was most fit; he fought to find a well-founded and enduring place to stand.
Prayer is called sichah54See gemara Avodah Zarah 7b where siach is the language associated with personal prayer (conversation), sharing a name with the plants and trees which are called sichim55See Bereshit 2:5 which in this light could be read as “before there was any conversation.” This fits the nature of the second story of creation, which in its opening verse (Bereshit 2:4) uses the form of the word creation הבראם (in their being created) in contrast to the form ברא (created) in the first verse of the Torah. In general one can explore these two story as the first representing a subject/object relationship between G–d and creation and the second a subject/subject relationship. Hence the appearance of conversation at the outset of the second story. See footnote 2., due to the blossoming of the soul with new powers, which branch out naturally through the excitation of the soul in the service of the heart. This is most fit to the time of the evening offering, (see Tehillim 141:2) when one is close to casting off their troubles. Then their soul can elevate her nature, and the natural holy emotions stored up in her, to join to the living G–d and overflow with His pure love and awe, increasing fertile fruit and sending out shoots and branches, taking the likeness of a mighty tree56It is this aspect of prayer which ties the disparate pieces of creation together into a whole, a conversation. Note that the in the first story of creation there are individual plants (see Bereshit 1:11-12) but there is no field. It will take the type of prayer conversation which emerges in the second story, the siach hasadeh (see Rashi on Bereshit 2:5), to bind the blades of grass, the pieces of creation, into a whole that could be named a field. See Orach Chaim 61:3 and the Rama’s statement about how the gematria of two names of G–d, that which represents essence and that which represents expression, combine to equal 91, which is also the gematria of ilan, tree. The Maharal Be’er HaGolah, be’er chamishi says – know, that this world is similar to a single tree (ilan) which stretches from the root to the end of the tree, and it has many branches, drawn one after the other. So too it is with the world which is drawn from the First Cause that is the root, which is what we mean when we call heresy ‘to deny the root principle.’Its parts descend one after another until the final descent of the pieces of existence. - one of the sichim.57One of the pieces of creation, or ‘in the conversation.’ This natural blossoming from within the rightness of the soul is the root of the judgment which is passed upon the one who turns aside from the straight path of life. The attribute of judgment, in so far that it has a natural law, is exacting with one who changes its ways and strays from its path; and this is the attribute of Yitzchak, as it is written “Were it not that the G–d of my father, the G–d of Avraham and the Fear of Yitzchak, had been with me…” (Bereshit 31:42), as our Sages taught with thorough explanation.
However, there is another great advantage to prayer, that she find her essential purpose in those of the highest level and value, the highest holy ones who draw near to G–d, who rise up in prayer and lift themselves to the level of prophecy, or near to it, as is written in Tur/Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 98; they encounter states well beyond the ways of nature, because they are lifted up far beyond the natural condition and cleave to the living G–d in purity of heart and soul. And the night is best suited for this, in its respite and solitude, as the chasid explained in The Duties of the Heart58R Bachya ibn Pakudah wrote Duties of the Heart in Arabic in 1040 under the title "Al Hidayah ila Faraid al-Ḳulub" (Guide to the Duties of the Heart), it was translated into Hebrew by Judah ibn Tibbon under the title "Ḥobot ha-Lebabot. R’ Bachya was a court judge and philosopher in Saragossa Spain. This work is the first systematic presentation of Jewish ethics and drew heavily from contemporary Arab thinkers. It presents ethics and philosophical understandings as the duties of ‘the heart’ in opposition to those of ‘the limbs’ which are the outward observance of the Law (Gate of Love of G–d, ch. 6) on the advantage of nighttime prayer, which also facilitates visitation of sacred lofty visions and awesome intellectual fruits, that cannot be apprehended in the company of the physical senses. Things grasped from beyond the conceptual processes embedded in nature come not according to the natural gradual order of simple to profound, or through individual analytic pathways gathered together into a framework. Rather the great light of the sweetness of G–d is revealed suddenly, happy is the one who merits to it! Prayer is called encounter (pgiya), as when one happens upon something, as a result not only of the nature of the path which the traveler takes but also of the immanent nearness of the one encountered. And so it was for our father Yaakov, peace be upon him, for it is a certainty that his prayer prepared him for the lofty prophetic vision of the ladder and all its particulars (see Bereshit 28:10-17) , and that is why the name encounter is associated with his prayer, “and he encountered the place.” This is befitting the nighttime prayer.
Olat Reiyah
R. Chelbo said in the name of Rav Huna, ‘one should always take care with the afternoon prayer because Eliyahu was only answered through the afternoon prayer, as it says “And it came to pass at the time of the afternoon offering that Eliyahu the prophet drew near and said…answer me, Lord, answer me…” (Melachim I 18:36-37) R. Yochanan said, ‘so too the nighttime prayer, as it says “Let my prayer be set before You as incense; and the lifting up of my hands like the evening offering.” (Tehillim 141:2) Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said ‘so too the morning prayer, as it says “Lord, in the morning hear my voice; in the morning I will direct my prayer to You and wait expectantly.”’ (Tehillim 5:4) [Berachot 6b]
There are limbs which are doubled, whose redundancy is for enhanced safety, that if one should be lost the remaining one will fill its place. There are limbs each of which have their own intrinsic value, and if one is lost another cannot fill its place. Each of the three prayers fixed in their times is aligned with a particular aspect of the service of prayer, in such a manner that it cannot be considered a redundant limb, that at the very least one proper prayer will rise up from amongst the three; rather each one requires particular care in itself. One stands as a foundation against the overflowing of the inclination of one’s heart with the dissolution and foolishness that are mingled into the business of the world. This prayer restores one’s spiritual loss through pouring out the heart’s conversation before G–d, cleansing it of its false veneer (See Yechezkiel 13:10 as well as 22:28) with loftiness of pure conceptions of G–d consciousness and Divine service. The afternoon prayer acts toward this end. It comes after the intensity of the mundane concerns of the day, just as Eliyahu was answered then in his battle against the worship of the ba’al.59Ba’al, which in Hebrew means master, was the foundational male deity with which Israel was in conflict in the biblical period. See Kings I 18 for the story of Eliyahu’s final showdown with the priests of the Baal. And check out theageofprophecy.com The nighttime prayer lifts the human spirit into the glorious station of its soul, through the purification of thoughts and musings. “Let my prayer be set before You as incense…,” because the incense offering is a ‘thing done in secret’ (Yoma 44a) bringing about the fixing of one’s ways in their innermost chambers. (See Yechezkiel 8:12) It atones for evil speech said in private (Zevachim 88b) which occurs primarily through the thoughts of the heart (See Bereshit 6:5) , as it is written ”let one not devise evil in his heart against his neighbor…” (Zechariah 18:17) But in the morning, when evil influences have not yet clung to the powers of the soul, but they nevertheless lack a wholeness of potency due to the ascendency of physical nature during the night’s sleep, the morning prayer awakens and orders them in a framework of holiness, in a lofty accounting of righteousness and rectitude, in the awe of G–d and His love. “HaShem, in the morning hear my voice, in the morning I direct (e’eroch) my prayer to you,” the framework (ma’arechet) of my heart and the powers of my soul, “and I wait expectantly” that you will be with me to sustain my valor, because one who comes to purify himself receives assistance. (Shabbat 104a)
There are limbs which are doubled, whose redundancy is for enhanced safety, that if one should be lost the remaining one will fill its place. There are limbs each of which have their own intrinsic value, and if one is lost another cannot fill its place. Each of the three prayers fixed in their times is aligned with a particular aspect of the service of prayer, in such a manner that it cannot be considered a redundant limb, that at the very least one proper prayer will rise up from amongst the three; rather each one requires particular care in itself. One stands as a foundation against the overflowing of the inclination of one’s heart with the dissolution and foolishness that are mingled into the business of the world. This prayer restores one’s spiritual loss through pouring out the heart’s conversation before G–d, cleansing it of its false veneer (See Yechezkiel 13:10 as well as 22:28) with loftiness of pure conceptions of G–d consciousness and Divine service. The afternoon prayer acts toward this end. It comes after the intensity of the mundane concerns of the day, just as Eliyahu was answered then in his battle against the worship of the ba’al.59Ba’al, which in Hebrew means master, was the foundational male deity with which Israel was in conflict in the biblical period. See Kings I 18 for the story of Eliyahu’s final showdown with the priests of the Baal. And check out theageofprophecy.com The nighttime prayer lifts the human spirit into the glorious station of its soul, through the purification of thoughts and musings. “Let my prayer be set before You as incense…,” because the incense offering is a ‘thing done in secret’ (Yoma 44a) bringing about the fixing of one’s ways in their innermost chambers. (See Yechezkiel 8:12) It atones for evil speech said in private (Zevachim 88b) which occurs primarily through the thoughts of the heart (See Bereshit 6:5) , as it is written ”let one not devise evil in his heart against his neighbor…” (Zechariah 18:17) But in the morning, when evil influences have not yet clung to the powers of the soul, but they nevertheless lack a wholeness of potency due to the ascendency of physical nature during the night’s sleep, the morning prayer awakens and orders them in a framework of holiness, in a lofty accounting of righteousness and rectitude, in the awe of G–d and His love. “HaShem, in the morning hear my voice, in the morning I direct (e’eroch) my prayer to you,” the framework (ma’arechet) of my heart and the powers of my soul, “and I wait expectantly” that you will be with me to sustain my valor, because one who comes to purify himself receives assistance. (Shabbat 104a)