Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Daniel 6:11

Introduction The fourth and fifth chapters of Berakhot are about the “Tefillah” the central prayer which we today call the “Amidah” or the “Shmoneh Esrei”, due to its eighteen benedictions (actually nineteen, one was added in later). The Tefillah (henceforth I will refer to it as the Tefillah, the common term in rabbinic literature) is the central piece of rabbinically created liturgy. While its precise time of creation is not known, it seems to have coalesced into full fruition and taken prominence after the destruction of the Second Temple. The first three blessings are praises of God, the next 13 are petitions and the final three are expressions of gratitude. On Shabbat and holidays the petitions are not recited and there is rather one, or on Rosh Hashanah, three, intermediate blessings. The Tefillah is recited three times a day. The earliest hint to praying three times a day can be found in Daniel 6:11. There are various reasons to explain why thrice daily prayer but the one that strikes me as most convincing is that there are three natural times to the day: 1) sunrise; 2) midday, when the sun begins its descent; 3) nightfall. Other reasons, such as to correspond to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are probably best seen as reasons provided after the number had already been determined. The first two tefillot, Shacharit and Minchah, correspond to the two daily Tamid offerings, the Shacharit Tamid and the Minhah Tamid. But there was no real offering at night, so the connection between three prayers and the Temple service is weak. Our mishnah begins by discussing when all three daily Tefillot (plural of Tefillah) must be recited.

ולעבדו בכל לבבכם, “and to serve Him with all your hearts.” Our sages in Taanit 2 ask rhetorically: “what kind of service can one perform for G’d with one’s heart?” They answer: “Prayer.” They prove this from Daniel 6,17: “your G’d, the one whom you serve constantly, He will save you.” Was there then a Temple for the Jewish G’d in Babylon where Daniel could have offered sacrifices? Clearly the King must have referred to the G’d to whom Daniel prayed in his heart. In verse 11 of that same chapter Daniel is described as opening the window of his room facing Jerusalem when praying. David also said in Psalms 141,2: “take my prayer as an offering of incense.” Moreover, our sages in Berachot 26 have said that the daily prayers nowadays are in lieu of the daily communal offerings, the תמידים.

ולעבדו בכל לבבכם AND TO SERVE HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART — i.e. to serve Him with a service that is in the heart: that is prayer, for prayer is termed service (עבודה), as it is said, (Daniel 6:17) “Thy God whom thou servest continually”. But was there service (i.e. sacrificial service, the technical term for which is עבודה) in Babylon? But the term is used because he offered prayer there, as it is said, (Daniel 6:11) “Now his windows were open [in his upper chamber towards Jerusalem and he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed]”. And so, too, it states in the case of David (Psalms 141:2): “Let my prayer be set forth as incense before Thee” (incense being part of the sacrificial service) (Sifrei Devarim 41:25-27).