Why Daven Three Times a Day? (Part II) By Rabbi Yossi Goldin

hope everybody is staying uh warm although it hasn't been too cold so far considering although I I understand yam is a little colder than where I live but um and as always um our learning today should be a continued Ru for all those who have been injured it should be a for our for our hostages and uh in this crazy world which should bring about uh days of of Peace um okay so continuing in our in our series on what we did last week was we talked about or we tried to understand the source for the idea that um the source for why we DAV three times a day we talked about different sources we talked about the source in DAV in we talked about the in Danielle all seem to refer to the concept of ding three times a day and we spent a lot of time discussing that well-known gar that discusses two different sources for for why we DAV in um one being from the corbane and one being from the from the aot we add that and also understood how perhaps what the gar was doing was really just giving different models for how to understand in general there's the model uh especially we we we noted by Jonathan Sax's beautiful um beautiful essay combining the two about how how there's a model ofah what RAB Saks called as as prayer uh or I meaning sorry prayer as Thanksgiving where you're thinking aadesh baru and then there's also prayer as request uh where you're asking from aosu and what Rak suggested was that it used to be there used to be in the times of the Torah and kazal there used to be two different models there were two different models for relating to you had prayer and prayer used to just be about requesting and then and it was always was much more spur of the moment much much less um defined and then you had something called corbane sacrifices and sacrifices were very very uh very very defined very clear you had very you had many rules as to what you allowed to do what you weren't allowed to do and as RX points out at some point with the destruction of the BET mikdash as once there no longer were sacrifices kazal realized that what used to be what we call we call prayer which was much less defined now needed to be defined that is what the Jewish people needed as they were about to enter the post uh Temple era they needed things to be much more defined and therefore what we knew asah took on many of the characteristics of of corbano of sacrifices much more legislated much more defined modeled after the Corban note as they were in the times of the bet mikdash that was last week what I want to do today is really a part two is a continuation of last week which is to understand so last week we discussed why three times a day now the question that I want to explore today is why specifically the times that we dove in okay if we understand that we're supposed to dove in three times a day um and that has many different sources to it whether it's from the aot or from the Corban note the question then becomes okay but why are these specific times why specifically as we know we have shakar which is meant to be in the morning um we'll just just even Define a little bit more according to the not only does it have to be in the morning but it should be within the first four hours of the morning um the fourth hour of the day or the fourth hour of the day is what's known as so it's clear that the time to DAV the most ideal time to DAV is in the morning and according to many people the best time to DAV is what we call Sunrise which is literally as the day begins that's one time to DAV then we have the time for the time for m is a little bit more spread out beginning from half hour after half hour half hour after midday until according to most opinions until Shia until Sunset and then we have the time for Marv which is the simplest understanding is going to be according to most opinions after what's called after after the three stars come out after Nightfall which is the evening and the question we I want to understand today is why those specific times and is there something to number one why those times and also why how each how each is developed why is shakar particularly long particularly short Marv a little bit longer how can we understand the Deep uh a deeper significance between trying to understand these three F outs so I think the simplest answer before we even get to some of the more the the the the more um detailed answers is the reason why we do three times a day is because or the reason with these times is because this is a nice way to what to spread it out okay right it's somewhat logical you wake up in the morning we have it at night and then we have it sometime in the middle of the day and in fact this this idea that the times are not necessarily because there's something unique about these times but simply because it enables us to properly spread out the this is hinted to in Source number one in the kusari the kuari we've we've seen the part of this SCE before when discussing the importance of and it's discussing the power of compares to what he calls you know the physical act of eating just like eating nourishes the body so too says the kar nourishes the soul and what he say say is that if looked at properly is meant to be the main parts of our day they should be the main anchors of our day with everything else kind of leading us from one to the next and that what we do is we DAV in then we go through our life doing what we need to do in order to be uh productive productive people but each time as we get a little further from our last Fila what happens just like when you get when you go as you go further from your last meal physically you become hungry so spiritually we become hungrier and therefore we then need to take more time in the middle of the day to Davin and then we continue with that through toor yes okay so you're asking yes okay so you're asking an excellent excellent question um and what you're you're asking is well that if it's really supposed to be spread out in this way then what about the way that we do it today so it's a great question and the answer is that we also have to be able to to differentiate between understanding the ideal and understanding understanding certain realities okay which is that as we're going to see it's pretty clear that again is given a very very wide range and I think part of that has to do with the recognition as we're going to see today that is the most from in many ways is the most challenging F of the day because requires us to take a step out of our busy very busy day and to stop and and to give some time toh so I think again my own understanding that K specifically gave it a wide range recognizing that challenge what you're describing by the way is also by the way different realities in different TOS the description that many of us have certainly I have growing up in America was you would go in if you were lucky you had 30 second you had 30 second to Hill him or a short Rabbi would give would be given like 30 seconds before people start to you know Mumble onto onto Mar now that is not the post make it very clear that is not the most ideal way to do Min for a number of different reasons um but what that really is is a concession to reality which is that we understood and the and the the rinic leadership certainly and this is true in America that if you were to do and then wait any amount of significant time before you did Mar what would happen everyone would leave and therefore because of you know a certain reality they made the decision to do it that way in Israel it's much more common and this is true in many shs in America as well to have a break of because 20 25 minutes which is Hally Hally much better because you're DAV before the end of the day and you're waiting until Nightfall to DAV that is certainly the ideal you are correct that there was a time where people used to think that it was better to dove in what was called even earlier in the day but nowadays again we recognize that there's a certain reality so I think it's just more an understanding of Ideal versus reality but understanding the ideal can hopefully at least impact uh our reality and also just help us help us understand it but it's an excellent question so look at source number one look at the way the kar in his language has beautiful language and how he describes the purpose of and the purpose here in this way the time of ding for seed for a for a Pious person should be it should be like the fruit of his time or gin literally means the seed of his time mean the purpose of everything of everything that you do all the rest of your day should basically be leading up to the time that you DAV and that's what you keep looking towards and that because through is where you reconnect with the spiritual aspect of who you are and you're able to mitigate the physical aspect of who you are and the per the ideal says the kuari should be that the F out should be as they are three different times of the day where you're going from one and as you go on in life you continue you're not moving just further away from one F you're moving closer to the next F and as time goes on you continue to yearn for that for that time and just like says the Kari we have three times set aside to David which are meant to be the fruit of our day which means basically the purpose of our day PR and then he adds something in here which is more of a side point for us but he says that's also by the relation the relationship we have between our doing times and our day is the same relationship that should be between sh and the rest of the week just like just like uh just like are meant to be the time where the highlights of our day the purpose of our day that's what is meant to be so too shabus is meant to be the highlight of I actually think in fact many of us probably relate more to the chabis than we do to the Davin right for many of us chabis is the highlight of our week got many differently time to spend time with our family with ourselves and we see that we can understand that so if anything relating this and using it as a model for I think is very valuable that just like we look forward to shabbat and to that time to re-energize ourselves and to refocus our per our our goals and our aims that's what F should be throughout throughout the day I I have I have this memory uh uh my wife and I you used to joke about this a lot my wife had had a grand had a grandfather who before he passed away he he started to become unwill and didn't didn't remember many different things but one of the things he was always focused on was when's the next minion n shabis when's the next minion and there were time and they had stor my my wife my my my wife grandparents lived in fairon and we have many stories of uh of like in the middle of the day like 2:00 in the afternoon her grandfather getting him putting on his hat and starting to go to sh because he thought it was time for even though was wasn't for another five hours and we used to obvious obviously had someone take care of him and and he was fine and we used to joke about it a little bit that like that that was the focus of his on the other hand it also reveals something very very special which is in his older age the things that were most important to him became clear and became a focus of what he was thinking about he was always thinking about the next minion where am I where I always constantly getting go on his way to sh in a certain way and I think that's part of what we should learn from that continues the the this day of Shabbat is meant to be a time to connect with God and the whole service of a is done with happiness and what you're looking forward to as opposed to uh giving up something we're in the middle of source number one he says this value this purpose of what brings to the soul is as we said is exactly what what food brings to a person's body because for for a person's soul is like food to a person's body if a person does appropriately what that what that will do is the impact of that will last until the next time you dve in just like when a person eats the goal is to that you you're satiated until the time of your next meal just like when a person eats it's meant to keep him full until his meal however it's natural that as you you you go further away from the time that you just DED it's going to be natural that you're going to get involved in what's happening in the world and the impact of the that you just had may be lessened and certainly if you're surrounded by negative influences certainly whatever those influences are going to to be then then that could impact you in a in a negative way certainly if you're going to be impacted by things that are not good for your soul but what is meant to be it purifies a person time and helps you become purified from everything that you experienced and It prepares you moving forward and so I think what the what the what the kuari here is highlighting it doesn't say it explicitly but I think his point is that why do we have it spread out in the three way the three places that we do simply because that is the best way to spread out our in order to give us the kak to continue reminding ourselves of what our goal and what our purpose is similar to meals and similar to as he describes it what chabis is for the week so to chilot are meant to be on a daily basis however there are a number of other interpretations and commentaries who highlight something a little bit different they say the purpose of the three times isn't just simply to spread it to spread things out because you can spread it things out in very lots of different ways they actually suggest that there's something significant about these three specific times that highlight very very important um very important themes that are important for us to keep in mind the first one I want to I want to share with you here is is the maharal the maharal in Source number two has a beautiful explanation for why these specific times so if you look we're in Source number two the end of the first line the LA the third to last word v says asks our question why these three specifically during these times we can make the following we can give the following explanation he says it is appropriate for a person to dedicate his life to a in three main areas and they are dedicate his life towards god with his body with his soul his nefes and with his Mone with with all with all of the different objects that he has and where does that come from says the because we say you should love says the m that these are that these three are hinted to in this your body is hinted to when it talks about your heart say that why is it should would be singular is plural it implies you have two hearts who has two hearts so it's a reference to the two you have you have a and you have a and a person is meant to try to serve God both with his and with his and says where does it sit it is the main it is mainly sits in the body of the person so says the is a reference to a person's body the physical part of who we are and then you have giving of your soul means you're supposed to serve God even if it means giving up your life giving up your soul says says means all of your possessions even if God takes your takes all of your money okay so this P clearly hints to us that we're meant to be to serve God in our body in our so using with our body our soul and all of our M now just the next line says says the Mah each of the three and their times are meant to correspond to us dedicating different aspects of who we are highlighted by each the morning F what does the morning F represent so he says what happens in the morning what is the hardest thing in the morning that represents the hardest thing is getting up in the morning getting up in the morning trying to get up in in aot they call it sh if a person is sleeping he's sleeping in the morning and a person just has this just natural desire to what hit that alarm clock turn right back over and go back to sleep like we all I felt this morning I don't know about you but I felt this morning okay so that is that that so the mour represents the most physical part of man because one of the most physical PS that we have is in the morning to stay sleeping to so the fact that we get up in the morning and the first thing we do is we push ourselves out of bed in order to DAV that is being M we are now get we are now basically giving ourselves to a with our goof just to read it inside one of the most physical things of humans is sleep he says I'll tell you how I know that sleeping is the one of the most physical things that a person can do because according to because when we're sleeping right according to our our NE our soul isn't is is inactive right there's also the that says that our goes up to sh whatever that mean we don't we don't know exactly what that means but it's clear that sleep is a physical activity more than anything more than almost anything else that we do okay and he says I explained that elsewhere [Applause] a person has to fight his Natural Instinct fight his bodily instinct to get up and by doing that by doing first thing in the morning we're being we're committing ourselves to use our body body to serve to serve Hashem so that's continues the we three lines from the bottom in the middle line middle of the line which one would if if I would ask you which one would correspond to there's two left your possessions and your NE which one would would possessions exactly work right more stopping to work it's during the middle of the day what are you you're so busy and you even as somebody who has the privilege to be involved in Jewish communal work you know you think Jewish that's that should be the easiest you're doing Jewish stuff anyway get up but when you're busy when you're when you're accomplishing when you're in the middle of whatever you're doing there's always oh five more minutes I'll go dove in after this or I'll dve in then or I'll dve in that to stop what you're doing certainly if you're in the world of business or in the world of any other kind of profession to stop what you're doing and take time is very very hard and by do and certainly if it might come it a cost to certain people in terms of their business in terms of different activities that they might be able to do they might have to give up on because of doing or certainly doing with a with a minion and through that he is he's using his body he's using his money and and guiding it towards what happens at night you get home it's the end of the day and you're just drained you're physically drained you're emotionally drained you're tired you just had a very accomplished day you're busy you're dealing with your family whatever is going on he's busy and drained from everything he's been dealing with until that until that time what do you want you just want to rest you want to chill you want to sit on your chair and you want to just read the newspaper watch look at your phone relax spend time with f whatever it's going to be and that's that's part of your soul the soul is what is is it causes the activity in the at least the world of the and at night what do you want you want to just rest so to then get up and go out to and D or even just to get up and D wherever you are that requires your NE your soul and that's why say you shouldn't go to sleep at night before you D you tell also ideally you shouldn't eat there is that you're not necessarily supposed to have a even eating dinner before Mar you shouldn't do unless nowadays we say that if you set an alarm clock or if you have a set time that you go to Davin then we're not worri that you're going to forget but it used to be in the times when they didn't have set times they didn't have alarm clocks they would tell you that you weren't allowed to eat e eat your meal until you davened because we were afraid that if you started your meal you you would get distracted and forget to and forget to D by doing this bring your your and therefore says the through a person is now he is giving over to the three main aspects of who he is and that is so that's the explanation of the Mah that these three times correspond to different aspects of who we are that are represented in these three in these three times but there's a number of other interpretations that I thought I believe also can add more significance to these times yes excellent excellent question the answer is the answer is yes that that'll actually be the next class we're not we're gonna actually next week we're not we're going to start doing something onuka but the next class we have on is going to be a discussion about the aspect of you are correct that there is is a whole discussion in the whether Mar is a or a whether it is an obligation or it is just optional right or or in our terminology in our terminology is it just an opportunity or an obligation as we discussed earlier it's an excellent question and and yes we we we'll get into that whole the answer is is that fundamentally thear that it is R it is it is not oblig obligatory but Theon point out that we accept it upon ourselves as a community a as an obligation and therefore now days it is something that we that we kind of take upon ourselves as an obligation but it is separate it is different and in fact you're going to see references to that point as well today as well so it does it is on a different level Marv is certainly on a different level for all the reasons that that you've raised and it's a very good question we'll see in more detail okay Source number three k is a beautiful safer called The Art of Jewish prayer where he also highlights the significance of the specific times of the of the day so I'll read it read it with you again to end to lend more significance to why to why we dve and when we dve in our sages ordained that there are supposed to be that we are supposed to pray three times a day in the morning in the afternoon and in the evening the reason is that we need to include God in our lives at different times throughout the day when we arise in the morning we need to go into the day knowing that each day is a gift which God graciously gives us so there's significance to starting our day with this awareness results in our relating better to people during the course of the day it sets the stage for being ethical in our business and personal dealings and for our being appreciative of what we have once we realize excuse the typo that everything we have is a gift from God we want to dedicate our resources to developing spiritual goals rather than to misusing our resources the whole experience of the day there thereby becomes one in which God is actively involved so Shak says is meant to set the tone it's not just getting up and doing because it's the first time to do it it's the easiest thing to do it's no we do it first because it helps set the toe for what we're trying to accomplish throughout the day it keeps us on the on focused on what is important in the middle of the day second paragraph in Source number three it is easy to get caught up in our ability to create and to control the world that there is a danger that we will forget there is also a God right so the idea of doing it in the middle of the work day is not just so that we so that we uh you know are mishab ourselves but we recognize that everything comes from God while we are busy working it is easy for us to feel that everything we accomplish is due to our efforts alone we are therefore required to pray the afternoon service at a time when we need to drop everything we are doing in order to pray doing this makes a powerful statement that even in the midst of our creativity we recognize that our success and creative abilities are also blessings from God the evening prayer teaches us the concept of faith and belief even if we haven't accomplished everything but we end our day thinking where where did this day go we end our day thinking how much how much more I could have done there's so much more I'd like to do so he says even if we haven't accomplished everything we wish to do there will be new opportunities for accomplish M tomorrow and therefore the three times enable us to take advantage of these times and highlight important aspects and messages that are important for us in our in our daily lives these three critical elements opportunity of the day recognition that our creativity and power are blessings from God and faith help us share our life experiences with God if we prayed only when we felt like it there would be times we would be far removed from prayer right as we've discussed if you only doed when you wanted to many of us would have long ago stopped doing on a consistent basis and who knows what would have happened to and we would not make necessary effort to recognize God's involvement by pushing ourselves to do this three times a day it reminds us of all of these different aspects that are important to our day the next interpretation which which a number of of commentaries um mention is is the one that was highlighted that was mentioned uh last week and they point out to the fact that the three times of the day are not just by coincidence but rather the three times that we do in correspond to the change in I think you would want to mention this last week the change in nature around us that occurs at those moments okay look at the radak the radak in Source number four we we'll see the and then he really he really highlights something that many many say why does the in say we're supposed to the mentions so says the AR represents the transition when we go from the day to the night UB and B is the beginning of the day it's midday why are these the times of a person needs to thank at moments when the reality around us the nature around us begins to change we go from if you want to take for starting with Mar when the day becomes night the next day when the more when night becomes morning and time changes when the the day after midday after when it's less obvious change but there is a shift as we've now gone from the first half of the day shifting to the second half of the day where the sun now go to the other side and begins the process of of setting and in fact this is right to three times that the day that the day as and this is actually based Oni this isn't just something that the radak made up look at source number five where do we get the idea that three times a day it corresponds to the three times that the day changes Al for the people why in the morning we need to thank that he took us out of the darkness and brought us to the light the morning person needs to say thank you just like you gave me the opportunity to see the sun in the East so too I have this to see it also in the in the west what do we say at night just like just at you say just like I was just like I was at you you were able to give me this to go from Darkness to light so too you should take me from Darkness to light again meaning that I should be able to go through the evening and survive the evening and be able to see to see the next day and so this gar just hints to something important which is that the daving times are set to be not just for whatever messages talked about until now they're meant to be at times of change now why would it be times of change what what what what we haven't really discussed here is why why do you think kazal would pattern the timing of to be at times of change when the date shifts any ideas it's okay it's okay no no don't worry yeah background music we got you yes what do you think ah okay interesting okay that's very creative I think if I if I understand what you're suggesting you're you're actually talking at the opposite it was almost that they specifically did these times because there was a buil-in reminder if I understand what you're saying there was a builtin very nice this is it's not necessarily anything significant about those times but rather from a practical perspective from a practical perspective there was a built-in reminder of when to D although midday is a little harder because most of us don't notice when the Sun goes from the from the East to the west but the idea being when things around you are changing that's a reminder kind of like kind of like you know most of us we're looking at the day if we haven't di yet we're looking and we're like wait a second the sun's about to set what there's something I was supposed to do today right and then so although it I I recently unfort I had I had a situation where I was a couple weeks ago I was off schedule whenever you're off schedule the M becomes the hardest and I had a situation where for some reason I looked at the time of my community and I looked at what I thought was the time for was actually the time for Mar this happens also when when the days so short it was like 5:15 it was Mar I thought it said so I walked to sh in the dark not paying attention to the fact that it was dark walked into sh expecting to start and all of a sudden they're starting and only when I walked into sh did I say wait a second so I unfortunately I missed and I had to do what called I had to I had to but it was amazing to me and I think this is the world of phones or the world of just when we get occupied that I walked all the way from my house to sh didn't pay attention to the fact that it was Pitch Black outside and still in my mind thought that I was gonna be only when I got to did I realize that I couldn't so it just shows that if I was sensitive enough to what's going on around me then as you're pointing out I think that's a very creative idea I never heard that before I think that could be that could be yes no so that's an excellent question that's we saw that's we saw last week that we saw last week sax points out that there was something called f it was a very different type of f different model it was much less it was much less defined much less rigid like it is today and Rak at least suggests that there certainly was a concept of like that we know and rak's theory was that was that there was something called fah which was much more spontaneous and and carbon rigid and then when the construction of the BET mikdash F adopted the model of Carbono which making it much more rigid and defined because of what we needed that's that's a good question but that's an interesting idea yes excellent good good meaning we have to remember that if we are spiritually sensitive to the world around us and we pay attention to these things there's constant reminders of a over the place and one of the greatest reminders of that are those moments we go from night to day and day to night if we pay attention to it if we're sensitive to it and therefore it makes a lot of sense that during those times we would be paying it but I I would say it even more than that from a from like a more not philosophical more hasic level one of the most challenging times in people's lives are moments of transition okay and moments of transition whatever transition that's going to be from whatever was going to happen in lives and and I'm seeing this as as a parent of young children who are now getting older and even transition going to high school certain things like you know all transitions going from this school to that school this and that the transitions are are challenging for us and when are we generally tend to reach out to and yearn that Comfort is during those moments of transition so it could be that symbolically more than what you're saying which I believe is correct as well what K are highlighting here is is that when are the most appropriate and the most powerful times for when we go through those transitions that we don't even necessarily notice on on a daily basis and you know even as young children when when daytime turns into night for some young kids that itself is a transition that is hard for them night time is scarier night time is different when you begin your day in the morning it's a different type of emotion that is that that that that that is evoked and so I think perhaps what kazal are also doing is just highlighting that symbolically moments of transition are the are the times when we're going to naturally turn to the most and that could be why they established the the then if you look at source number six sorry yes absolutely absolutely I think that's that's I think that's what's heting that's what he's highlighting as well meaning exactly what Kazar are trying to to encourage us to do is number one symbolically recognize the power of transition but number two they're saying pay attention to what's going on around you look around when should you be doing at moments of change that happen on a daily basis that the mo the world shifting from night to morning and morning to night are moments of transition that you should be paying attention to if we were were acute and aware of our surroundings if I wasn't you know so I I don't know what I was doing when I was walking the show that evening but chances are was probably on my phone catching up on something very important and the fact that I could walk throughout that time in the pitch black and still think I'm to me was just symbolic of a lack of sensitivity and awareness to what's going on around us and the rabbis are saying no those are the moments that you need to be paying attention to those are the moments that you need to be walking without without without without whatever devices you have and just paying attention to the world around you and using that as a recognition of yes yes absolutely absolutely 100% so if you look at source number six picks up on the same idea of transition from time to time and what he does is he beautifully tries to connect it to the length of the source number six the way that the world is every part of the the the day is divided into two parts you have the morning so first he's saying even just daytime not just between day and night even daytime is divided into the morning and we know as the afternoon says wait a second there's something we forgot here we said that there were three corresponding to the beginning of the day the middle of the day the beginning of the night but there's another one what's the fourth one there's a fourth part to this cycle to this 24-hour cycle which is the middle of the night what about the middle of the night which we're going to get to that there actually is a special that was established that only certain people say known as okay so by the way see understanding that this is based on the shifting of the days helps us understand where other things come into to play as well so then he says even night time is divided into two he says and each of these the way that they are established and defined has to do with when they fall out and the need for tapping into the spiritual resources of that time and he explains what he means the third line on Source number six towards the end of the lineu corresponding to the two parts of daytime they established and the fourth line and Source number six what happens in the morning that's when the world becomes alive the shefa all of what were meant to happen in the world that's supposed to come down into the world all the spiritual resources that are meant to become at the beginning of the day when do they come down into the world in the beginning of the day it's a day of awake Awakening a day of a new beginning a day a day of becom a time of becoming enlightened and everything coming down because that is the time when everything the world is now becoming is beginning a new in the morning that's why you have the longest because that is when you're tapping in to all the spiritual resources that are coming into the world to begin your day the second part of the day which is coming only five few hours after why is so short says the because isn't by itself is really just a quick reminder of everything we already did when in the morning so we dve in the morning that's when we're supposed to start the day with the long F to tap into the spirituality of the beginning of the day and then we just need a little bit of a quick reminder by the way don't forget about all those important things and therefore we have that's when that's when the shift in the day is the smallest or the shift within the the cycle is the smallest and therefore we need something small one second I'll get to your question or comment and therefore that's why it's the it's the small at night since at night time the shift from the day end of the day to the beginning of the evening is a bigger shift and we're further from our first since we're entering the night time there's a bigger shift than there was Midday between the afternoon and morning he says this why is mar longer than but still shorter than shakar because on the one hand there's a bigger TR Trans in from the end of the day to the night time than there is but it's still you still have some of the power of shakar you're still building off of shakar and therefore at Mar they have they have sh it's longer but it still doesn't but it but it still builds off of shakar and that he explains is why we have the length of the the that we have yes ah excellent so good what we are going to see soon uh we are going to see soon is that is that a number of other we haven't gone to that yet but some of the other interpretations are going not specifically that exact point but there are a number of interpretation that fascinatingly try to connect each of the in their times to as you just pointed out the aot and we're going to get to that we're goingon to get to that very shortly but yes exactly meaning there is some there's more symbolism here than than we're even suggesting so we saw here from the raal is not just that we're tapping into the change of the time of the day uh but we're tapping but basically the length of each of the correspond to which time it falls out and he then goes on to talk about and he adds that there's something else called which is another that's mid that's added at midnight but because most people wouldn't be able to handle getting up in the middle of the night it only became something that that that certain do have the to do but it's but it's fascinating to see where fits in with the framework of the that we the that we have that we have today it's not just I've always thought T is like just this random thing that like in the middle of the night we like to see it as part of the framework is an important is an important thing is an important thing as well interestingly enough in Source number seven the notes that that the language as we now we now begin connecting it to the aot as you as you started to do if you look at the G and Source number seven he also notes that this corresponds to the changes of the day but he points out that if you look at the language in the of theim when the aod introduce each of the they correspond to the time of day you'll see what I mean in one second Source number seven day is divided into day and night and the day itself is divided also he says is not divided even though we saw that according to some sources it is divided but then he says these are the three since the morning is a time of renewal it's when you're getting up it's when our souls are returned to our body therefore what the when the P describes aavak what does the P say because the the the description ofak is getting up standing up being a part of what we're of what we're doing and that corresponds to what about the it's when we're moving we're doing we're doing everything we're moving and shaking it's when we're in business we're constantly the move what's the language thek uses for when he describes it it says went out to to highlight the fact that is DAV during a time of movement and laa at night that's when weav who's that's when we are resting and the P says when it describes developing the it says and he rested there so the gr already is pointing out that the language in theim are already highlight fting and corresponding to the different to the different fot what I want to just do with the last little bit of time we have left is to see a number of of wonderful sources well that as I said don't just try to explain why we Dove and when we dovein but make a number of suggestions as to how they connect to the aote that established each of them as we know the famous in we've done a number of times said suggests that each of the aot established one of the established established and yov established established maav Mar excuse me Dr Ellie monk has a beautiful book called The World of prayer and in this book he he tries to connect well first actually before that first he tries to suggest again uh points out the connection between the moment the times of change in the and then later he'll get to the to the aot source number eight the fact that prayers are each tied to certain hours of the day requires further explanation as the yit points out in his S no other hours are better better fitted to turn the souls and minds of men towards God than the hours of sunrise and sunset as many of us have been talking have mentioned today at Sunrise nature as if touched by a magic word Springs to life in rejuvenated Splendor man refreshed by new strength and vigor filled with the courage and will to live takes up his appointed task once more at sundown on the other hand when the veil of darkness is spread over nature and man all that breathes and trusts its fate in the hand of the omnipotent Creator thus the morning the hours of the morning and evening arouse differing moods in the heart of man for the day L for the day Le lays the terrestrial world at the foot of man he's a free person his energy and initiative Master the world around him but the night throws him the terrestrial Lord of creation into the chains of Earthly world so he's pointing out how the day is the sense of freedom and at night we feel almost limited we feel mbal as we say as we say as we say in Hebrew um um at sundown on the on the other end when the veil of darkness is spread over nature and man all that breath and trust and Fai in the hand of the inited Creator thus the mornings sorry excuse me I lost I lost my place the second paragraph the day is the period of independence of activity the night is the time for him to yield become passive and dependent night and darkness are not merely natural phenomena they are also metaphors most commonly used to describe status of spiritual and physical bondage the most complete dependence that can be set nations in man indeed this is interesting look at the way he does this the morning and evening services and their entire content correspond to these character istics the morning as the beginning the time of excitement the time of Rejuvenation whereas nighttime is a time more of of limitation he says if you look at theot themselves the way theot are patterned they mention this the morning prayer in its entirety Bears the imprint of gratitude for Liberation from the grasp of night in its first part we offer the blessings of Rejuvenation of body and soul which is the beak how we start theot then follow the jubilating chants G glorified in the spender of nature which is p zimra finally in the sh and its culminating in historical reflections of the thankfulness for the Redemption of Israel from the dark Galos night what's unique about shakaris he says is that shakaris its fundamental theme is one of thanks one of thanking for freeing us from the from the from the from the night time the darkness of the night and bringing us now into the moment of of uh of Freedom exactly but but he's pointing out that it's much it's it's the first thing we do but it's also ever presentes in the themes entirely especially in this last portion the difference in character between the morning and evening shows up very clearly this actually very very interesting he says if you look after shma the paragraph that begins right after shma in the morning is and we thank we're praising and thanking him what what do we say at after we don't start with we say the focus isn't on thanks the focus is on faith why because a person's mentality is different in the morning than it is at night in the morning we're full of thanks we're full of Rejuvenation we're full of excitement in the night time as we begin to enter the time of Darkness what do we need to rely on what do we need to hold on to our faith okay as the famous P says in the morning and morning doesn't just mean literally in the morning it's symbolic of morning which is when things are clear when things are as clear as day then in the morning we can talk about God's goodness we when we're able to see things as clear as day then we can praise Hashem and thank hasem and that's the morning fot what do we need at night at night which represents not just physical night but represents a time when there's darkness in the world when things are not clear to us when we have trouble understanding things what do we hold on to holding on to our Amun and says and he says the same thing is that's what the that's why in we have it's full of thanks and at night we have that's what he says he says over here just skipping to the to the to the fin to the next paragraph Rashi and tovot explained the statement in the following way the paragraph recited in the morning has reference only to the mercy shown by God to our fathers in the past leading them out of Egypt dividing the Sea on the other hand the evening section points to future events to the faith of that God will keep his promise and his trust and free us from the power of tyrants and oppressors that he will sustain us in our lives and let us overcome our enemies Etc thus the Divine Mercy is the main idea underlying the morning prayer the blessing specifically set for the morning go hints at this on the other handun the Faithful is shown To Us by God during all of the nights of Our Lives is the motif of the evening and finds expression in the bra characteristic of the night which is the of is the theme shakaris is one of excitement and thanks and hope whereas the theme of Marv is one ofuna resting on our and belief in however says there was one problem with this with this Theory this only dealt with which two Shak what's missing so says continues however these considerations ignore the third prayer the of the afternoon the simple contrast between the morning and evening proves inadequate to take it into account a more detailed enquiry is necessary the prayers of the three Patriarchs offer us a starting point according to tradition aam inaugurated the morning prayer Isaac the Min Jacob the evening the Earthly fate of each of them closely corresponds to each of these three times of the day he says if you look at each of the aote their lives correspond to the time of day of the that they established Abraham's life was like the Rising Sun he says that waxes ever brighter blessed with abundant success in all his undertak he stood alone facing the entire world and summoning it to the altar of One and Only God yet he was never envied nor hated but highly revered Asim if you look at A's life a was highly successful and as we see from this conversation with he was inim he was recognized by those around him for everything he had done Isaac and therefore therefore corresponds to the mourning of Hope of excitement during Isaac's life the light begins to grow dimmer the son which had shown for his father had passed the Zenith and had begun to descend isolated in account of his Walking with God he was greeted only with Envy by his contemporaries for the Divine blessings he received he had to withdraw from himself and his household if you follow isak's life it mirrors many much of Abraham's life but without much of the success that Abraham had although he was materially successful but in terms of his impact and the way people looked at him he had much less of an impact and he had meant much more people were looking at him in a different way and as he points out the phrase Ker Z which was said to aam really began when did when did when did when did the when did aam's Offspring begin to become the other started really with Y doesn't didn't just start in in MIM as K point out finally with Yakov the Shadows Of Night Clos in his entire life was a con concatenation of trials and tribulations right Yakov was constantly on the Run constantly being tricked constantly fighting scared and running away from people only in fleeting moments did he experience the joy of life yet all three Patriarchs much as their lives differed differed and this is the key found the way back to God In Prayer each of them despite having different life experiences they each found a way to beaking a and they wereing that at the time that corresponded to how their life was mirrored they left us their Heritage to us the means of elevating ourselves to God from the most Divergent times of life when the Rays of morning roused all to life when the waning of the sun turns to Earnest self-contemplation and when the night summons us to Rally our thoughts towards God we'll just finish with this paragraph thus the Jew begins his day in the morning his heart filled with gratitude for the vitality and the Vigor which God's has restored to him following the model of abam just before the day dies when his daily work is done man stands before God to render an account in prayer what we called din which represents y finally when night closes in he prays that the merciful god Grant him protection until the morning and that is from yov the Divine governing principles of Love Justice and mercy are thus like shining stars shred shredding their light sorry shredding their light over the daily life of Jew making turning his eyes heavenward in joyous gratitude which is Shak Earnest self-examination M and in steadfast trust in in Mar and I brought for you here one other one which you can you're welcome to look at uh on your own um this is really was based off of Ru cook Ru cook is a beautiful um um commentary on that GAR that quotes the gar that the aot established the filot and he points out how each of the aote in who they were correspond to the that they that they established and I brought for you actually a summary that was brought by Rabbi AR Aon Golder who's the editor of Torah tidbits and uh in his in the actual Torah tidbits he he has a beautiful summary of this because of Cook's language could be very hard to understand and he and he summarizes it beautifully I encourage you to to look at it what we've seen today is basically try to understand not just where it comes from the idea of do where where the idea of do three three timesday comes from but rather to have a deeper understanding of why those times the day and the messages that we could learn from where K established these these just to just mention in the next couple of weeks as we lead up to kanuka I want to spend a take a break from our uh daily weekly schedule and do a little bit more discussing some of theot of kanuka we'll discuss hopefully Alim next week and then after that maybe will hopefully be a way to uh to gain more understanding for the for the upcoming of kanuk have a wonderful week everybody e