Vayeitzei: Sunday: The Evening Prayer

*Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh*
*Vayeitzei: Sunday: The Evening Prayer*
_“And he impacted upon the place and he slept there, for the sun had set”_. From this verse our Sages say that Jacob enacted the evening prayer. The Talmud says “The evening prayer is optional”. The morning and afternoon prayers are obligatory, while the evening prayer depends upon the will of the person.

Daylight is likened to clear and bright recognition of G-d’s light. In the daylight, a person can concentrate his thoughts and intention on the presence of G-d and say, “Blessed are You”… But when evening ( _erev_ in Hebrew) falls, everything becomes mixed up (mitarbev in Hebrew, the same root as erev, evening), darkness covers the earth and a person enters into his own self and doesn’t see G-d. This world is likened to night – particularly when one deals with mundane, optional matters, like one’s livelihood, for example. (This is what Jacob is on his way to accomplish).

 In the *optional* realm, it is difficult to demand of a person to turn to G-d. After all, he is in a distant place that seems like a space void of Divine Presence, bereft of Torah and commandments. For this reason, the evening prayer is *optional*.

But wondrously, the Nation of Israel accepted the evening prayer as an obligation and this is the Halachic ruling. We are the children of Jacob, who also prays from amidst the darkness. We find G-d in the midst of our mundane and optional matters, as well. As Jacob said, “There is G-d in this place.”

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