The following excerpt from the Babylonian Talmud is taken from a discussion amongst the Rabbis about the instruction to pray three times a day. They derive an answer from biblical verses that describe the prayerful actions of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
A note about Rabbinic logic as you navigate this text:
They compare the actions of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to other moments in biblical texts in which a same key-word is used to indicate someone is praying. This is a rabbinic technique of meaning-making.
(תַּנְיָא כְּווֹתֵיהּ דְּרַבִּי יוֹסֵי בְּרַבִּי חֲנִינָא, וְתַנְיָא כְּווֹתֵיהּ דְּרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי. תַּנְיָא כְּווֹתֵיהּ דְּרַבִּי יוֹסֵי בְּרַבִּי חֲנִינָא:) אַבְרָהָם תִּקֵּן תְּפִלַּת שַׁחֲרִית, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וַיַּשְׁכֵּם אַבְרָהָם בַּבֹּקֶר אֶל הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר עָמַד שָׁם״, וְאֵין ״עֲמִידָה״ אֶלָּא תְּפִלָּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וַיַּעֲמֹד פִּינְחָס וַיְפַלֵּל״.
...Abraham instituted the morning prayer, as it is stated when Abraham came to look out over Sodom the day after he had prayed on its behalf: “And Abraham rose early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord” (Genesis 19:27), and from the context as well as the language utilized in the verse, the verb standing means nothing other than prayer, as this language is used to describe Pinehas’ prayer after the plague, as it is stated: “And Pinehas stood up and prayed and the plague ended” (Psalms 106:30). Clearly, Abraham was accustomed to stand in prayer in the morning.
Isaac instituted the afternoon prayer, as it is stated: “And Isaac went out to converse [lasuaḥ] in the field toward evening” (Genesis 24:63), and conversation means nothing other than prayer, as it is stated: “A prayer of the afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint [siḥo] before the Lord” (Psalms 102:1).
Beyond instructing us on when to pray (morning, mid-day, and evening), what do you discover about HOW to pray?
How does this text relate to your own experience of prayer?
How does this text, or your own relationship to or questions about daily prayer, impact your approach to climate activism?
Praying three times a day is a meaningful instruction for many Jews throughout history and in today's world... and yet, what about prayer that is not bound by time, but by circumstance?
There are many discussions of this found throughout rabbinic literature. I am choosing to direct us to a poignant scene from last week's Torah portion centered on Miriam and the women instead.
We turn to a poignant moment in the book of Exodus. Immediately after crossing the parted sea and discovering the Israelites have made it safely to the other side, Miriam and the women burst out in praise:
What do you learn about prayer from the actions of Miriam and the women?
What do you imagine their emotional state was when they burst out into dance- were they expressing joy, releasing fear, etc?
How might this text, or your own reflections on spontaneous prayer, impact your approach to climate activism?
The Jerusalem Talmud connects the instruction to pray three times each day with the cycles of the sun. This text is less concerned with finding biblical roots or basis for prayer. Its focus is how the natural cycle of the sun, of darkness and light, might impact us.
Translation by Tzvee Zahavy (shared with me by Koach Baruch Frazier)
ומאיכן למדו ג' תפילות רבי שמואל בר נחמני אמר כנגד ג' פעמים שהיום משתנה על הבריות
Whence did they derive the [obligation to recite daily] three prayers? R. Samuel bar Nahmani said, “They parallel the three changes people undergo each day.
[B]
בשחר צריך לאדם לומר מודה אני לפניך ה' אלהי ואלהי אבותי שהוצאתני מאפילה לאורה
“In the morning a person must say, ‘I give thanks, Lord, my God and God of my fathers, for you have brought me forth from darkness into light!’
[C]
במנחה צריך אדם לומר מודה אני לפניך ה' אלהי ואלהי אבותי כשם שזכיתני לראות החמה במזרח כך זכיתי לראות
“In the afternoon a person must say, ‘I give thanks to you, Lord, my God and God of my fathers, for just as I have merited seeing the sun [rise] in the east, now may I merit seeing it [set] in the west.’
[D]
במערב בערב צריך לומר יהי רצון מלפניך ה' אלהי ואלהי אבותי כשם שהייתי באפילה והוצאתני לאורה כך תוציאני מאפילה לאורה
“In the evening he must say, ‘May it be thy will, Lord, my God and God of my fathers, that just as I have been in darkness before and you have brought me forth to light, so shall you once again bring me forth from darkness to light.’"