In this week’s parsha the pasuk says: “vayetzei Yitzchok lasuach b’sade” – Yitzchok Avinu went out to daven in the field toward the evening. From this pasuk we learn that Yitzchok Avinu instituted the tefillah of mincha. Rav Meir Shapiro in sefer Imrei Daas says that tefillas mincha is very different than shachris and maariv. The gemora in brachos says a person should be very careful to daven mincha because Eliyahu Hanavi was only answered because of mincha. We see that there is something special about mincha.
In the morning, a person wakes up after a night’s sleep and feels relaxed. It’s before the hustle and bustle of the day and so his mind is not yet occupied, his emotions are still calm and at ease. Therefore, it’s relatively easy to daven shachris with proper kavana. The same is true about maariv. Even if you had a hard day, now the day is over and business is closed for the day. So, you can relax because your difficult day has come to an end and your mind is now free to concentrate on tefillas maariv. However, by mincha it’s different; you are davening right in middle of the day. You are taking time off of your hectic schedule, even if it’s in middle of an important business meeting. Shekiah is approaching and you stop short and make the time for tefillas mincha. So, your thoughts are not totally blocked out, your mind may still be racing, and it’s hard to have kavana. To daven mincha with kavana you have to block out your thoughts and overpower them in order to concentrate properly. Simply put, it takes much more effort to daven mincha with kavana than shachris or maariv. Mincha is a tefilla that a person is mekadesh his gashmiyos because it’s in middle of his business world.
“Vayeitze Yitzchok lasuach b’sade”, basade, when a person is in the middle of the field, in middle of plowing, and he stops in order to daven. That means he is sanctifying the field; the gashmiyos gets elevated through his tefillas mincha. He’s rising above his thoughts and worries about his daily business and instead focuses on connecting to Hashem. And that’s why tefillas mincha is so precious and chashuv to Hashem.
Rav Don Segal once visited Rav Shneur Kotler before his petira. Rav Don told Rav Shneur the following vort from parshas Vayeishev. Rashi says “bikesh Yaakov leisheiv b’shalva” – Yaakov Avinu wanted to live in peace. But Hashem said, “it’s not enough that tzadikim are getting olam haba that they are asking for peace in this world as well?” So Hashem gave him the nisyonos of Yosef. Asks Rav Don, couldn’t Hashem allow Yaakov Avinu a little peace in this world as well? Furthermore, the whole reason why Yaakov Avinu wished for peace was to have the ability and peace of mind to serve Hashem better. As a proof, during the years that he thought that Yosef was killed, he mourned deeply and lost his nevuah. If so, why shouldn’t tzadikim be granted peace is this world to serve Hashem in the ultimate way?
Says Rav Don: Hashem said to Yaakov Avinu “I have more nachas from your struggles to serve Me without nevuah than from your high madreiga of Avodah through peace of mind and nevuah. Your Torah and tefilla under these difficult conditions are more chashuv to me than all the big madreigos you are able to reach with nevuah”. To serve Hashem when things are smooth is no great accomplishment.
Rav Shneur responded with a story about a chasid who once came to his Rebbe crying that he wasn’t able to daven with a minyan every day as he lived alone in the forest and his livelihood was chopping wood. He asked the Rebbe to give him a bracha that he should have the opportunity to daven with a minyan. The rebbe told him, “how do you know that Hashem wants you to daven with a minyan? Maybe He derives more satisfaction from your wanting to daven with a minyan even though you can’t”. When things aren’t so easy and smooth and still we push ourselves to overcome the challenges, that gives true nachas to Hashem. And that’s the power of tefillas mincha.
It was Motzei Yom Kippur and the Chozeh of Lublin offered his chassidim, “If you’d like, I can tell you what you davened for this year.” One chassid took up on the offer, and the Chozeh told him, “You davened for an easier parnasah so you would have more time to daven and learn Torah. The way things are, you are toiling from morning until night just to feed your family, leaving barely one hour late at night to learn. By then you are so tired that you can barely concentrate. So you begged Hashem to make matters easier for you so you can dedicate more time for your ruchniyus.” The chassid was amazed. “The Rebbe is right!” he cried, “that’s exactly what I davened for! Now, can the Rebbe please tell me what Hashem answered”? The Chozeh replied, “Hashem said no”. “But why?” demanded the chassid, “I only want to serve Him better! Why would Hashem deny me that?” The Chozeh explained, “the nachas ruach that Hashem gets from your one hour of struggling to learn is worth far more than many more hours of learning peacefully.” Indeed, we have no way of knowing just how precious our avodas Hashem is specifically when it’s a struggle and a challenge.
With this in mind, we should embrace the challenges and struggles that come our way, as they elevate our avodas Hashem to tremendous levels. And each day, as shekiah approaches and we must stop short and carve out time for tefillas mincha, let’s remember the awesome power of this prayer. Specifically now, in middle of our hectic schedules, we struggle to clear our brains from the mundane and make the effort to concentrate on tefillas mincha. How precious is this tefillah to Hashem! And how precious this tefillah should be to us as well!
