There is a Possuk in this week’s Parsha that states: וַיִּקַח מִּן הַבָּא בְיָּדוֹ מִּנְחָּה גוֹ׳ “And he took from what came into his hand a gift ...”
It is explained at length in Chassidus in the published Maamorim, (and also in one of the manuscripts of Chassidus which has recently come to light) that all the Korbonos and all the prayers (which were established in place of the Korbonos) are referred to by the word ‘Mincha’.
The reason for this is because the Avodah of performing Korbonos and the Avodah of prayer are Avodahs of an upward direction ‘from down here to up above.
The virtues of prayer (and of Korbonos) are greater than the virtues of Torah study and Mitzvah performance. This is so because by studying Torah we cause a drawing down (a Hamshocha) of G-dliness from above to the person and to this world below. This is due to the Torah being the Divine wisdom of HaKodosh Boruch Hu. When a person studies the Torah truthfully it is as the Possuk states אִּמְרָּתֶךָ לְשׁוֹנִּי תַעַן “My tongue will proclaim Your word,” [meaning] that the person responds and repeats the words of HaKodosh Boruch Hu.
And even regarding Mitzvos where the primary intent of their existence is that the person shall do them, still the Avodah in performing the Mitzvah is the fulfilment of a Divine commandment from HaKodosh Boruch Hu.
However, should a person perform a deed of his own volition which HaKodosh Boruch Hu did not command him to do, but which he considers to be a Mitzvah, then he is committing a transgression of ‘Baal Tosef’.
Whereas, prayer (and similarly Korbonos) are about the prayer and supplications of the person and they are specifically for things that the person is lacking.
And even though prayer is also a Mitzvah, the object of this Mitzvah is that the person beseeches HaShem for his own issues. Since prayer is an Avodah from below to above, it has the virtue of that which the Possuk states: לְמַעֲשֵׂה יָּדֶיךָ תִּכְסֹף “You desire the work of Your handiwork.” It is because of this that prayer reaches a place above, which is even higher than the place from which a Hamshocha and Divine revelation is drawn [down] from above to below [through the study of Torah and the performance of Mitzvos].
Therefore, every prayer is called a מִּנְחָּה which itself is an acronym [explained] as follows: the מ״ן stands for מַיִּן נוּקְבִּין alluding to elevating the feminine waters from below to above; then the letter ח׳ stands for the number eight because the arousal which is instigated below reaches the eighth Mazal. This is a supernal lofty Divine level which is higher than our whole Seder Hishtalshelus and from there the Divine light flows down through the final letter ה׳ which corresponds to the lower Hey of HaShem’s holy Tetragrammaton, symbolising the supernal Sefirah of Malchus which is the root and source whence all creations emanate. It is through ‘Malchus’ that this Divine light continues further down into the lower spiritual worlds of ‘Briyah’, ‘Yetzirah’ and ‘Asiyah’ until it descends into the material world parallel to the world of ‘Asiyah’ the physical world, so that the light can become a healer and a sustainer.
BEIS
Even though every prayer is called ‘Minchah’, the fact that the afternoon service is specifically called ‘Minchah’ suggests that the primary aspect of a מִּנְחָּ״ה [which is the elevation and elicitation from below to above and the subsequent Hamshocha of Divine light from above the ‘Seder Hishtalshelus’ to the very lowest place] applies primarily to the afternoon ‘Minchah’ prayer. This is why our Sages of blessed memory state; “One must always be vigilant regarding the afternoon ‘Minchah’ prayer, as Eliyohu HaNovi’s prayer was only answered at the time of the afternoon ‘Minchah’ prayer.”
The explanation for this is as follows: due to the fact that the Shacharis prayer comes at the beginning of the day, before a person engages with and becomes preoccupied in worldly matters. And the ‘Maariv’ prayer is at the end of the day after one has already come away from the work day dealing with worldly matters, by contrast however, the ‘Minchah’ prayer comes right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of involvement in worldly matters and yet, without looking at ones dealings and concerns, one tears oneself away from them and Davens ‘Minchah’. Therefore, this Avodah is the primary aspect of the elevation of the feminine waters.
This also explains the reason why there is an opinion that holds (even to the extent of practical halachah) that the prayer of ‘Minchah’ specifically corresponds - not to the ‘Korbonos’ as ‘Shacharis’ and ‘Maariv’ - but to the offering of ‘Ketores’ as the Possuk states: תְפִּלָּתִּי תִּכּוֹן קְטֹרֶת לְפָּנֶיךָ מַשְאַת כַּפַי מִּנְחַת עָּרֶב “My prayer shall be established like incense before You, the lifting of my hands as the evening offering.”
The Ketores and Its Spiritual Significance
The matter is as follows: One of the several differences between ‘Korbonos’ and ‘Ketores’ is that any Korbon must only come from a kosher source that is spiritually refined through being a Korbon. Whereas the Ketores also included non-kosher ingredients symbolising the refinement of the Sholosh klipos Hat’me’os.
It is for this reason that the Ketores offering reaches higher than the Korbonos offerings (and as mentioned earlier that both these aspects are interdependent upon each other). This is why the Korbonos are called food, as the Possuk states: לְאִּשַּׁי לַחְמִּי קָּרְבָּנִּי אֶת “My offering, My food for My fire” whereas, ‘Ketores’ is only called רֵיח ַ which is scent, because scent reaches ‘higher’ inside a person than does his food. So, too, [is this mirrored] above in holiness as has been explained in several places.
The virtue of scent over food is also discernible by the fact that food enters via the mouth which symbolises a gate to the external dimension of one’s intellect, whereas scent enters via the nose, which is higher and symbolises a gate by which to reach the inner dimension of intellect.
And although the Korbonos are also referred to as רֵׂיחַ נִּיחֹחִּי “A scent of satisfaction for Me” [For since Korbonos are generally about elevating the feminine waters, and are called ‘Minchah’, therefore they are incorporated as a scent] there are however, several levels within scent itself viz. the scent of the Korbonos; the scent of the daily Ketores offering (every day in the Heichal) which is associated with the right nostril; [also] the scent of the Yom Kippur ‘Ketores’ offering (in the Kodesh Kodoshim) which is associated with the left nostril.
