Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov all have a prayer that is associated with each one of them. Avraham's is Shacharit-the morning prayer, Yitzchak's prayer is Mincha-the afternoon prayer, and Yaakov's is Maariv, the evening prayer. In class we discussed why these prayers are associated with the Avot. In the morning when we say Shacharit it is easy to see G-d. This is considered 'Avraham's prayer' because he was the first person to see G-d in everything around him. Avraham was a visionary and was the first to discover G-d's presence, so too Shacharit is the first prayer of the day in which we can see G-d's presence in the world. Yitzchak's prayer is Mincha. One opinon as to why Yitzchak is associated to this prayer is because Yitzchak was out praying in the middle of the day when he first met Rivkah. Another reason is that Yitzchak was stable and grounded. He never lost sight of G-d's presence in the world. Mincha is in the middle of the day so we can stop in the middle of a busy day when it is easy to forget to thank G-d for what He does for us, and pray to Him. Yaakov's prayer Maariv is said at night when all is dark and murky and it is hard to see G-d's presence. At night we are confused and unclear about our plans or our beliefs. Yaakov was constantly unclear about his role in life. He occasionally needed a push from G-d or others in the right direction.
In the past week we have read over ten Perakim in which Yosef is the main character. We read about the events that took place in his lifetime, from the day he had a dream till the day he died. Throughout these Perakim Yosef's most notable virtue that I noticed is his dedication and commitment to G-d. Yosef was thrown into a pit by his own brothers and sold. He ended up in Egypt and was even thrown into jail. There are times in his life when the majority of people would start losing faith in G-d and wondering where He is. Yosef does no such thing. His belief in G-d never falters.One way he proves this is when he names his sons. Yosef named his first son Menashe because Hashem helped him forget his father’s house and named his second son Ephraim because Hashem made him fruitful in the land of his affliction. Yosef is not one of the Avot for many reasons, but if he were he would need a prayer to be associated with (He wouldn't really need one, but in this post he does). I would associate Yosef with benching. When we bench we thank G-d for the food he has given us just like Yosef thanked G-d for the advantages and privileges G-d blessed him with in Egypt. Also, it takes a dedicated Jew to bench after every meal. Many Orthodox Jews cannot find the time or simply forget to bench after meals. It takes real dedication and commitment to G-d to remember to thank G-d after meals. There are many reasons and obstacles that can prevent a person from remembering to bench, daven, or do any mitzvah (I just happened to have picked benching to compare him to), but Yosef was able to not be influenced by his surroundings or be discouraged by his unfortunate situation. He was able to continue believing in G-d and thanking G-d when something positive happened in his life.
100%?
Please?
It would make my dreams come true.
Wow Alyssa... That was a great connection you made... I actually never would have thought of bentching (I probably never would have thought of giving Yosef a tefilah in the first place), but I would thing if we were to associate someone with bentching and someone with Maariv, Yaakov and Yosef would be switched. Yaakov was very FRUITFUL and had a huge family, thus the connection to the bracha for after we eat, and Yosef was stuck in the middle of Mitzrayim for most of his life. That would have to be even worse than when Yaakov was with Lavan as far as murkiness goes. Yes, Yaakov was stuck in a house with Avodah Zarah and other immoral things going on, but at least he COULD have left if he really wanted to (as he ended up doing). Yosef on the other hand, had no choice in the matter, and had to stay there against his will. You could say that being there against his will made it easier for him to resist the Egyptian culture and religion, but after a while that would have to have gone away. He was there for TWENTY years and yet he didn't lose focus on what was important and he continued to believe in Hashem and do the right thing.
ReplyDelete