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Teaching · Parshas Vayetzei

Davening in the dark: Maariv

Tefillah Torah learning

A teaching ofYaakov Avinuיעקב אבינוProfile ›

Chazal teach that each of the Avos established one of the daily tefillos: Avraham, Shacharis; Yitzchak, Mincha; and Yaakov, Maariv. The source is the verse "Vayifga bamakom," he encountered the place, as the sun set. Rashi explains that vayifga is a word for tefillah, and that the sun set early so that Yaakov would stay the night. The Gemara adds that Yaakov had already passed the place and reached Charan when he said to himself: could I have passed the place where my fathers davened and not davened there myself? He turned back, and the road was shortened for him. Maariv is the tefillah of a person alone on the road at nightfall, far from home and unsure of what lies ahead, and it was founded by Yaakov on his way into exile.

Source: Berachos 26b; Rashi on Bereishis 28:11; Chullin 91b

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