Parshas Chayei Sarah 5787 - "And Yitzchok went out to meditate in the field" - the preciousness of the Mincha prayer

00:00 The Frierdiker Rebbe relates in a work called “Avos HaChassidus.” It is a long account that the Frierdiker Rebbe wrote at the time, and it was published in Kovetz Hatamim. This was a journal printed in Poland before World War II, and eight issues came out. It is filled with sichos, accounts, letters, and episodes from the history of the chassidim. One lengthy account appeared there in installments, a section in each issue, and in its final section he tells this story. The Frierdiker Rebbe says he heard it from the chossid Reb Gershon Ber, one of the older chassidim, who had the privilege of being with the Mitteler Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe Maharash, and the Rebbe Rashab. The Frierdiker Rebbe knew him toward the end of his life and heard many stories from him. Among them, Reb Gershon Ber told of a chossid named Reb Yitzchak Shul, who had been with the Alter Rebbe. He was among the Alter Rebbe’s earliest chassidim and had known him back in Liozna—that is, in the Alter Rebbe’s early years, before he became a Rebbe. The story goes on to tell what happened at the end of Reb Yitzchak’s life. It is very interesting how he describes every detail. The chossid was [unclear],

01:30 a great chossid, and he had reached the end of his life. He knew—though how he knew when it would happen is remarkable, since no one knows the time appointed for him—but Reb Yitzchak Shul felt that his final moments had arrived, and he prepared himself. He called for the chassidim and asked them to come, the chassidim from the town, from the village where he was staying with his son or grandson. He asked [unclear] that everyone come, and said that he was about to pass away. This was on the eve of 24 Teves. The 24th of Teves is the day of the Alter Rebbe’s passing. It was the day before, and he said he was leaving this world on the eve of a Yom Tov. As he put it: “It’s the eve of Yom Tov, and I want to be with the Rebbe on Yom Tov.” He asked to be buried as quickly as possible so that he could go through everything one has to go through—the judgment and all the other matters—and then, on 24 Teves, he could already sit at a farbrengen with the Alter Rebbe. The Frierdiker Rebbe’s description of everything he heard, everything Gershon Ber told him about this chossid, is rich in detail. Among other things, he relates that Reb Yitzchak Shul felt very unwell that day. The chassidim had not yet arrived, and he davened; he wanted to manage one more,

03:05 one more prayer, and the time for Mincha arrived. When it was time for Mincha, Reb Yitzchak Shul said, “I want to manage one more Mincha.” It was still early, but he davened anyway, saying, “I want to manage one more Mincha,” before—before what would indeed be his very last prayer. Immediately after Mincha, he said “Shema Yisroel” and passed away. And before davening Mincha, he had said, “I want to manage one more Mincha.” He told the chassidim who had gathered in the room that he wanted to repeat a teaching he had been privileged to hear from the Alter Rebbe when he was in [unclear], when the Alter Rebbe came to live in Liozna. In other words, this was many years earlier, when the Alter Rebbe first arrived in Liozna and settled there. It was after the passing of the Maggid of Mezritch and after the episode that took place, [unclear], before the Alter Rebbe decided to settle in Liozna. I don’t know exactly what year it was. At any rate, he said this happened [unclear] when the Alter Rebbe arrived in Liozna, and that it was one of the first teachings the Alter Rebbe delivered there—a teaching he had heard from the Maggid of Mezritch, with many details. The teaching was about the Gemara’s statement: “A person should always take care to daven Mincha.” And this is

04:31 the well-known Gemara, which says: “A person should always take care to daven Mincha, for even Eliyahu was answered only at the time of Mincha.” When Hashem answered Eliyahu Hanavi, it was at the time of Mincha. The event the Gemara refers to—as recounted in Tanach—is when the whole episode with Baal, the idol, took place. Eliyahu Hanavi gathered all the Jews and said to them, “How long will you waver between two sides?” They had to decide whom they wanted to follow: Hashem or Baal. Then the entire event took place on Mount Carmel, with the two bulls and everything that happened there. It says that when it was “the time of the Mincha offering,” Eliyahu Hanavi stood and davened the well-known prayer, “Hashem, G-d.” And when he said, “Answer me, Hashem, answer me,” fire came down from heaven and consumed the bull offered to Hashem. Everyone saw the revelation of G-dliness and said together, “Hashem is G-d, Hashem is G-d.” Tanach recounts the details. When the verse says it was “the time of the Mincha offering,” it means it was the time for Mincha. That is why the Gemara says, “A person should always take care to daven Mincha, for even Eliyahu was answered only at the time of Mincha.” The Alter Rebbe asks: What is the particular virtue of Mincha? What, seemingly, makes Mincha so special—more than Shacharis or Maariv? After all, the Gemara in Berachos says that Avraham

06:02 instituted Shacharis, Yitzchak instituted Mincha, and Yaakov instituted Maariv. What is the particular virtue of Yitzchak’s prayer, Mincha? The Alter Rebbe explains—this was one of his earliest maamarim, the Alter Rebbe [unclear]—that the essential virtue of Mincha is that it takes place in the middle of the day. For Shacharis, a Jew gets up in the morning, gets ready and refreshed, goes to shul, and davens. So this does not require any special effort. A Jew, being a Jew, gets up in the morning and wants to run to thank Hashem and make requests of Him. At night, after all the work of the day, he has finished everything he needs to do and is going to take care of his [unclear]. Of course he davens Maariv then too, but that does not require such special effort and work either. Mincha, though, is in the middle of the day, when we have to run around, the demands of earning a living are pressing on us, and we are very preoccupied and busy. Yet a Jew stops everything, puts it all aside, and goes to daven Mincha. In doing so, he breaks through his material, physical concerns. Form prevails over matter: he gives spirituality and holiness precedence over the material world and his activities. This brings particular satisfaction and delight Above. And the Alter Rebbe explains that this is the meaning of our Sages’ words, “A person should always…” The Hebrew word for “always,” le’olam, also means

07:30 “the world.” Its plain meaning here is “always,” but the Alter Rebbe interprets it as “in the world”: the purpose of the soul’s descent into the world, the reason the soul comes into this world, is “a person should be”—to be a person. Being a person means that form must prevail over matter; that is what being a person is about. “A person”—“You are called adam.” A person must be a person by virtue of the G-dly soul Hashem has given him. “In the world”—the purpose of the soul’s descent into the world is to be a person; “take care,” zahir, also suggests “shine”—to illuminate the world. That light is brought forth especially “at Mincha.” At Mincha, the main light a Jew brings is revealed when he shows that form prevails over matter. In our parsha, Parshas Chayei Sarah, we find the source for Yitzchak’s institution of Mincha. The verse says, “And Yitzchak came from the way of Be’er Lachai Ro’i.” Yitzchak came from Be’er Lachai Ro’i. Where did he go? “And Yitzchak went out to meditate in the field.” The Gemara says that Yitzchak instituted Mincha and derives it from this verse. It says, “And Yitzchak went out to meditate in the field toward evening.” That was when he davened, and from here we learn about Mincha. And this prayer, we are told, has a particular virtue. But there are several things in the verse that we need to understand. First, we need to understand why this is connected specifically with Yitzchak. Of course, there must be a connection between them.

09:16 There is a connection in the content. Avraham instituted specifically the morning prayer, while Yitzchak instituted specifically Minchah. What is the particular connection between Minchah and Yitzchak, and why was he the one to institute it? The Torah emphasizes, “Yitzchak went out to converse in the field”—and this was “toward evening.” What happened here? The word used is “to converse,” an expression for prayer. The Torah uses several different expressions. With Avraham, when it says, “Avraham rose early,” it does not use an expression for prayer. With Yaakov it says, “He encountered the place.” Each one has a different expression. The Gemara says there are ten expressions for prayer. Why is the expression for Minchah specifically “to converse”—conversation, of all things? It is an interesting way to refer to prayer. The verse also says, “Yitzchak came from the way of Be’er Lachai Roi.” What is the significance of that? And we should also ask: What does the wording “Yitzchak came from the way of” mean? It is an unusual expression: “Yitzchak came from the way of Be’er Lachai Roi.” [unclear] explanations in the commentaries, and it is explained there well according to the plain meaning of the verse, and so on. But in the spiritual sense, what is meant by “Yitzchak came from the way of Be’er Lachai Roi”? Where does this whole point fit in? Chassidus explains this so that we can understand the deeper meaning of Minchah, and then we will see what is alluded to

10:53 in the verse. First of all, Minchah has a special advantage: a Jew breaks through his material concerns precisely when he is fully immersed in his business in the middle of the day. In other words, this relates to what Chassidus explains about how a Jew should view the whole business of earning a living. There is the well-known verse, “Hashem your G-d will bless you in all that you do.” A Jew must know that his entire livelihood is a blessing from Above. He must prepare a small vessel to receive the blessing, but the vessel is only a vessel. That is the meaning of “in all that you do.” His main effort should not be in the “that you do”; his main effort should be in “Hashem will bless you.” He must know that his livelihood is Hashem’s blessing: “The blessing of Hashem brings wealth.” “You shall remember Hashem your G-d, for it is He who gives you the strength to achieve prosperity”—everything comes from Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself. This does not mean that, when Hakadosh Boruch Hu established the Divine purpose and created the world, He did not decree that things should pass through the garments of nature. This is what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wanted: there should be garments of nature, a vessel, a worldly framework in which the blessing can rest. But the main thing is Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s blessing. A Jew must prepare the vessel, but he must know that the main thing is Hashem’s blessing. [unclear]

12:19 [unclear] that the whole thing comes from Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself. Alongside what he does, he knows where it comes from—from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So he does not get carried away. He does not stray from his path. He does not immerse himself in business more than [unclear]. He does not take an irrelevant path. In the familiar words, “When you eat the labor of your hands, you will be happy and it will be good for you.” “Labor”—it should be no more than “the labor of your hands.” That is, his hands can indeed be immersed in work, in the work of his hands. But his mind and heart, the innermost part of his mind and the innermost part of his heart—where is his energy invested? Where is his enthusiasm invested? Where is his attention focused? On serving Hashem. So he will not devise schemes. He will not try all sorts of tricks. He will not turn the world upside down. He will not bring [unclear] into his business. He will do what needs to be done in business, but he will know that it is Hashem’s blessing. It follows that when it is time to pray, it is not difficult for him. That is the first thing. He will not rush through his prayers. He will pray with concentration and devote the proper time to prayer. And “one chapter in the morning and one chapter in the evening,” and all these things, will be [unclear], because these are the true vessels for Hashem’s blessing, as Chassidus explains in many maamarim. That—

13:34 On this point, Chassidus explains how idolatry can enter into one’s service of Hashem; this is called subtle idolatry. What do we mean by that? The Gemara says, “Jews living outside the Land of Israel worship idols in purity.” Chassidus explains: What does “worship idols in purity” mean? It refers to someone wholly immersed in earning a living, far more than necessary. For we know that idolatry is not limited to its literal sense. Idol worshippers in the literal sense—it does not mean that they believe there is no G-d. As we know, the Gemara says that idol worshippers acknowledge Hakadosh Boruch Hu, but say that He is the “G-d of gods”: that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is in the seventh heaven and decreed that sustenance should come through the stars and constellations. And since, in their view, the stars and constellations bring that sustenance, they must worship them in order to receive it, as the Rambam explains in the Laws of Idolatry. And as Chassidus explains at length, this is also the idea of attributing partnership, which is likewise a form of idolatry. At the very least, attributing partnership means that Hakadosh Boruch Hu runs things through partners—like someone who hosts a meal and brings in people to help serve the food. “The wine belongs to its owner, but thanks go to the one who pours it,” as the Gemara says. But we must remember: the servers, those who bring the food and do the work—even when the food belongs to the host—is that a form of partnership?

14:54 He said that the stars and constellations assist in bringing down sustenance. But he knew the truth: they have no independent existence. Everything comes solely from Hakadosh Boruch Hu; they are all like “an axe in the hand of the woodcutter,” and have no power of their own with which to assist. Everything comes from Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself. That is idolatry and attributing partnership in their literal sense. But how does a person become immersed in the worries of earning a living? He invests more in his business than he should. He devises schemes, cuts back on [unclear]. He runs off in the middle of things. There is the well-known story about Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev: he saw a Jew running down the street and asked him, “Where are you running?” The man replied, “I’m running after my livelihood.” The Berditchever asked him, “Who says you’re running after your livelihood? Maybe you’re actually running away from it? Your livelihood is in the other direction.” He knew the truth. So how does he fall into this? This is called “worshipping idols in purity.” Yes, he certainly does not intend to worship idols; he is looking for a livelihood. But in the way he pursues it, he becomes immersed in it beyond what is necessary,

16:07 and that is called a form of idolatry in purity. But he has the right understanding: that “Hashem is Elokim,” that the source of sustenance is Divine. And this is the foundation of Minchah. He is busy with business in the middle of the day, in all the “heat of the day,” with all his energy and passion, amid everything going on in the world. Then he looks at his watch, as the Rebbe Rashab says in one of the maamarim, and suddenly realizes: it is time for Minchah. And he exclaims, “Ah, I need to daven Minchah now!” That movement pulls him away from all these things and makes him run to shul to daven Minchah. This gives special delight Above. For this is the significance of the precise wording of the verse: “Yitzchak went out to converse in the field.” Chassidus explains that Yitzchak is associated with the words “Elokim has made laughter for me.” Yitzchak’s theme is laughter and delight. Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s greatest laughter and delight come from something like this. For there is a well-known teaching of the Maggid of Mezritch that the greatest laughter comes from something novel. Take, for example, a great and awe-inspiring king, a mighty king: if you bring him silver and gold, it will not delight him, because he already has silver and gold. If you bring him the greatest philosophers and sages to discuss matters of wisdom, that will not delight him either. It is specifically something novel, like “a talking bird,” as the Maggid of Mezritch says, that gives him...

17:35 [unclear], so it is a great novelty, and novelty arouses delight, even if only two or three words are spoken. But it is the novelty in the person himself that arouses the greatest delight. So it is with the Supernal Man Above: “Elokim has made laughter for me.” The greatest delight for the Supernal Man is when a Jew, a simple Jew, detaches himself from all his business, all his concerns, all his distractions, and runs to shul to daven Minchah. That is Yitzchak; that is the greatest delight. And this is also the meaning of “to converse.” One meaning of the word is to detach. Right? Like hesech, a diversion of attention. Right? It means to turn away. That is what hesech hadaas means: to turn one’s mind away. And that is what “to converse” means here—to detach oneself. The greatest laughter and delight for the Supernal Man come through this detachment. A Jew is in the field; a Jew is in the world; a Jew is in this world. There is the field. This world is physical; it is the field where a Jew carries out the work of refining the world and all the other things Chassidus explains. But “to converse”—detaching himself and turning from there toward Above, standing up to pray—that is Minchah, when he detaches himself from everything else. And it is also conversation, because the Rebbe explains that the word sicha is also related to siach, something that runs, [unclear], runs quickly,

19:09 This is the idea of alacrity in serving Hashem. And we find it particularly with Yitzchak. Yitzchak’s defining attribute is gevurah—and Chassidus explains that his gevurah also means a surge of strength: things happen with alacrity and force, quickly. As we find in the parsha, everything connected with Yitzchak happened with alacrity. Right? “Before he had finished speaking,” Rivkah had already arrived. “The young woman ran.” Right? “And he ran.” That is how it all happened. The parsha repeatedly uses words like “ran,” “went,” and “hurried”—everything happened with alacrity. When Lavan says, “Let the young woman stay with us”—no, they hurry, they rush. They have to go: “Send me off, and I will go.” For Eliezer, Avraham’s servant, it was “Today I set out, and today I arrived.” Everything surrounding Yitzchak took place with alacrity, quickly, with the greatest leap forward. This is the special quality of gevurah. On the one hand, gevurah is restraint. But on the other hand, it is precisely the opposite: when gevurah intensifies, it becomes a powerful surge. With Yitzchak there is that surge of strength—gevurah from Above, the mighty rains. The greatest outpouring comes specifically through Yitzchak. This is the meaning of “Elokim has made laughter for me.” From the delight in refining the world, the delight in iskafya, the delight in a Jew breaking away from everything to go and daven Minchah—and this brings about “lasuach”—the outpouring will come with the greatest alacrity and speed, and the blessings will come in their fullest measure, without any limit or restriction.

20:37 This also helps us understand what it says here: “And Yitzchak came from the way of Be’er Lachai Roi.” What does that mean here? The point, as is known, is that it is a be’er, a well. A well is a source of water, but it is a well. The special quality of a well is that you have to dig into the earth. You dig through the dirt, through all the filth and soil, with the [unclear], with the mud, until living water bursts forth from it—a well of living water. What do you have on the surface? A spring, a river, a sea. The difference is that a well yields a special kind of living water, reached through hard work: you have to dig and dig and dig, and then what is called a well of living water bursts forth. That was Yitzchak’s special quality. “And Yitzchak came from the way of the well.” To come from the well means coming from the digging—digging through earthiness, coarseness, this world, materiality. And from there, “from the way of the well,” out of all that, the well of living water burst forth and was drawn up. “Lachai Roi”—what does that mean? It means seeing G-dliness: seeing greatness, seeing the truth of G-dliness. The One who is life itself, the One who is truly alive, is G-dliness. And with this, “Yitzchak went out to pray in the field,” and thus

22:08 the special quality of Minchah was revealed. It contains the true delight Above, and from it came all the blessings that followed for the marriage of Yitzchak and Rivkah, through which the entire House of Israel was founded. As the verse says, the whole matter was blessed. And there is a teaching on this from the holy Berdichever, as he brings it: “Yitzchak went out to pray in the field.” He explains that Yitzchak—the laughter and delight of Hakadosh Boruch Hu—is “lasuach.” He also interprets “lasuach” as meaning to bend down. Hakadosh Boruch Hu bends down toward the prayers of the Jewish people. He bends down toward a Jew. He bends down to what the Jew, to what the tzaddik, asks for, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu delights in a Jew asking Him. When we daven and arouse mercy, Hakadosh Boruch Hu delights in the prayers of tzaddikim, in the prayers of the Jewish people. This causes Yitzchak—the delight of Hakadosh Boruch Hu—to “bend down in the field,” toward a Jew standing here below and davening to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. He brings there something else that he heard from his teacher and Rebbe, the Maggid of Mezritch: “In the field” is the place of the sparks of holiness. And “Yitzchak went out to pray in the field” is the laughter and delight that Hakadosh Boruch Hu has from the work of refining the sparks of holiness, when a Jew, while living in this world, elevates those sparks,

23:39 and even when he is involved in material matters, he fulfills “lasuach.” He interprets “lasuach” not as prayer, but as conversation, ordinary speech: a person is standing with others and talking, and in the midst of the conversation, a G-dly intention enters his mind. He reflects; a spiritual intention, a G-dly intention, enters him. Then all his speech, together with everything he does in the field, is elevated Above. This brings about true delight and laughter Above. And this is what is meant by the saying: “A person should always be careful with Minchah, for even Eliyahu was answered only at Minchah.” A Jew should know that the greatest auspicious time is at an ordinary Minchah, when he breaks away from the affairs of this world. The Frierdiker Rebbe explains in a maamar, [unclear], that the course of a person’s life corresponds to the time of Minchah: it is the middle of life. For a young boy, whose concern is [unclear], davening is no great feat. [unclear] Davening is no great feat then, either. But in the middle of life, amid all the heat and intensity, when he breaks away from everything and comes to learn and daven to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, that is when the true delight is revealed. “Even Eliyahu was answered only at Minchah.” May we merit Eliyahu, the herald of the Geulah, and may the true and complete Geulah indeed come immediately, right now.