Leaving Beersheba at his father's command, Jacob spent the night in Bethel. There, before laying down to sleep on the ground, he prayed to God.
| "He entreated at the place and stayed overnight, for it suddenly became night." (Gen. 28:11) |
The Sages taught that Jacob established the third prayer of the day - Ma'ariv, the evening service. While less obligatory than the morning and afternoon services, Ma'ariv has its own spiritual benefits.
The Talmudic sage Abba Benjamin testified that he took great pains every day of his life to recite Ma'ariv before going to sleep (Berachot 5b).
What is so special about the evening prayer?
Refining the Desires and Imagination
While we sleep, our cognitive and rational functions cease, and our involuntary bodily processes take over. Only our powers of imagination remain active, guiding our dreams as we sleep. Without the control and regulation of our intellectual faculties, a measure of impurity descends on the body in the night. We remove this impurity by washing our hands when we wake up in the morning.
Holy individuals may experience sublime visions in their sleep, like Jacob who dreamed of angels ascending and descending a heaven-bound ladder as he slept in Bethel.
However, only the soul experiences these visions. The body is detached from the soul during sleep, and is not influenced by the soul's uplifting experiences.
We have two tools for spiritual growth: Torah study and prayer.
Abba Benjamin's testimony helps clarify how each tool ennobles a different aspect of the human soul.
When we study Torah, we refine and elevate our powers of intellect. The function of prayer, on the other hand, is to uplift our faculty of ratzon, will. Through prayer and meditation, we refine our will and powers of imagination. As we express our inner needs and aspirations in prayer, our desires are elevated to holier, more spiritual goals.
Our imaginative faculties are closer to our physical side than to the intellect. Thus they function even as we sleep, in our dreams.
Since it is through prayer that we can most effectively direct those faculties still active during sleep, it is logical that prayer before sleep will have the strongest impact on this aspect of life.
For this reason, Abba Benjamin stressed the importance of his nighttime prayer.
(Adapted from Ein Eyah vol. I, p. 19, sent to Arutz Sheva by Rabbi Chanan Morrison of Mitzpeh Yericho, author of "Gold From the Land of Israel". His website, ravkooktorah.org, is dedicated to presenting the Torah commentary of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook)