## Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays ###### Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays 2 [Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays 2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbi%20Sacks%20on%20Siddur/s/Weekdays,_Ma%27ariv%20for%20Weekdays/r/2) **English Edition; Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2017:** וְהוּא רַחוּם *He is compassionate:* A prelude to prayer, from the book of Psalms, that serves as a brief equivalent to the Verses of Praise in the morning service. The verse (Psalm 78:38) contains thirteen words that are reminiscent of the thirteen attributes of divine mercy. ###### Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays 3 [Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays 3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbi%20Sacks%20on%20Siddur/s/Weekdays,_Ma%27ariv%20for%20Weekdays/r/3) **English Edition; Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2017:** EVENING SERVICE The saying of Shema at night (“when you lie down”) is a biblical imperative. In early post-Temple times there were some who held that the evening Amida was non-obligatory since – unlike the morning and afternoon services – there was no daily sacrifice to which it corresponded (*Berakhot* 27b–28a). So widespread was its observance, however, that it was eventually deemed obligatory. Notwithstanding, since the Amida at night does not correspond to a sacrifice, it is not repeated by the Leader. Tradition identifies the evening prayer with Jacob, who had his most intense religious experiences at night, especially the vision most associated with prayer: the ladder stretching from earth to heaven on which angels ascended and descended. During that vision, God promised Jacob that “I will protect you wherever you go” (Gen. 28:15). The evening service represents our trust in God during the dark and dangers of night. ###### Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays 5 [Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays 5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbi%20Sacks%20on%20Siddur/s/Weekdays,_Ma%27ariv%20for%20Weekdays/r/5) **English Edition; Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2017:** בָּרְכוּ אֶת יהוה *Bless the LORD:* As in the morning service, a call to the congregation to join in communal prayer, derived from the verse: “Magnify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together” (Psalm 34:4). ###### Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays 8 [Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays 8](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbi%20Sacks%20on%20Siddur/s/Weekdays,_Ma%27ariv%20for%20Weekdays/r/8) **English Edition; Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2017:** הַמַּעֲרִיב עֲרָבִים *Who brings on evenings:* Praise of God as Creator of the universe, and hence of time itself. As with the morning service, the two blessings before the Shema, and the one immediately following, speak in turn of the three key elements of Jewish faith: creation, revelation and redemption. ###### Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays 9 [Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays 9](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbi%20Sacks%20on%20Siddur/s/Weekdays,_Ma%27ariv%20for%20Weekdays/r/9) **English Edition; Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2017:** אַהֲבַת עוֹלָם *With everlasting love:* A counterpart to the morning blessing, “You have loved us with great love.” Both speak of divine love in terms of revelation: God’s gift to Israel of the Torah and its commandments. In the same way that God binds Himself to His people through word and deed, so do we bind ourselves to Him by the words of Torah and the deeds of the commandments. No simpler or more profound statement exists of the love of Jews for the life of the commandments than the phrase, “For they are our life and the length of our days.” ###### Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays 21 [Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays 21](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbi%20Sacks%20on%20Siddur/s/Weekdays,_Ma%27ariv%20for%20Weekdays/r/21) **English Edition; Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2017:** אֱמֶת וֶאֱמוּנָה *True and faithful:* A blessing about redemption, parallel to the blessing אֱמֶת ויַצִּיב, “True and firm,” in the morning. The special emphasis on faithfulness at night echoes the phrase from Psalm 92: “to tell of Your love in the morning, and Your faithfulness at night.” ###### Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays 26 [Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays 26](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbi%20Sacks%20on%20Siddur/s/Weekdays,_Ma%27ariv%20for%20Weekdays/r/26) **English Edition; Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2017:** הַשְׁכִּיבֵֽנוּ *Help us lie down:* This blessing, which has no parallel in the morning service, is a prayer for protection against the hazards of the night. ###### Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays 28 [Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays 28](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbi%20Sacks%20on%20Siddur/s/Weekdays,_Ma%27ariv%20for%20Weekdays/r/28) **English Edition; Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2017:** בָּרוּךְ יהוה לְעוֹלָם *Blessed be the LORD for ever:* This passage originated among Babylonian Jewry at a time when synagogues were not permitted within the town and were built in the fields outside. This made attendance at synagogue potentially hazardous at night. This prayer, with its eighteen references to God, was originally recited as a substitute for the evening Amida – possibly to shorten the evening service in synagogue so that participants could return home before dark. When conditions changed, the prayer was retained. Since it was a substitute for the weekday Amida, it is not said on Shabbat or Yom Tov. ###### Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays 54 [Rabbi Sacks on Siddur, Weekdays, Ma'ariv for Weekdays 54](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbi%20Sacks%20on%20Siddur/s/Weekdays,_Ma%27ariv%20for%20Weekdays/r/54) **English Edition; Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2017:** אַתָּה חוֹנַנְתָּֽנוּ *You have graced us*: From Talmudic times, this paragraph has been the way of marking Havdala – the transition between holy and secular time – within the Amida prayer. Havdala is repeated as a separate ceremony in the synagogue after prayer, and then again at home. Its positioning here, in the prayer for knowledge, indicates the essential connection between the human mind and the ability to make distinctions (“If there is no knowledge,” says the Talmud Yerushalmi [*Berakhot 5:2*], “how can there be distinction?”). In nature there are no sharp boundaries. Day shades gradually into night; winter into spring; life into sentience. According to the Torah, what links man to God is our ability to separate, classify and name, and thus to see order amidst seeming chaos. As we begin the working week, we acknowledge the divine order of creation as the necessary prelude to human acts of creation.