“Yitzchak went out to meditate in the field towards evening.” (Bereshis 24:63)

In this week’s parsha, we learn about the mitzvah to daven Mincha, and therefore, I would like to share a thought about Mincha. For a long time I wondered why Mincha is so short. I am not complaining – especially since it comes in the middle of the day and is difficult for many people to be able to get away from work for even those few minutes to daven with a minyan (especially now during the winter months when the latest time to daven Mincha is so early). My question is why there are no introductory prayers to Mincha like there are for Shacharis? In the morning, we do not immediately jump into the Shemone Esray, but we build up ourselves slowly until we reach the climax at Shemone Esray. We begin with Brachos, then Pesukei D’Zimra, followed by the Brachos of Krias Shema until we finally reach Shemone Esray. But by Mincha, we have no gradual increase. We merely say Ashrei and Kaddish, and then jump right into Shemone Esray. Why don’t we have any other prayers to get ourselves prepared?

The answer is because in the morning, we are starting fresh. It is a new day with a new beginning and therefore we need to slowly “wake ourselves up”. We need to remind ourselves who G-d is and how Great He is. By Mincha, we do not need an introduction because we are already woken up. We have already been involved with our day. A person might ask though “since I have been at work most of the day, shouldn’t I need to remind myself again?” The answer is work should not be an interruption. Even when we are at work, we should be involved in Torah and thinking about G-d. When we are sleeping, our minds might not be focused on Torah, but during the day, even at work, we should make sure to keep our minds focused on Torah.

This idea is not only for those people that learn in Yeshiva or Kollel the whole day. Everyone, no matter what profession he or she has, should keep his or her mind focused on Torah the whole workday. Of course, this does not mean we must constantly have a Gemara open on our desks and study from it, because many of us would get fired if we do that. What it means is every decision we make at work should be through the eyes of the Torah. For example, we need to focus on the proper way to behave and how to avoid lying and stealing on the job. When we do this, we are following the Torah and keeping G-d in our mind.

G-d should be in our thoughts the whole day. Therefore, Chazal (our Sages of blessed memory) felt it was not necessary to have any introductory prayers for Mincha. Shacharis, on the other hand, comes at the beginning of the day before we have started to have that focus, and therefore, we require the introductory prayers.

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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