Take a Break – Parshat Chayei Sarah

When I find "modern" ideas hidden in the Torah, I feel a sense of pride. The Torah knew about this concept all along. Yet I also feel a sense of something akin to failure. If it was there all the time, how did I miss it? Maybe the idea was even mentioned by Chazal but I overlooked or misunderstood it.  

It happened again with this week's parsha, Parshat Chayei Sarah. Yitzchak was going to the field and Chazal tell us that he went out for his afternoon prayer, Tefillat Minchah.1 Meditating in the middle of the day? Yes. He was a busy guy and yet he made time to meditate and pray in the middle of the day. What a revolutionary concept! And it was hidden in plain sight all along. The Gemara seems to strengthen this concept and goes so far as to say that one should be careful to pray Minchah. The great 19th century leader, Rabbi Yechiel Mich'l Epstein, author of the Aruch Hashulchan explains why the Gemara stresses the importance of Minchah while passing over the morning and evening prayers. He explains that Minchah is the most challenging prayer to do. The morning and evening prayers do not interrupt your routine or your task. They are said before you start and after you complete your daily chores. But the afternoon prayer demands that you stop what you're doing and take time to think about your needs and pray.2 That’s what makes it so hard - and so valuable.  You're right in the middle of everything and you gotta take a break. And that’s why the Gemara makes a point of telling us to be careful to pray Minchah. 

Take a break. Not a coffee break or a cigarette break. Take a break for yourself. See where you are up to in the middle of the day. Are you on course? Is the day going as you wish? Are you getting swept up by what's going on around you or do you have some control? Is this where you wish to be? Can you sense the meaning of the moment3 or is it lost?

This is what Minchah/meditation can do for you. This is what a break can help with. Take a break. Invest in yourself. You deserve it.

Click here for another logoParsha blog on Chayei Sarah (Is the First always First)

Notes

  1. Bereishit 24:63
  2. Aruch Hashulchan - Orach Chaim 239:2
  3. Meaning of the moment is a concept in logotherapy which describes the importance of being aware to what is happening and choices that you are making. This is discussed by Viktor Frankl numerous times in his written works. 

Have A Great Shabbat!laughing

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