Question: I find it very hard to enjoy davening Minchah. It is smack in middle of my busy day and there are no preparations for it. Even in the Tefillah itself, we just jump into Shemoneh Esrai without any Pesukei D’zimra or Krias Shema to help us prepare to get in the right mindset! How can I find more meaning in my Minchah?
Answer
Minchah is a time when there are no mochin. It is a time of kabbalos ol, doing Hashem’s Will without any ohr. [Chazal teach us that Eliyahu lo nena ela b’tefilas hamincha. Eliyahu is gematria shem b”n, [52], this is the shem of kabbalos ol.] The time of Minchah is also a time of dinim, because it can be davened at the end of the day. Every end has dinim to it, because all the birurim come together. Does this mean that there is no way to feel connected to Minchah, since it is a bechina of kabbalos ol?
The ohr, the light we can find in the kabbalos ol, is that one can come to an amazing feeling of “I have only Hashem Yisborach Himself. I have no mochin and no keilim, only Hashem.” This comes with a real simplicity, “כגמול עלי אמו.” I have only Hashem on the simplest level.
At the time of Minchah, one should come to davening with a real simplicity. I have no reason to daven. It isn’t the beginning of the day, where I want to start my day with Hashem, nor is it the end of my day, where I want to end my day with Him. It is simply in the middle of nowhere. I am davening because I want to connect to Hashem. This brings the person to a deep personal, simple connection to Hashem, without any ego, with a lev nishbar (broken heart).
We can illustrate this point with a situation that we can all relate to. It is like a married child who comes to visit his or her parents. There are more formal visits, Shabbos, Yom Tov etc., or when you have an important issue to discuss, but sometimes one knocks on their parents’ door and says, “Hi Mommy, I happened to be passing by, figured I would hop in to say hello.” This type of visit brings out the simple, healthy connection one has with their parents. This is exactly what Minchah is. In the middle of the day, we check in with Hashem, even if we don’t feel a will or need. This shows our deepest and simplest connection to Hashem!
This is the reason why Eliyahu Hanavi was answered specifically at Minchah, because this is the avodah of Eliyahu Hanavi. He saw in his times how Klal Yisrael fell into idol worship, but he didn’t give up hope. He saw beyond their deeds and believed in Klal Yisrael’s everlasting love for Hashem, and in Hashem’s everlasting love for the Yidden.
This is why he comes to every bris, because a bris symbolizes the fact that every Yid is totally connected to Hashem.
This also explains why he is the one entrusted with the job of the geulah, because he never gives up on any Yid. He believes that every Yid is beloved by Hashem, and Hashem is beloved by every Yid!!
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 44.