PRAYER
Perhaps the one activity at Temple Beth David that never takes a vacation is the Daily Minyan. Every Sunday at 9 am and Monday – Thursday at 6:30 pm, we gather to maintain the century-old tradition of public worship. More often than not, the core group is joined by those who, in grief, come to pray and recite the Mourners` Kaddish.
We’re a group with a purpose; it’s a different group each time, but we’re all there to be part of the community, to see friends, help strangers and leave feeling better for having been there. Take a few minutes and “make” a Minyan!
Why do Jews pray everyday?
In traditional Jewish practice, the daily tefillot or prayers are divided into three separate services, Shaharit (the morning service), Minhah (the afternoon service), and Maariv (the evening service).
The Mishnah records that there are three daily services, each connected to a particular time of day (Mishnah Berakhot 4:1).
The Babylonian Talmud also declares that one should pray three times a day, and a famous dispute emerges about the origins of this practice. Rabbi Yose bar Rabbi Hanina says that the weekday prayers were instituted by the patriarchs: Shaharit by Abraham, Minhah by Isaac, and Maariv by Jacob.
In opposition, Rabbi Joshua ben Levi cites Rabbi Hanina, who says that the three daily prayer services were instituted in accordance with the daily sacrifices of the Temple period (Berakhot 26b). Shaharit corresponds to the morning offering, Minhah corresponds to the afternoon offering, Maariv corresponds to an offering made on the evening, and Musaf corresponds to an offering brought on certain special occasions. Though a consensus was never reached, rabbinic authorities agreed that three daily services are the basic requirement of Jewish daily prayer. Learn more at www.myjewishlearning.com