Jacob, the last of the patriarchs, is forced by his brother, Esau, to leave his ancestral home for exile.
The Talmud (B.T. Brachot 26b) interprets our opening verse as follows: “Jacob enacted the evening prayer, as it is written, ‘And he confronted the place and lodged there;’ the term ‘confrontation’ [Hebrew: pegiya] refers to prayer, as it is written ‘And you are not to pray on behalf of this nation and you are not to raise songs and prayers on their behalf and you are not to confront Me’ (Jeremiah 7).”
This talmudic passage ascribes one of our three daily statutory prayers to each one of our patriarchs.
“Abraham enacted the morning prayer, as it is written, ‘and Abraham arose early in the morning toward the place where he had stood.’ (Genesis 19); the term ‘standing’ (Hebrew: amida) refers to prayer, as it is written ‘And Phinehas stood and he prayed’ (Psalms 106).
Read More: @ jpost.com
You might also like: