A ווארט from the רבי on this week's פרשת, פרשת ויצא. In the beginning of ויצא it says, ויפגע במקום, that יעקב אבינו met up with the place. But רש\"י says, רבותינו פירשו לשון תפילה, that חכמים say that this means he davened there. And רש\"י adds, ולמדנו שתיקן תפילת ערבית. This teaches us that יעקב אבינו established this מצוה of davening מעריב. Now, since he was the third from the אבות, and he established מעריב, that means it comes after the first two. אברהם established שחרית, יצחק established the מצוה of davening מנחה, and יעקב established the מצוה of davening מעריב. But the question is, we know that usually the day comes after the night, so really it should be the opposite: מעריב should be the first. מעריב is from the night. And actually there's a פסוק that the גמרא brings concerning davening: ערב ובוקר וצהרים, that davening is in evening, morning, and afternoon. That means it טאקע starts from the evening. So מעריב should be the first תפילה, and after that comes שחרית and מנחה. But nevertheless, we see here that מעריב is the last one.

So the רבי says that they're both true. Depends from which angle. Davening has two things in it. On one hand, davening is a time when you communicate and you connect to השם. It's a time when you you מבטל yourself to השם. That's why we find that when יעקב saw the ladder, it says, סולם דא צלותא, it says in זוהר, that the ladder represents davening where you go up. It's a time when you go up, get closer to השם. You're מבטל, you get rid of your ego, of your מציאות, and you become one with השם. That's the ענין of davening. That's why the גמרא refers to davening as עבודה שבלב. It's a service of the heart, when you feel closer to השם. On the other hand, the simple פשט of davening is a time of בקשת צרכיו. It's a time when you have to ask השם for your needs. If someone needs health, he has to ask for health; if someone needs money, ask for money; whatever a person needs in his physical life, or any type of thing, but it's all his personal needs, that's the time to daven. So this seems like two opposites. On one hand, it's a time to get rid of your מציאות, of your ego, of your things that you need—it's not you, it's about getting close to השם and getting rid of yourself, of your own ego. And on the other hand, it's a time when you care about your own self, about your מציאות, and you ask for your needs. And the answer is that yes, davening has both angles to it. Davening is a time when, on one hand, you get closer to השם, but at the same time, there's an ענין in davening that is connected to your מציאות.

Now, the גמרא tells us that when it comes to מעשה בראשית, which is the creation of the world and the things of the world, then היום הולך אחר הלילה, the day goes after the night. But when it comes to קדשים, to קרבנות, to sacrifices, which is קדשים in the בית המקדש, there the הלכה is that the night comes after the day, because whenever you could bring the קרבן, the time you could eat it is the day and then the night after, etc., anyway, the night comes after the day. And these are the two things here. The part of davening that is a ביטול to השם, that's the part of קדשים. So therefore, the night goes after the day. So then מעריב is the last one, cuz this is the davening, that part of the davening you connect to השם. But then the other part of davening, that you care about your מציאות and that's a מצוה, the מצוה is to care about yourself and ask השם for your needs, from that angle, מעריב is the first, because when it comes to מעשה בראשית, the גמרא says, to worldly matters, there the day goes after the night. And therefore, מעריב is the first. So there are these two aspects, and the question is only how do they two fit together. There, and חסידות explains how they two fit together, but this is the point of the two ways we consider מעריב as the first תפילה of the day or the last תפילה of the day.