There is nothing more beloved than the Mincha prayer. The afternoon offering — the one between the morning and the evening — is the prayer that comes at the moment when the day is still in motion, when the world's business has not yet resolved itself. Daniel prayed for twenty-one days without answer and was finally heard at the time of the Mincha offering (Daniel 9:21). Elijah at Mount Carmel waited all day while the prophets of Baal danced and bled, and then at the time of the Mincha offering he stepped forward and called down fire (1 Kings 18:36).
Psalm 141 frames it: "Let my prayer be set forth as incense before You, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice" (Psalm 141:2). Prayer as incense — something that rises, that fills the space between the human and the divine, that has scent and substance and lingers. The lifting of the hands as sacrifice — the gesture of offering something without knowing exactly what it will accomplish, trusting that the act of giving is itself received.
The midrash about Elijah at Carmel is specifically about timing. He did not pray early. He did not pray when he was strongest. He prayed at the turn of the day, at the moment of maximum suspense, when the crowd had been watching for hours and the showdown between the God of Israel and the gods of Baal was still undecided. The Mincha prayer is the prayer of the middle — the prayer that comes when you are neither at the beginning of hope nor at the end of it, but right in the middle of not knowing.
Chapter (75) 76: Torah [1] "Then Judah approached him" (Genesis 44:18). And scriptures say this: "Have we not all one Father? [Did not one God create us? Why do we break faith with one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors?]" (Malachi 2:10). "We, your twelve servants, are brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan" (Genesis 42:13). Not like the tents of the measure of mercy, nor like the Egyptians who bow down to every kind of idolatry, as it was said in the tribes of Egypt, "and do not defile yourselves [with the fetishes of Egypt]" (Ezekiel 20:7). But we trust in only one God who created us, as it is said, "Did not one God create us?" (Malachi 2:10). So why would one betray his brother? As it is said, "Why should you betray us, by secretly keeping the money you found in our sacks?" (Genesis 44:8). And you accuse us of theft, as it is said, "The man who found the cup" (Genesis 44:17). We violate the covenant that the Lord made with our forefathers, and not only that, but the laws that we have made among ourselves. As it is said, "If you are honest, leave one of your brothers here in prison" (Genesis 42:19). And you said, "Bring your youngest brother" (Genesis 44:23). Our father did not ask for it, yet we complied with his request, as it is said, "If I don't bring him back to you, I'll be guilty forever" (Genesis 43:9). And you say, "The man who found the cup" (Genesis 44:17). So where is the covenant that the Lord gave us in His Torah, saying, "Do not oppress one another" (Leviticus 25:17), and "You shall not work your brother like a slave" (Leviticus 25:39)? Why then would one betray his brother? (Malachi 2:10). [2] Another interpretation: And Judah approached him (Joseph), as it is said in scriptures, "and I will be with him in trouble, and I will deliver him and honor him" (Psalms 91:15). So too did the Almighty increase the Torah. Whoever seeks to engage in Torah study, the Torah plays with him, as it is said, "playing in the inhabited world" (Proverbs 8:31). There is no greater scholar than Solomon, and regarding one who sought to abolish the letter Yud (י) from the Torah, see what happened to him. When Solomon became king and sat on his throne and reviewed the Torah, it is written, "And it will be when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this Torah" (Deuteronomy 17:18). When he saw that he had not increased wealth or women, he said, "I will multiply wives for myself and gold and horses" (Deuteronomy 17:17). How many women did he have? As it is said, "And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines" (I Kings 11:3). How many horses did he have? As it is said, "And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses" (Ibid, 4:26). And how much silver and gold did he have? As it is said, "The king made silver and gold in Jerusalem like stones" (II Chronicles 1:15). "Immediately, the Torah ascended before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said to Him: 'Master of the Universe, why am I still waiting here on earth? If King Solomon, the wisest of the wise, annulled me, who will uphold me?' The Holy One, blessed be He, replied: 'Your life is worth a thousand times the life of Solomon, for even if all the sages were to nullify you, the letter yud (י) in the Torah cannot be nullified. Whatever is nullified, the yud is never nullified. I will treat it as if the entire Torah was nullified because of it, as it is said: 'And the Lord said to Solomon: "Since this has been your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees" (1 Kings 11:11). The Torah that is referred to as 'this' (זאת), as it is said: 'And this is the Torah' (Deuteronomy 4:44). It is said that it was 'with him' (Solomon), as it is said: 'And it shall be with him and he shall read it' (Deuteronomy 17:19). And you (Torah) have caused the tearing apart of the kingdom from him, as it is said: 'I will tear the kingdom away from you [and give it to one of your servants.]' (I Kings 11:11)[edit. Hebrew text says " shem " 11:15]. Why? Because you played games in his world." [3] Another interpretation: "Rejoicing in His inhabited world." These are the tribes who sought to nullify something from the Torah. When Joseph saw the dream and said, "And behold, the sun, and the moon" (Genesis 37:9), they said to him, "Shall you indeed reign over us?" (Genesis 37:8). Once he left, they said to each other, "Come, let us kill him" (Genesis 37:20), etc. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to them, "You seek to abolish something from the Torah and said, 'Let us be killed for it,' let us see who will uphold his words. He only did it when Joseph was sold as a slave and became a ruler, as it is said, 'And Joseph was the ruler, etc.' And Joseph's brothers came, etc. (Genesis 42:6). He began to accuse them of being spies (Genesis 42:9), they said to him, 'No, my lord, your servants have come, etc.' (Genesis 42:10-11), he said to them, 'No, you are thieves who sell your siblings as slaves. Send one of you etc.' (Genesis 42:16). And in the end, when the cup was found in Benjamin's hand, he began to say, 'Who stole the cup? Benjamin, son of a thief mother, for Rachel stole, etc.' (Genesis 31:19). 'Behold, you are the thief,' they began to say to him, 'What shall we say to my lord?' (Genesis 44:16) 'About Joseph,' he replied, 'What shall we speak?' (Genesis 44:16) 'and how shall we justify ourselves?'(Genesis 44:16) 'but] God has found [a way to exact punishment for] the [former] sin of your servants.'(Genesis 44:16) God said to them, 'What could you have abolished one thing for which you said, "Let us be killed for it?" Yet you seek to make yourselves slaves and He does not want that, as it is said, "Far be it from me to do so," etc.' (Genesis 44:17). "He who mocks them [God's words], will play the fool [or 'will be played for a fool'] in his own land [or 'in his own country']." [refer: Mishneh Torah, Torah Study 6:11] [4] Another interpretation: "And Judah approached him." As it is said in scripture: 'One on one they shall approach' (Job 41:11), not like the way animals are destined to fight with Leviathan, animals butting at Leviathan with their horns, and Leviathan emits fire and overcomes the animals, as it is said 'From his nostrils smoke comes forth' (Job 41:12). So too was Joseph, who was called the firstborn bull, he clashed his horns against his brothers, took them and imprisoned them, as it is said 'And he gathered them into custody for three days' (Genesis 42:17). Once Judah came forward and Joseph could not restrain himself, therefore it is said, 'The lion is mightiest among the beasts, [And recoils before none.]' (Proverbs 30:30).
