Illustration credit: Noa Kelner

There are three תְּפִלּוֹת (tefillot, prayer services) that we say every day: שַׁחֲרִית (Shaharit) in the morning, מִנְחָה (Minhah) in the afternoon, and מַעֲרִיב (Maariv)—aka עַרְבִית (Arvit)—at night.

What do these times of the day have to do with these specific avot?

The morning is the time when light comes into the world after the darkness of night. Bereishit Rabbah 2:3 says that Avraham brought a different kind of light into the world through finding and sharing his faith in God, and that even God’s creation of light (Bereishit 1:3) is talking about Avraham and the light of faith he brought into the world.

R. Avraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook (150 years ago) says it's especially hard to say Minhah because it's in the middle of the afternoon when people are super busy with all the things they do during the day (Ein Aya, v. 1, n. 60). But Yitzhak was someone who was able to connect to God at the same time as he was also deeply involved in the rest of the world (Menahem Tzion, v. 1, Bereishit 24:63).

Maariv is said at night, which can be a time of feeling alone or afraid of the dark. R. Yehudah Aryeh Leib of Gur (150 years ago) suggests that Yaakov experienced that in his own way. He had to run away from his home when Esav threatened to kill him, so he was both alone and afraid. And it was then, in the middle of the night, that he connected with God and dreamt of the angels climbing up and down the ladder (Sefat Emet, Vayishlah 5644).