[Avodah] TODAY IS ADAR 22

[Cantor Wolberg]

  Earthquake Saves Roman Jews from Forced Conversion (1430)

The church and the government of Rome set Wednesday, March 6, 1430  
(corresponding to Adar 22), as the day when all the Jews of Rome must  
convert
or face death. On that day a great earthquake shook Rome and many of  
the archbishops and priests who conceived the decree were killed.  
Following the earthquake,
Pope Martin V annulled the decree.


The Gemara (Berachos 6b) says, "A person should always be scrupulous  
about the Minchah prayer."

In other words, it's easy to daven shacharis, because you wake up and  
you know that's the first thing to do. (In fact, that's why one is not  
allowed to even eat prior to davening). Similarly, it's easy to daven  
ma'ariv because you've concluded your day's work. But the special  
quality of Minchah is that it comes in the middle of the day, when  
people are occupied and busy with personal affairs; nevertheless, the  
pious ones don't let their work and personal affairs overpower their  
devotion to HaShem and they interrupt the
physical for the spiritual.  In my Yeshiva days, I always appreciated  
davening mincha in the afternoon as opposed to having mincha followed  
by ma'ariv. To me, combining
mincha and ma'ariv was like making it one service instead of two. This  
is a good example of the "letter of the law" rather than the "spirit  
of the law."

For me, Mincha is the favorite service – and not because it's the  
shortest, but because of its context and orientation. Allegorically I  
see the three services as a sandwich.
Shacharis and Ma'ariv are the two slices of bread (don't forget the  
motzi) and Mincha is the contents of the sandwich.

(Idea came to me from a commentary by the Alter Rebbe). 
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