At the other end of the day, an eventide that does not mark a boundary between sacred and profane time would tend to be anti-climactic, an appendage of time to be endured till sunrise catches us unawares. To celebrate from sunset to sunset is to experience the passage of time each day consciously and bravely. More deeply still, it is to imbue darkness with light, fear with faith. When envisioned as the start of a new day, night loses its dread. It becomes a time of preparation, renewal and anticipation, a period of incubation before a new birth.
Life is punctuated by all too many moments of defeat and despair.
Judaism urges us to face them and force meaning from them through context and perspective. To launch our days at night is to muster the courage not to take refuge in denial. Our capacity to master the nightmares that haunt us is greater at the start of a day than at the end. And so each evening we link life to darkness as we pray in the Maariv service that God enable us to retire in peace and restore us renewed to life, sheltered by the wings of the Almighty. Talk Shop Sign Up Search Courses Receive the JTS Torah commentary and Shabbat candlelighting times sent to you weekly by e-mail.