Why no ashrei in maariv, despite its importance? Also, why in shacharit twice? (Perhaps these are related questions.)
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2The minimum length is to ensure that you've incorporated things like background information on the topic, motivation for your asking, or evidence of your claims. Not so you can circumvent the minimum by adding an unnecessary sentence.– msh210 ♦Aug 2, 2015 at 18:32
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Why is maariv so important?– Double AA ♦Aug 2, 2015 at 21:15
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1@YehudaW: This might be a good place to start: meta.judaism.stackexchange.com/a/1715/603– MenachemAug 2, 2015 at 22:15
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1@YehudaW: in addition to the information in the above link I would recommend the trying to address the following question when formulating a question - "How can I make my question most helpful for someone who does not know the answer, but would like to do some research and find an answer?" - Formulate your question in such a way that someone reading it may think, "That's an interesting question, I wonder what the answer is. Let me see if I can find something." - The person may not have any idea, but your question should give him enough to start searching...– MenachemAug 2, 2015 at 22:20
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1...They should be able to use the sources you prove for some research. In your question, you assert that Ashrei is important. Why is it important? How do you know it is important? Why you think that its importance means it should be said in every prayer. Addressing this issues will both increase the quality of your question and also increase the chance someone may look for a solution.– MenachemAug 2, 2015 at 22:24
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4 Answers
Loewian already cited Talmud Brachot that explains the source for citing it 3 times daily. However this Beurei Hatefilah article cites several commentaries that state that it really should be cited once daily. I don't want to occupy space here pasting an excerpt, as it's tangential to the O.P.'s question.
Pnei Yehoshua on Brachot 4b says:
Rabbi Eleazar said and Rabbi Avina said: Anyone who recites Psalm 145: Tehila L’Dovod each day, three times per day, is promised a place in the Next World. It appears that the intention of this rule is that if one recites this prayer with the proper thought three times a day, it becomes a Chazaka. His faith will be strengthened in his heart because the whole world was created only so that we spend time learning Torah that was written in the 22 letters of the Hebrew Alphabet that are in this psalm. And everyone was created for that purpose. Three times a day one should concentrate on the meaning of the verse: You open your arms and feed all living beings. This means that G-d feeds his whole world from the horns of the wild oxen to the eggs of the bugs. All of them are nurtured with little effort and without pain as it is written earlier in Psalm 145: The eyes of everything look to you and you give each one his food at the right time. It follows from that rule that a person should make his work secondary and his work for G-d primary as our Sages taught us that those who follow that rule with have this and that happen to them. This is also what is meant by the gemara’s statement that he is guaranteed a place in the Next world. Based on this it is easy to understand why the three times that we recite Ashrei are during the daytime and none are at night as part of Maariv. The reason is that the majority of time that a man spends in his vocation is the time after the morning prayers, as it is written: A person goes out to his work until evening meaning until after the time to recite the afternoon prayer.
As we see below from the OU the reason is that we do not have chazaras HaShatz (repetition of the Shmona Esrai) as part of Ma'ariv. As a result, there is no kedusha in the prayer. Thanks to @Lee for stating that this is based on the Maharsha.
It is evident that the Sages intended to link Ashrei with the reciting of Kedusha, because Kedusha always follows Ashrei. The first Ashrei is in Psukei Dezimra, which precedes the Kedusha of Et Sheim and the Kedusha of Shemoneh Esreh, the second is before Uvah Letzion, the final Kedushah of Shacharit, and the third starts the prayer of Mincha which leads into the Amidah and Kedusha. Since Maariv does not contain a Kedushah, we do not recite Ashrei then.
We can connect the three times we say Ashri (twice in Shacharis and once in Mincha) to the three times that we daven, but that is a different matter.
answered Aug 3, 2015 at 1:18
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4Why then isn't there an Ashrei during Mincha on Yom Kippur (Ashkenaz)? Or an Ashrei on Saturday nights at Maariv? The claim in that quote seems very non-evident to me.– Double AA ♦Aug 3, 2015 at 1:23
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@DoubleAA That is a good point that I had not thought of. This appears to be reasoning for the regular weekday davening. I would think that the Ashrei in Shacharis is after Shmonah Esrai and before the kedusha of uva letzion which is like the Ashrei of Neilah which follows immediately after mincha of Yom Kippur which runs into Neilah. The Ma'ariv Uva Letzion is part of Vihi Noam which is extra so would not need the Ashrei. However, this is a guess only. What I quoted was the only source I could find though it is from the OU. Aug 3, 2015 at 2:07
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The counterexamples noted by @DoubleAA seem strong; the example of shacharis, where one "Ashre" suffices for the first two k'dusha recitals but not for the third, seems weak. But these questions are, I guess (I haven't yet followed the link), on the OU, not on you. +1 for an answer that cites an authority directly on point.– msh210 ♦Aug 3, 2015 at 2:54
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@msh210 Is a woman who happens to work for the OU an authority? (Unless you assume that everything she posts is from an OU rabbi, which very well could be, I suppose).– FredAug 3, 2015 at 3:17
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@Fred It seems she posts lots of things that aren't her own. (I don't know the provenance of the material in this post.) Also, I don't think her gender really matters– Double AA ♦Aug 3, 2015 at 3:27
The custom to recite Ashrei thrice daily seems to be based on the gemara in Berachoth 4b
אמר רבי אלעזר א"ר אבינא: כל האומר "תהלה לדוד" בכל יום שלש פעמים מובטח לו שהוא בן העולם הבא
R' Eleazar son of R' Abina said: Whoever recites "Tehilla l'David" three times daily may be assured that he is a person of the world to come...
The only tefilloth (prayers) that are a chova (obligation) daily (at least originally when Maariv was still treated as a tefilath reshuth [optional prayer]) are Shacharith and Mincha. As such, these three recitals needed to be distributed between these two services.
(As far as why they were placed specifically where they are within these two services, Ms. Farkas' suggestion, cited in @SabbHillel's answer, regarding a juxtaposition to the following Kedushas, sounds intriguing.)
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Wouldn't you think that a Ben Olam HaBa would've been praying Maariv even back then? Also Kriat Shema at night was always obligatory so why not put it before Barchu there as it is before Barchu in the morning?– Double AA ♦Aug 3, 2015 at 4:01
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@DoubleAA I'm sure there are many bnei olam haba who never davened maariv in their lives (chasidei umos haolam come to mind). Further, if it were necessary to daven maariv to be a ben olam haba (and if Chazal felt that it was of such a level of importance) they could have made it obligatory.– LoewianAug 3, 2015 at 4:04
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@DoubleAA You're latter point though does indeed seem to suggest that it function's as part of the tefilla and not as of the Shema and its brachos (perhaps disassociating somewhat from the Farkasian theory).– LoewianAug 3, 2015 at 4:05
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we recite Ashrei 4 times during the period of S'lichot and there is no Kedusha anywhere in S'lichot.– CashCowAug 3, 2015 at 7:53
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Rashi states that the 3 times are for the following:
שלש פעמים - כנגד שלש תפלות.
According to Rashi, it would seem that you say ashrei in every teffilah.
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According to Rashi, it would seem that you say ashrei in every teffilah. Mar 10, 2021 at 22:44
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It would behove anyone who has an opinion on this matter to explain Rashi. Maybe many of the the scholars do not think that the Rashi is relevant. It would be interesting why these wise people who have such fine reputations on this platform feel this way. I think Rashi is very relevant. It is also interesting that none of the Rishonim ask a kashe on Rashi or disagree with Rashi. Mar 10, 2021 at 22:58
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1I don't think it necessarily follows from Rashi that he thinks you should say Ashrei in the evening prayer. כנגד means "corresponding to," not "at the same time as"– b aMar 17, 2021 at 17:48