Hashkiveinu: lay us down in peace

It may go back to the night in Egypt

On the night of the tenth plague, the Torah tells the Israelites not to leave their houses until morning (Shemot 12:22). It calls that night leil shimurim, "a night of guarding" (Shemot 12:42). The students of Rabbeinu Yonah (Spain, 1200s) give a reason for this blessing, and the Mishnah Berurah (a central commentary on daily Jewish law, written around 1900) passes it on: the Israelites were afraid in their homes and prayed that the destroyer would not come in, and this blessing was set up to match that prayer.

Who wrote it? Nobody is named

The Mishnah (the first written collection of the rabbis' laws, about 1,800 years old) says that in the evening a person says two blessings before the Shema and two after. It does not name them. The Gemara (the rabbis' discussion of the Mishnah, about 1,500 years old) does name Hashkiveinu as one of the two after, and says only that the rabbis "set it up." So it is old, and the author is unknown.

"The shadow of Your wings" is a quote

"And hide us in the shadow of Your wings" comes almost word for word from Tehillim 17:8, a prayer of David: "Guard me like the apple of the eye, hide me in the shadow of Your wings." The verse says "hide me." The prayer changes one letter to say "hide us." The verse also opens with "guard me," the same root as the words for "guard" that fill the end of this blessing.

Almost every line has a verse behind it

Abudarham (a commentary on the prayers, Spain, about 1340) goes through this blessing line by line. He ties "shield us" to Tehillim 3:4, "You, Hashem, are a shield around me." He ties "who guards us" to Tehillim 121:5, "Hashem is your Guardian." He ties the last line, "Who guards His people Israel," to Tehillim 121:4, "The Guardian of Israel does not doze or sleep." The verses he picks keep coming back to guarding.

Why "our King" when we wake up?

The prayer asks, "Raise us up, our King, to good life and to peace." Abudarham explains the words "our King" and "to life" here. God gives our souls back to us in the morning, as if bringing us back to life, and that is where His rule over us can be seen. It is not seen over the dead, only over the living, as Tehillim 115:17 says, "The dead do not praise God." The Modeh Ani prayer tells more about sleep and the soul coming back.

The Satan walks in front, then behind

The Dubno Maggid (Rabbi Yaakov Kranz, a famous preacher of the 1700s who taught through parables) explains "remove the adversary from in front of us and from behind us." A servant sent to bring a guest to dinner walks ahead with a lamp. An officer leading a prisoner to jail walks behind him, watching. The Satan, whom the Gemara calls the same as the evil impulse, does both. Before you sin, he walks ahead and shows you where to find what you want. After, he follows with his sword. So we ask to be spared both.

קודם שחטא האדם, השטן הולך לפניו... אחר שכבר חטא, אז ילך אחורי האדם עם חרבו

Do not rush through "good counsel"

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (a Chassidic master who died in 1810) was once talking with someone when they heard a man at Maariv racing through "and set us right with good counsel from You." The Rebbe said these words must be prayed with great feeling, from deep in the heart. It is a precious prayer, because we need to ask God for the ability to know how to act. Now read that line slowly.

אֵלּוּ הַתֵּבוֹת צְרִיכִין לְהִתְפַּלֵּל בְּהִתְעוֹרְרוּת גָּדוֹל וּבְכַוָּנָה גְּדוֹלָה מֵעֻמְקָא דְּלִבָּא מְאֹד... שֶׁנִּזְכֶּה לֵידַע אֵיךְ לְהִתְנַהֵג

Resting is also a test

Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin (a Chassidic thinker who died in 1900) explains why the Shema is said at night too. By day you work, and everything you do must be for the sake of heaven. But at night, when you lie down and rest, you must also know before Whom you are lying. He calls that the greater task, and says it is why the evening prayer has this extra blessing. He adds a teaching he heard: dreams show a person's level, whether even when doing nothing, their thoughts are only of God.

שגם בשכבו על מטתו ידע לפני מי הוא שוכב... וזה מלאכה יותר גדולה... ולכך נתנו ברכה היתירה לערבית שהוא השכיבנו לשלום

To be sheltered, build a railing

Rabbi Natan of Breslov (the main student of Rebbe Nachman, who died in 1844) ties "spread over us the shelter of Your peace" to a law in the Torah: when you build a house, you must put a railing on the roof so no one falls. God's protection is a covering spread over us, he writes, and we are told to walk in God's ways. When we work to protect the lives of our fellow Jews from harm, we awaken that same protection for ourselves.

אָנוּ מְעוֹרְרִין גַּם לְמַעְלָה בְּחִינָה זוֹ, דְּהַיְנוּ שֶׁגַּם ה׳ יִתְבָּרַךְ יִשְׁמֹר אוֹתָנוּ וְיָגֵן וִיסַכֵּךְ עָלֵינוּ

Two fears of the night

The Zohar (the central book of Kabbalah) explains two lines of this prayer by two fears of the night. One is for the soul, which goes up to appear before its Master and might face accusation. For that we say "Who guards His people Israel forever." The other is for the body: the night holds harmful forces that can hurt anyone who steps outside their door. For that we say "Guard our going out and our coming in."

דְּקִטְרוּגָא דְּנִשְׁמָתִין, כַּד בָּעָאן לְסַלְּקָא לְעֵילָּא, לְאִתְחֲזָּאָה קָמֵי מָארֵיהוֹן. וּבְּגִין כָּךְ אֲנָן מַקְדִּימִים, שׁוֹמֵר אֶת עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל לָעַד

What changes on Shabbat?

On Friday night, the Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) says that after "uvetzel kenafecha tastireinu" you go on to "ufros sukkat shalom" and end "haporess sukkat shalom," not "shomer amo Yisrael la'ad." The Tur (a law code from the 1300s) cites a Midrash: Shabbat itself guards us, so no guarding is needed. The Mishnah Berurah (a central commentary) says our custom keeps the lines in between. Said the weekday ending by mistake? Add the Shabbat one if you catch it within a second or two; if not, leave it.

Do I answer Amen after the last line?

The Shulchan Aruch says yes: answer Amen after "shomer amo Yisrael la'ad," even though it is your own blessing, because it ends the blessings around Shema. The Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles, who added Ashkenazi practice to it) records that in Ashkenazi lands the custom is not to, and the Mishnah Berurah says that includes this one. The Kaf HaChaim (a Sephardic law commentary) adds that even by that view, if you finish together with the leader, you answer Amen.

Do girls say Hashkiveinu?

Not as an obligation. Peninei Halakhah (a modern guide to Jewish law by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed) says women are exempt from the evening Shema and its four blessings, of which Hashkiveinu is the fourth, because they depend on the time of day. A woman who chooses to say them is credited for it. The evening Amidah is optional for women, and one who prays it deserves a blessing. The bedtime Shema is a separate rule, the same for men and women. In Siddur Sefard it also includes most of Hashkiveinu.

I am saying the evening Shema after dawn. Do I say this blessing?

The Shulchan Aruch says the evening Shema belongs before midnight, but after the fact it counts until dawn. Between dawn and sunrise it counts only for someone who was actually prevented, such as by illness. Even then, it says, skip Hashkiveinu, because dawn is not the time people lie down. The Rema adds that the other blessings are still said. The Mishnah Berurah adds that "Baruch Hashem le'olam" and the evening Amidah are skipped too, because from dawn it is day in every way.

Is the word "enemy" really part of the list?

The list of troubles in the siddur starts with "enemy," then plague and sword. The Maharshal (Rabbi Shlomo Luria, 1500s) remembered that his grandfather, Rabbi Yitzchak the Chasid, said only "plague and sword." His reason: an enemy is already included in the word sword. The Kaf HaChaim (a Sephardic law commentary) quotes the Kenesset HaGedolah, a classic law work, saying that our custom is to say it.