Vehu Rachum: opening Arvit

A prayer with nothing to lean on

The Gemara says the evening prayer has no fixed time, because limbs and fats of the offerings that had not finished burning kept burning on the altar all night. Abudarham (a commentary on the prayers, Spain, about 1340) quotes Ibn HaYarchi (Rabbi Avraham ben Natan, Provence and Spain, about 1200): the Sages leaned the prayer on those parts, but if they had already burned up, there is nothing to lean on. So no offering holds this prayer up, which is why Vehu Rachum, which speaks of atonement, is said.

Or maybe it was the lashes

The Tur adds a second reason, "some say": offenders used to be flogged in the evening, at the time of Arvit, after sinning all day, and this verse was said during the lashes. The Romemu page tells how this verse's 13 words, said three times, make 39, the number of lashes. Ibn HaYarchi, quoted by Abudarham, says offenders were flogged between Mincha and Maariv, so the leader called out Vehu Rachum.

Spain said it on Shabbat too

The Tur reports that in Spain they said Vehu Rachum on Friday night just as on weekdays, while Ashkenaz did not. He notes that if the reason is the lashes, it should not be said on Shabbat. Ibn HaYarchi, in the passage Abudarham quotes, makes the same point about the lashes, then says the Spanish custom fits the other reason, that there is no offering to hang the prayer on. So which reason you hold decides what you say on Shabbat.

Where the evening prayer began

The Gemara says Yaakov started the evening prayer, from the verse that says he "reached the place and spent the night there." The Avot page tells that. Rashi adds a detail: the verse says it was night "because the sun had set," which suggests the sun set suddenly, before its time, so that he would stay there. Yaakov was leaving home alone, on the run from his brother Esav, with a stone under his head.

Night is when hidden things get judged

The Zohar Chadash (a companion book to the Zohar, the central book of Kabbalah) says that judgment starts at night. From the time of Arvit, it says, people are judged whose deeds are done in the dark, and those who lie in bed planning harm. It names three destructive forces: the destroyer, anger and fury. The three phrases of this verse answer them: "does not destroy," "turns back His anger," "does not stir up all His fury." That is why, it says, this line was set for Arvit on every night of the week.

וּלְפִיכָךָ תִּקְנוּ בִּתְפִלַּת עַרְבִית, כָּל יְמֵי הַשָּׁבוּעַ, וְהוּא רַחוּם יְכַפֵּר עָוֹן. ... שֶׁהֵם מַשְׁחִית אַף וְחֵימָה

Why Shabbat does not need it

The Zohar says Israel says this verse on weekdays because, on weekdays, God's presence in the world (the Shechinah) is wrapped in what it calls shells of death and harsh judgment. On Shabbat it takes them off and rests, and then there is no need to say "He is merciful." A second passage says that when Shabbat ends, Israel opens with this verse, since it fits that night, when judgment returns to its place. Now think about why one night a week is different.

בגין דביומין דחול, שכינתא תתאה אתלבשת באלין קליפין דמיתה דדינא. ובשבת אתפשטת מנייהו

Arvit means mixed

Rabbi Shlomo of Radomsk (a Chassidic master in Poland, who died in 1866) hears the name Arvit as "mixed," because in this world good and bad are mixed and a person has to sort them out. The Gemara says Yaakov set up this prayer. For Rabbi Shlomo, Avraham stands for kindness and Yitzchak for strength against wrongdoing. Yaakov's prayer reaches what is merely allowed, the ordinary parts of life. Even there, he says, be holy: "sanctify yourself with what is permitted to you."

ויעקב הוא שתיקן תפלת ערבית אפי' בדבר הרשות יהיה בקדושה קדש עצמך במותר לך

Truth in the dark

Rabbi Natan of Breslov (the main student of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, a Chassidic master) explains why Arvit is the one daily prayer that is called optional. Yaakov set it up because he is the essence of truth, and truth can shine even in the thickest darkness of night. But in deep darkness, he writes, truth cannot be laid down as one rule for everyone. Each person has to turn toward the truth as far as he can see it, "speaking truth in his heart" (Tehillim 15:2). That is why this prayer was left optional.

יַעֲקֹב דַּיְקָא תִּקֵּן תְּפִלַּת עַרְבִית מֵחֲמַת שֶׁהוּא עֶצֶם הָאֱמֶת בְּיוֹתֵר שֶׁיָּכוֹל לְהָאִיר אֲפִלּוּ בְּתוֹךְ תֹּקֶף חֶשְׁכַת לַיְלָה

Lips only, and still merciful

In Tehillim, just before this verse, the people "flattered Him with their mouths" and their hearts "were not steady with Him." Then comes: "And He is merciful." The Gemara (Taanit 8a) points to this pairing: even so, He is merciful. Rabbi Yaakov Leiner of Izhbitz (a Chassidic master in Poland, 1800s) says God tests hearts and knows the depth of Israel's heart, and that deep down it stirs only toward good. He compares it to the law of overcharging: a gap smaller than a sixth of the price is waived completely.

השי"ת הבוחן לבבות יודע את עומק לב ישראל שלבם רוחש רק טוב

Do I have to pray Arvit at all?

For men, yes: today it counts as a fixed duty. The Tur (a code of law from the 1300s), quoted in Siddur Sefard, says it is a mitzvah not to skip, and that the Rif (Rabbi Yitzchak Alfasi, died 1103) held it is now a fixed duty. Peninei Halakhah (a modern guide) says men took it on as a duty but women did not, so for them it stays optional.

I walked in as the leader said Barchu. Do I still say Vehu Rachum?

No. Peninei Halakhah (a modern guide to Jewish law by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed) explains that Barchu opens the blessings around the Shema, so it is forbidden to talk after it, as in the middle of a section of the Shema. Someone who missed Vehu Rachum before Barchu does not say it afterward. The Mishnah Berurah (a central commentary on daily law, written around 1900) says to take extra care not to speak after the evening Barchu, even before the first blessing starts, if you plan to pray with the congregation.

Why do we skip it on Friday night?

Because it is a verse about judgment, and Shabbat is not a time when judgment rules. The Ben Ish Chai (Rabbi Yosef Chayim of Baghdad, died 1909) writes that it was set for weekday nights, when judgment is strong, so it is forbidden on Shabbat. He cites the Zohar (the central book of Kabbalah), which forbids opening Shabbat with a verse of judgment such as this one. Before Barchu on Friday night, Siddur Sefard has a Zohar passage instead.

What about holidays and the night of Yom Kippur?

Holidays are like Shabbat: Peninei Halakhah says it is not said. Yom Kippur night is less settled. The Ben Ish Chai learns from the same Zohar passage about Shabbat that it is not said on Yom Kippur night either, even when Yom Kippur falls on a weekday. The Mateh Efrayim (a guide to the laws of the High Holiday season, from the early 1800s) reports that some places do say it, since the hour calls for atonement, but where he lived it was not said at all, and he writes not to change that.

Why does my minyan say Kaddish before this one?

Peninei Halakhah says the Sephardic and the Chassidic custom both put a Half Kaddish just before Vehu Rachum. The Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles, who added Ashkenazi practice to the Shulchan Aruch, the main code of Jewish law) writes that Arvit starts with no Kaddish, since Kaddish needs praise before it. The Kaf HaChaim (a Sephardic law commentary, early 1900s) notes that Kaddish here became the common custom, and adds that by the custom of the Arizal (the great kabbalist of Tzfat, 1500s), it is required, never skipped.