The Hashkivenu

The Basics of the Hashkivenu

The Hashkivenu prayer is found in the evening service on Shabbat and weekdays. It is the second of two blessings following the Sh'ma and just prior to the Amidah. Many people also recite this prayer with the Sh'ma at bedtime. Many parents make it part of the bedtime routine with their children.

Commentary:

Whenever I recite the Hashkivenu, one of the five prayers that bracket the evening Sh'ma, I have been struck by its tone, which seems so personal and speaks so directly of the fears and dangers we sometimes carry with us. The prayer almost seems to represent the desperate need for assurance of a child who is scared of the dark.

That is not so far-fetched. According to Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, "In Jewish tradition darkness symbolizes descent, gloom, the inability to see properly and is always accompanied to some extent by 'fears of the night.'...The realm of night is always threatening, and alludes to God hiding His face from us."

"Lay us down to sleep in peace...and raise us erect...shield us from foe, plague, sword, famine, and woe..."

I come to discover that Hashkivenu was indeed originally the end of a late evening recitation of the Sh'ma prayer, said privately in one's home, no doubt just before going to bed. After the fall of the second Temple, that group of prayers was combined with a recitation of the Amidah which had been done at the closing of the Temple gates in the evening to form the basis of what we call the Ma'ariv (evening) service.

The images of Hashkivenu are powerful. "Lay us down to sleep in peace...and raise us erect...shield us from foe, plague, sword, famine, and woe..." These are the pleas of people who were well acquainted with grief and suffering. There was much to be afraid of in their world. No wonder they had trouble getting to sleep.

The image of God as the protective angel-"in the shadow of your wings protect us" hearkens back to the image we hear in El Malei Rachamim, the prayer we say for the dead, when we ask that they be given "perfect rest under the wings of Your Presence..." Going to sleep is a small death. It fits well with the Hasidic image of our souls returning to God each night and being returned to us each morning as we awake.

A frightened child, scared of the dark, derives comfort from the presence of a parent who protects and reassures. In similar fashion, God is our "protector and rescuer...who safeguards our going and coming for life and for peace from now to eternity. Blessed are you, Adonai, who protects Your people Israel forever."

I think I like the prayer because it is such a direct and open admission of our fears, and provides such a strong affirmation that it is safe for us to go to sleep. Whether we have a fight with a spouse, a recent coronary bypass or a terrorist bombing on our minds, we are reassured that we will be protected and that we will rise again in the morning. That's nice to know.

Text from Congregation Beth Am's Kabbalat Shabbat Siddur (Friday night prayerbook) Hash-ki-ve-nu Adonai Eloheinu l'shalom L'shalom V'ha-a-mi-dei-nu mal-kei-nu l'cha-yim U'fros a-lei-nu su-kat sh'lo-meh-cha (2x) Amen. Shelter us beneath Your wings, O Adonai Guard us from all harmful things, O Adonai Keep us safe throughout the night 'Til we wake with morning's light Teach us, God, wrong from right, Amen.

Text from Gates of Prayer (p. 55) Grant that we may lie down in peace, Eternal God, and raise us up, O Sovereign, to life renewed Spread over us the shelter of Your peace; Guide us with good counsel; And for Your name's sake, be our Help. Shield us from hatred and plague; Keep us from war and famine and anguish; Subdue our inclination to evil. O God, our Guardian and Helper, our gracious and merciful Sovereign, Give us refuge in the shadow of Your wings. O guard our coming and going, That now and always we have life and peace. We praise you O God, whose shelter of peace is spread over all Your people Israel, and over Jerusalem

Saul Wasserman, 3/16/02
Photos © Joe Podolsky 2002