אש תמיד תוקד על המזבח לא תכבה
In the standard calculation of the Jewish day, daytime follows night. We daven Maariv, the Evening Service, hence ushering in the new day. Shacharis, the Morning Service, is actually the second service of the day. In the Mikdash, Sanctuary, it was the reverse, with evening following daytime. The way of the world is that the symbolic evening precedes the symbolic day. This means, explains Horav Nissen Alpert, zl, that (most often), before man is privy to “light,” to see what becomes of his toil and labor, he must sit it out in “darkness,” wait in hope that his efforts will…
