Seeking the daily hidden light

ובזוה"ק זכור ימות עולם ימי המעשה שאל אביך זה הקב"ה ע"ש.

And in the Zohar HaKadosh: "Remember the days of old" — these are the days of action; "ask your Father" — this is the Holy One — see there.

The Sefas Emes cites the Zohar's reading of the pasuk in Ha'azinu: "the days of old" are the workdays of creation, and "ask your Father" directs us to seek out Hashem within them.

דכתיב בכל יום וירא אלקים כי טוב א"כ בכל ימי המעשה האור גנוז בתוכם.

For it is written each day, "and God saw that it was good" — thus in each of the days of action the light is hidden within them.

Because the Torah repeats "it was good" on the days of Creation, a hidden ohr — the goodness Hashem saw — lies concealed within each of the workdays of the week.

וע"ז כתיב מחדש בטובו בכל יום מעשה בראשית.

And concerning this it is written, "He renews in His goodness each day the work of creation."

The phrase from the morning berachos teaches that this concealed goodness is not a one-time event but is renewed daily — Hashem refreshes the act of creation every single day.

וצריך האדם לחפש זה האור הגנוז בכל יום.

And a person must search for this hidden light each day.

Our avodah is to seek out the buried ohr ha'ganuz fresh within each new day, not to assume it belongs only to the past.

וע"ז נתקן הג' תפלות שאל אביך ויגדך למשוך התחדשות אור הגנוז בימות עולם:

And for this the three daily tefillos were established — "ask your Father and He will tell you" — to draw down the renewal of the hidden light within the days of the world.

The three daily prayers are the means to "ask your Father": through Shacharis, Minchah, and Maariv we draw down and reveal anew the concealed light planted within the ordinary days of the week.

Summary: The Zohar reads "remember the days of old, ask your Father" as a call to seek Hashem within the ordinary workdays. Because the Torah saw each day of Creation as "good," a hidden light is concealed in every weekday — a light Hashem renews daily. Our task is to search it out, and the three daily tefillos are the vehicle to "ask our Father" and draw that renewed hidden light into the days of our lives.