Purim - Tetzaveh

Torah Fax
Friday, March 2, 2007 - 12 Adar, 5767

Torah Reading Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20 - 30:10)
Candle Lighting Time 5:29 PM
Shabbat ends 6:30 PM 

Sleepless In Shushan

Of all the many unique twists of fate (read: Divine Providence) that brought about the Purim miracle, the Maharil, the well-known Medieval authority on Jewish law and custom, points to one individual event as the key moment of the entire story. He calls one, relatively unassuming occurrence “tokfo shel nes,” the pivotal, major force of the Purim miracle.

The incident he refers to is the sleeplessness of King Achashveirosh (Esther 6:1). On the fateful night that Haman planned to ask the king for permission to have Mordechai hanged, Achashveirosh could not sleep and asked for his book of chronicles to be read to him. In these chronicles, he heard how Mordechai had in fact saved the king’s life and, far from deserving death, was owed a great reward for his act. Haman, having just appeared in the palace, was commanded to spend the day parading Mordechai through the streets of Shushan and accord him great honor.

One may ask, granted that this turn of events played an obvious and positive role in the Purim saga, but why is it singled out over all of the other happenings that contributed to the miracle? Is it truly the most forceful aspect of the miracle?

The answer lies in a deeper understanding of what the sleeplessness of the king represents. Our sages teach that whenever the Megillah mentions the term “king,” (referring to King Achashveirosh) it is metaphorically referring to the Supreme King, G‑d. When the Megillah tells us that the king could not sleep, it means on a deeper level that the King (G‑d) could not sleep.

The Psalmist declares: “Wake up! Why do you sleep, o G‑d?” What is  meant by G‑d’s sleep? How can the corporeal state of sleep even be applied to G‑d?

Sleep, it is explained, is a metaphor for the state when G‑d is withdrawn from the world. When creation doesn’t feel G‑d’s presence in all aspects of life, when it appears that the world is on “automatic pilot,” it is considered as if the world is asleep. Just as in the human sleep experience, the soul’s presence (made up of one’s intellect, emotions, will and desires) is not visible in the body, similarly, when we say that G‑d is asleep, it means that His presence within the world is not palpable.

To take the analogy even further: when a person sleeps, the Talmud points out that his thoughts are not coherent. Very often one dreams of contradictory events, being in two places at the same time, etc. This occurs because the person’s soul is not clearly manifested within his conscience mind.

After the destruction of the first Temple, when the Jews found themselves under the domination of the Persian Empire, they were not only in a geographic state of exile, they were also in a spiritual state of exile. G‑d’s presence was not obvious to them and, accordingly, they had serious inconsistencies in their lives. Though they did certain great Mitzvos, the Jews were also involved in a number of unholy acts. Obviously, such shortcomings in the Jewish nation were totally out of place and out of character -but, as mentioned before - in the dreamy state of sleep/exile, such illogical inconsistencies are commonplace.

Clearly, the Jews needed to “wake up” from their lethargic state of spiritual sleep and lack of lively involvement in Torah and Mitzvos. Chassidic thought teaches that there was a simple way the Jews could have saved themselves from death at the hands of Haman - they could have abandoned their faith (G‑d forbid). Haman only wanted to kill the Jews; if one converted, one was no longer Jewish and therefore had no need to fear Haman’s decree. In fact, during the entire year that Haman’s plan was in effect, not one Jew entertained such a thought!

This self sacrifice and devotion exhibited by the Jewish people represented their awakening from their apathetic state of spiritual slumber. This, in turn, caused G‑d to “awaken” from His “slumber,” and become openly involved in the affairs of the kingdom, bringing about the salvation of Purim. Thus, the verse about the King’s (G‑d’s) sleeplessness is indeed the most pivotal miracle of the Purim story because it represents the Jews’ awakening from their sleepy exile and G‑d’s returning to a state of open and supernatural involvement in their lives.

The application to our days is clear. We are in a state of exile primarily because we lack an awareness of G‑d’s presence in our lives. By awakening our Jewish spirit, we can be the catalysts to bring about the Final Redemption. At that time we will truly experience “Light, joy, happiness and glory” (Esther 8:16).

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