Sleepless in Shushan (2)
Miracles Cloaked within Nature
Purim is known for the miracles that are cloaked within nature. G-d did not reveal His power then in the manner of Passover with its ten plagues and the splitting of the Red Sea. Neither was there a phenomenal military victory of the few against the many, or the burning of a lone cruse of oil for eight days instead of one, as in the miraculous events of Chanukah.
Instead, the miracle of Purim was the confluence of many fortuitous events that led to the salvation of the Jews from certain annihilation.
The Miracle of Sleeplessness
According to our sages, there was one event, among many, that stood out as representing “Tokfo shel nes-the major force of the miracle.” This event was the sleeplessness of King Achashveirosh. The fateful night that Haman approached the king for permission to hang Mordechai, the king could not fall asleep and asked for his book of chronicles be read to him. In these chronicles he read about how Mordechai saved his life.
The question may be asked, granted that the sleeplessness of the king and his reading of the chronicles was one obvious, positive twist and turn, why is this event singled out from all the other twists and turns of the Purim saga, as the most forceful aspect of the miracle?
The answer lies in a deeper understanding of the sleeplessness of the king. Our sages understand this mention of the king allegorically as a reference to the Supreme King of Kings, the Holy One Blessed be He. And the sleeplessness of the king refers to the negation of the state of exile that is characterized by the term sleep.
What is meant by G-d’s “sleeplessness,” and how does it relate to the miracle of Purim?
Divine Slumber
The psalmist declares: “Wake up! Why do you sleep, O G-d?”
What is meant by G-d’s sleep? How can one apply the corporeal state of sleep to the noncorporeal G-d?
In truth, sleep is a metaphor for the state of G-d’s withdrawal from the world. When the world does not feel G-d’s presence in all aspects of life; when it appears that the world is on “automatic pilot,” this is what the Torah refers to as sleep. Just as in the human sleep experience, the soul’s presence in the body is not visible; similarly, when it is said that G-d is “asleep” it means that His presence within His world is not palpable.
Furthermore, when one is asleep their level of understanding is severely limited; their thoughts are not coherent. During sleep one can imagine contradictory events occurring, or, being in two different places at the same time. This occurs because the person’s soul is not clearly manifested within the conscious mind.
Similarly, after the destruction of the Temple, when the Jews were under the domination of the Persian Empire, they were not only in a geographic state of exile, but, they were also in a spiritual state of alienation. G-d’s presence was not obvious to them, accounting for all the inconsistencies that characterized their lives.
The Alarm Clock
How does one “awaken” G-d from His “sleep?” This is when we wake up from our lethargy and state of sleep when it comes to matters of Torah and Jewish observance.
Indeed, our sages relate that when the Jews realized the danger they were in, they could have saved themselves by abandoning their faith. But, in fact, not one Jew – during the entire harrowing year, from the time Haman’s decree was issued to the day of Purim – even entertained such a thought.
The self-sacrifice exhibited by the Jewish people, represented the awakening from their spiritual state of sleep and brought about the “most forceful aspect of the miracle” by causing G-d to “awaken” from His state of “sleep,” and to show His hand in the affairs of the Persian Empire and thereby transform all the negative occurrences into totally positive ones.
Open Our Eyes!
We are likewise presently in a state of exile characterized by our lack of awareness of G- d’s presence, but we are on the threshold of a new age of Redemption. The Rebbe exhorted us to open our eyes to see the new reality.
What did he mean by opening our eyes?
Obviously, he meant our eyes should be that of a person who is not asleep; a person who is able to see the reality of our unique and unprecedented situation clearly.
When we begin to see the changes in the world as manifestations, not only of G-d’s hand, but of our proximity to the time of Redemption, we will see it unfold before our very eyes.
It is interesting to note that the Rebbe did not say to awaken; rather to open our eyes.
Perhaps awakening does not suffice because in the Purim saga they did awaken but they still remained in exile as subjects of the Persian monarch Achashveirosh without a Bais Hamikdash.
To merely awaken to the reality that G-d is involved in our life does not suffice in the present day and age, for we too live freely as Jews throughout the world.
Even the Soviet Union has collapsed peacefully and there is no place where Jews live in the world that stands in the way of Torah study and Mitzvah observance.
What are we missing? The true and complete Redemption that will allow us ot build the Bais Hamikdash and bring G-d’s presence into this world forever.
To accomplish that, the Rebbe taught us we need not only to be awake but to open our eyes to the new reality that we are standing on the very threshold of Redemption. Nay, even more than that; the Redemption is right in frot of us and all we have to do is recognize that reality and it will materialize before our very eyes.
By awakening our own Jewish spirit, and by opening our eyes to the new realities that are pervading our lives, we become the catalysts to bring about the final and complete Redemption, about which it will be said, “The Jews had light, joy, happiness and glory,” as in the days of old.
From the book Light from the Future: Purim by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
