- Why are you such an anti-Semite?
- Several years ago a Jew ruined my life.
- What was his name?
- Mendelssohn.
You probably noticed that while reading the Megillah, the phrases describing key moments in this book, pronounced with a special, solemn tone. One of these phrases: "That night the king could not sleep..." Let me remind you that we are talking about the episode when in a sleepless night the king Ahasuerus ordered to read him the Chronicles. When he heard that Mordechai had recently saved him from a conspiracy, Ahasuerus decided to reward him and ordered anti-Semite Haman provide unprecedented honor to Mordechai the Jew.
The sages say that this very moment was a turning point in the history of Purim. After building tension when Haman is elated, looking forward to implement his plans, Mordecai sitting in mourning, calling the people to repentance, on that sleepless night events began to move toward the miraculous deliverance of the Jewish people.Therefore, according to some views, the reading of the Megillah in this Holiday is obliging only from this episode.
The sages say that although God and is not mentioned in the book of Esther, a hint of his presence is constantly mentioned. So in respect of that we have a phrase: "That night the king could not sleep..." The Midrash explains that the king referred to here - it's G-d.
In this regard, Hasidism explains the hidden meaning of this phrase as follows. Night - a period of exile, when we see manifestations of G-d, the darkness around us - we suffer and do not know what lies ahead. Jews in the Persian Empire were in a state of "night". Important is the fact that it is written: "That night..." and not "this night..." When we say "this" - we're talking about something obvious, visible now, but if we say "that" - it implies something hidden, invisible.
The book of Esther tells us that the Jews at that time were in state of "that night" - in a hidden spiritual darkness. It was a darkness to which their eyes became accustomed: the Jews have forgotten their spiritual mission, they assimilated, they wanted to live "as ordinary people" among foreign nations, and the Persian state gave them this opportunity: as we read in the beginning of the book, Jews were invited to Feast of Ahasuerus on an equal footing with everyone else.
On the background of this behavior of the Jewish people Haman was certain that since the Jews slept spiritually so their G-d did also, and he can freely destroy this nation. However, "that night the King could not sleep" - G-d does not forget about Jews whatever terrible darkness comes.
Nowadays, many Jews also live in a state of "that night" - they are in spiritual exile, their eyes have become accustomed to that spiritual darkness which even seems them to be light. Therefore, today's territory of ancient Persia, Iran, and the spiritual grandchild of Haman believes his right to destroy our nation, because these are not the Jews - these are "the Zionists", which allegedly turned away from their G-d. He forgot to learn the lesson of Purim - whatever darkness comes to Jews "the Guardian of Israel is not asleep"!
Shabbat Shalom and Purim Sameach!
Rabbi Shlomo Wilhelm