At the open of the sixth chapter of the Megillah, king Ahashverosh is unable to sleep: “בַּלַּיְלָה הַהוּא נָדְדָה שְׁנַת הַמֶּלֶךְ/balayla hahu nadida sh’nas hamelech/On this night the sleep of the king was disturbed” (Esther 6:1) The halachah is that the one who reads the Megillah publicly should begin to recite the text more loudly at this point, because this moment of the king’s awakening is a pivotal turning point of the story.

The Midrash teaches that while the disturbance of the king’s sleep refers on the simple level to Ahashverosh, it alludes on a more mystic level to the ultimate King, Hashem. As such, this moment of the King’s awakening is a prophecy of the time when God will “awaken from His slumber,” so to........

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