ויאמר המן למלך אחשורוש ישנו עם אחד מפוזר ומפורד בין העמים בכל מדינות מלכותך ודתיהם שנות מכל עם ואת דתי המלך אינם עושים ולמלך אין שוה להניחם
“Haman then said to King Achashveirosh, ‘There is a certain people, scattered and dispersed among the other peoples in all the provinces of your realm, whose laws are different from those of any other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; and it is not in your majesty’s interest to tolerate them’”. (Esther 3:10)
When Haman presented to Achashveirosh his plan for the destruction of the Jews, he argued: ישנו עם אחד - “There exists a certain nation”. The Gemara explains that Haman said: ישנו מן המצות – “There is a certain nation which is sleeping from the mitzvos.”
What was the meaning of Haman’s statement that the Jews were “sleeping” from the mitzvos, and why did he use that argument to persuade Achashveirosh to give him the right to kill them?
Haman reasoned that his attempts to destroy the Jewish people would be successful because the Jews fulfilment of the mitzvos had become so heartless; their apathy towards the mitzvos would forfeit any special protection they might otherwise have been entitled to receive. Hashem responded to their indolent performance of the mitzvos midah k’neged midah [measure for measure] by acting as though He was sleeping, and He did not reveal His presence to them. Indeed, the Medrash relates that Haman claimed that Hashem was: ישן לב מעמו - “Sleeping from protecting His people,” and it cites the pasuk (Tehillim 44:24): עורה למה תישן א-דני – “Arouse! Why should You sleep, Hashem!” (See Esther Rabbah 7:12, 10:1).
The pasuk later in the Megillah says: בלילה ההוא נדדה שנת המלך - “On that night, the King’s sleep was disturbed” (Esther 6:1). The Medrash (Esther Rabbah 10:1) comments that this pasuk refers to Hashem’s sleep. When the Jews realized the imminent danger that faced them, they did teshuvah and turned to Hashem with tefillah and fasting. They aroused themselves from their slumber, and in return Hashem aroused Himself from His slumber, so to speak: ויקץ כישן א-דני - “And Hashem woke up like one who wakes up from his sleep” (Tehillim 78:65, Esther Rabbah 7:12). When the Jews did sincere teshuvah and accepted upon themselves to fulfil the Torah as though it was the first time they received it, as the pasuk says: קימו וקבלו – “Undertook and obligated themselves” (Esther 9:27; Shabbos 88a), then Hashem responded accordingly and treated the Jews with a display of renewed love.
This theme is reflected in other elements of Purim. The Gemara in Megillah (7b) states that a person should become intoxicated on Purim: עד דלא ידע בין ארור המן לברוך מרדכי - “Until he does not know the difference between ‘Blessed is Mordechai’ and ‘Cursed is Haman.’” The Rema (Orach Chaim 695:2) rules that the Gemara does not mean that one should get drunk, but rather that one should drink a little more than usual and then go to sleep. Perhaps the reason why a person should fulfil the halachah of עד דלא ידע in this way is to commemorate the events of Purim. The Jews were: ישנו מן המצות – “Sleeping from the mitzvos,” and Hashem reacted as though He was asleep. Through the miraculous events of Purim, the Jews were inspired to do teshuvah and to awaken themselves from their slumber, and they thereby became worthy of Hashem awaking from His slumber, so to speak.
Additionally, the Gemara in Megillah (10b) says that the name Mordechai (מרדכי) comes from the words mor deror (מר דרור) or meira dachya (מריא דכי) in Aramaic. Mor deror was the first of the spices and herbs used in the shemen ha’mishchah [special anointing oil] and the ketores (Shemos 30:23). Just as the aroma of the ingredients of the ketores continually stimulated the senses and no one ever tired of the smell, so too, Mordechai aroused the people to renew their love for Hashem to such a degree that their love would never become dull.
The Mishnah in Yoma (26a) alludes to this quality of the ketores when it says: חדשים לקטרת (only new Kohanim who had never before offered the ketores were permitted to participate in the lottery for offering the ketores). A characteristic of the aromatic ketores is that its sweet smell arouses people to renew their love for Hashem. Perhaps this quality is reflected in the enactment that only new Kohanim may offer the ketores. New Kohanim, who have never performed the avodah of the ketores, will perform the mitzvah with great enthusiasm and love.
This element of Purim – the Jews awakening from their slumber – explains why Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi ruled in Megillah (4a) that: ולשנותהאדם לקרות את המגילה בלילה חייב ביום – “One is obligated to read the Megillah at night and to repeat it at day” This was an odd way to say that the Megillah should be read a second time. Indeed, this phrase confused his talmidim who thought that he meant that the Mishnayos of maseches Megillah should be learned (לשנותה) during the day. Why did Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi state his ruling in such a way instead of saying simply that one must “read the Megillah again during the day”?
Moreover, Tosfos (4a) writes that the main reading is the daytime one. If the first reading of the Megillah is at night, why is the main reading during the day?
The answer may be that Chazal deliberately enacted that the Megillah be read during the day a second time and that the daytime reading be the main one, and they emphasized that the daytime reading is a repetition of the first reading (לשנותה). Their intention was to stress that when we read the Megillah a second time, we do so with enthusiasm and excitement to show that we are not bored with the mitzvah. We thereby rectify the shortcoming of the people at the time of Purim. (R’ Mordechai Kornfeld)
