How often do we want to flip a switch, reverse reality and turn things upside down? Especially when we can’t sleep and dreams blur our sense of the ordinary?
Halfway through the scroll, midway through the night, the king can’t sleep. Tossing and turning, as all mortals do, he seeks distraction, or perhaps a nagging memory compels him to invoke the past:
בַּלַּיְלָה הַהוּא נָדְדָה שְׁנַת הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיֹּאמֶר לְהָבִיא אֶת־סֵפֶר הַזִּכְרֹנוֹת דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים וַיִּהְיוּ נִקְרָאִים לִפְנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ׃
That night, sleep deserted the king, and he ordered the book of records, the annals, to be brought; and it was read to the king.
Esther 6:1
This insomniac moment flips the fates and sets the story into freefall and eventual redemption. The book of royal records reveals the failed coup from several chapters ago, successfully stopped by one courtier named Moredchai, whom the king does not know. In the wish to reward this faithful servant the king summons the wisdom of his advisor Haman who happens to be in the palace in the middle of the night for his own nefarious reasons - he had just set up the gallows in his own home and he wants to tell the king about it. But trapped by his own hubris, Haman suggests to the king that the only reward worthy of loyalty is to be paraded through the city streets as if the loyal servant is a king himself. The king agrees and to Haman’s shock demands that this great honor is bestowed upon Moredchai - named as ‘The Jew’ - and led by none other than Haman himself:
וַיִּקַּח הָמָן אֶת־הַלְּבוּשׁ וְאֶת־הַסּוּס וַיַּלְבֵּשׁ אֶת־מׇרְדֳּכָי וַיַּרְכִּיבֵהוּ בִּרְחוֹב הָעִיר וַיִּקְרָא לְפָנָיו כָּכָה יֵעָשֶׂה לָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר הַמֶּלֶךְ חָפֵץ בִּיקָרוֹ׃
So Haman took the garb and the horse and arrayed Mordecai and paraded him through the city square; and he proclaimed before him: This is what is done for the man whom the king desires to honor!
Esther 6:11
There is lots of chatter over history about this scene, including a long debate over who wore the crown - Mordechai or the horse. But what all agree on is that this scene is the essence of the primal carnival - the reversal of roles that is at the core of carnival-like holidays from every corner of the world that are often the hallmark of spring and the turn of the seasons. When the pauper becomes king for a day, drinking is allowed and masks enable truths that otherwise are hidden.
Mikhail Bakhtin has written about the art of carnival and its critical role in society, even as a temporary fantasy and permission to play with the pressure of societal norms and oppressions:
“Carnival is not a spectacle seen by the people; they live in it, and everyone participates because its very idea embraces all the people. While carnival lasts, there is no other life outside it. During carnival time life is subject only to its laws, that is, the laws of its own freedom…
“Under this ritual act of decrowning a king lies the very core of the carnival sense of the world–the pathos of shifts and changes, of death and renewal.”
Mordechai’s ride of pride and Haman’s walk of shame can only be seen as this depiction of the reversal of roles associated with carnival. And it’s telling that this scene emerges from the shadows of the night.
Hagit Hartuv writes that:
“This passage offers a fascinating and poetic interpretation of the night in the Book of Esther, specifically in relation to the moment when King Ahasuerus's heart softens and he acknowledges Mordechai's good deeds. It contrasts the typical perception of night as a time of darkness and fear with its role as a space where transformation can occur, revealing hidden truths and opportunities for change.
The passage begins with the notion that the night allows for a shift in Ahasuerus’s character—he, the self-centered king, suddenly opens his heart to those who have shown him kindness. The night, which typically conceals and clouds the reality of the day, enables both good and evil to emerge freely, without the scrutiny of logic or moral judgment.
The writer then contrasts this with the way night often makes people act on what they fear or wish to do but feel constrained to express during the day. The light of day reveals the hidden things of the night, but in this case, it is the night that corrects the chaotic and unjust world of the day.
What follows is the dramatic reversal of roles in Esther 6:11, where Mordechai rides the king’s horse and Haman is forced to lead him through the streets. The passage interprets this reversal as the restoration of moral order, where good triumphs over evil, even if only for a moment. The night here symbolizes the potential for internal transformation and societal healing, reminding us that while the darkness may conceal negative forces, it also allows space for goodness and mercy to emerge.”
In Jon D. Levenson’s Esther: A Commentary he points out the numerous cases of reversal and flipped meanings in scroll, arguing that the entire book is structured as a chiasm, a series of corresponding events with contrasting significance, mirroring itself. The apex and the precise reversal occurs midway chapter 6 as Mordechai is led through the streets by Haman. This diagram illustrates this clearly - with the lowest point leading to the highest and the safety of the Jewish people in the Persian empire - finally restored.
And although God is not mentioned by name throughout the scroll, Levenson reminds us that sometimes the divine is known by other names such as serendipity or coincidence.
Haman heads home with his head bowed low, only to be rushed back to the palace for the second private party with the king and queen.
The day becomes his night, the end is nigh, and a new day is dawning. Pay attention to what happens in the middle of the night, notice subtle changes that reverse reality. That’s how redemption happens, tell us the sages, bit by bit, from the middle of the night, into the dawning of a new day.
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Now that I am alone
I feel the presence of
G-d
Certainly the mystery of
G-d
In the middle of night
In the wee hours
Of night
Before the sun even
Thinks of rising
G-d can have our
Undivided attention
And we can have
The undivided attention
Of our G-d
It’s a time of growth
It’s a time of reconciliation
Not sure of redemption
Slip in and out of it
For sure
You will be glad
Going back to your dreams
Yes, may we be close to the time of redemption during these most dark nights. Hopefully, we are moving towards dawn.