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Chidushay Bang

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WAKE UP AND LEARN...or get her number!!

Bang the Rabbi presents:

SHAVUOT!
HOLIDAY of the NIGHT!!!
Bored? read this.

by Lower East Side correspondent, Steve Wind

A message of inspiration to keep you awake Shavuot night, just in case the shiur you go to is boring and there are no members of the opposite sex around to impress by staying up all night and learning: The Me’am Lo’ez aggadic commentary to Megilat Rut, the megila that we read on Shavuot, teaches that the phrase “b’chatzi ha’layla”, meaning, “it came to pass at midnight”, is found only three times in Tanach.

(1) “It came to pass at midnight, that Hashem smote every first-born in Egypt” (Shmot 12:29)

(2) “And Shimshon arose at midnight, and seized the doors of the gates of the city (Shoftim 16:3)

(3) “And it came to pass at midnight, that the man [Boaz] was startled and turned about, and behold, a woman was lying at his feet” (Rut 3:8)

The common denominator of all three pasukim is that they immediately precede redemption or the gaining of freedom. The Jews were freed and redeemed from bondage, Shimshon was freed from his captivity and suffering, and Rut was redeemed as the relative of Boaz. The Talmud even teaches that these three incidents all occurred on the same day of the year (the night of Pesach).

We learn from this midrash that midnight is a time when prayers are answered. David Ha’Melech (a direct descedant of Rut) understood this, and had the practice to arise at midnight and learn Torah (Masechet Brachot 3b). In fact, he writes in Tehillim 119:62 that “at midnight I rise to thank You for Your statutes of righteousness”. Throughout the generations, righteous Jews, including Boaz, have continued the practice of arising at midnight to pray and to learn. The Me’am Lo’ez further points out that midnight is the time when Hashem enters Gan Eden with the righteous.

From learning that midnight is a time when prayers are answered, we can glean a very powerful message, teaches the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Midnight represents the very darkest, gloomiest and scariest moment of the night. Yet, it is the precise instant when Hashem chooses to redeem people from their misfortunes. From here we learn that no matter how hopeless a situation looks, one should be confident that Hashem is soon to bring relief. Every darkest hour in Tanach is immediately followed by redemption!

Need more inspiration? Not at all coincidentally, the pasuk from Rut containing “b’chatzi ha’layla” marks the exact middle of the megila!

Still sleepy? The gematria of “b’chatzi ha’layla” is 190, the same as “keytz”, the term designating the time of our future redemption!

Wake up! The Me’am Lo’ez describes that Boaz awoke at midnight to find the beautiful Rut lying at his feet and was overcome by sexual temptation, but the thought that Hashem was, at that very moment, entering Gan Eden with the righteous was enough to overcome his evil inclination. At the very least, it should be able to keep your eyes open on Shavout night.