“On my bed at nights I sought the one whom my soul loves; I sought him, but did not find him” (Song of Songs 3:1). “On my bed at nights.” Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: What is “on my bed at nights”? During my illness, just as it says: “And he does not die but falls into bed” (Exodus 21:18).
Rabbi Levi said: The congregation of Israel said before the Holy One blessed be He: Master of the universe, in the past You would illuminate for me between nights and nights; between the night of Egypt and the night of Babylon, between the night of Babylon and the night of Media, between the night of Media and the night of Greece, and between the night of Greece and the night of Edom.1Edom refers to Rome.
The meaning of Rabbi Levi’s statement is that there would be a bright period between periods of persecution. But now that I have slumbered from the Torah and the mitzvot, nights have become consecutive for me. “On my bed at nights,” Rabbi Alexandra said: When I slumbered from the Torah and the mitzvot, my nights became consecutive for me. “On my bed at nights [balelot],” the nights came [ba’u lelot].2The nights, meaning the periods of persecution, came consecutively.