We rush toward it on New Year's Eve, celebrate Cinderella's transformation, and tell spooky stories about what lurks in the darkness. But in Jewish tradition, midnight holds a unique and powerful significance, a moment reserved almost exclusively for the Divine.
The Pesikta DeRav Kahana, a collection of rabbinic teachings, delves into this very idea. It opens with the verse "And it came to pass at midnight" (Exodus 12:29), the moment the Israelites were freed from Egypt. It's not just a coincidence, this timing.
Rabbi Tanchum of Jaffa, quoting Rabbi Nunia of Caesarea, takes us on a journey into the heart of King David's thoughts. He references Psalm 73:16: "And when I pondered how I might know this, it was wearisome in mine eyes." What was David pondering? The ability to truly understand and stand within the moment of midnight.
David realizes something profound. "No one can stand on the [moment of] midnight except for the Kadosh Baruch Hu," the Holy Blessed One. It was "wearisome" for David because he recognized the sheer impossibility of a mortal fully grasping the essence of this time. Midnight, in its deepest sense, belongs to God. : midnight is a transition. It's neither fully day nor fully night. It's a liminal space, a threshold. And in Jewish thought, those in-between spaces are often where we encounter the Divine most directly. Midnight is a moment of potential, of change, of deep spiritual significance.
So, when the Torah tells us, "And it came to pass at midnight," it's not just stating a time. It's highlighting the extraordinary nature of that moment, a moment so infused with God's presence that it ushered in freedom for an entire people. It's a reminder that even in the darkest hour, liberation is possible, because God is present, even—or especially—at midnight.