Does God sleep? The Mekhilta wrestles with this question through a startling paradox. When Israel does God's will, there is no sleep before Him. (Psalms 121:4) declares it plainly: "He does not slumber and He does not sleep." God is fully awake, fully present, a tireless guardian standing watch over His people.
But when Israel abandons God's will, something changes. The text says there is, "as it were," sleep before Him. The qualifying phrase is critical — "as it were" (k'vyakhol) — a rabbinic marker indicating that the statement pushes the limits of what can be said about God. The proof text is devastating: (Psalms 78:65) "Then the Lord woke as a sleeper, as a warrior rousing himself from wine."
The image is intentionally jarring. A sleeping warrior, groggy from wine, is the opposite of the watchful guardian. The Mekhilta does not claim God literally sleeps. Rather, when Israel turns away, God's active protection withdraws, and the result feels — from the human perspective — as though the Guardian has fallen asleep at His post.
This teaching from the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael (Tractate Shirah 5:13) frames the relationship between God and Israel as reciprocal. Israel's faithfulness keeps God awake. Israel's betrayal, as it were, puts Him to sleep.