Time Warp

The Book of Esther begins with the words ויהי בימי, and it was in the days. The Talmud teaches us that this phrase always introduces a calamity. Why is this?

The Maharal of Prague explains that this phrase is an indication that the story to be told exists within the dimension of time. By contrast, God is outside of that dimension. Any story in which time plays such a central role must be one in which God's presence is sorely lacking. Hence the words "And it was in the days" is used to introduce a calamity.

By contrast, the Maharal explains elsewhere that the Passover Lamb was meant to be eaten quickly. The reason for this is that the bringing of this offering symbolizes the Jewish Nation's becoming the people of God. As such, they are meant to act as Godlike as possible. By trying, as much as is humanly possible, to remove the factor of time from their activity, they become more Godlike.

Indeed, the deeper one entered into the Temple in Jerusalem the more one entered into a time and space warp. Even though sacrifices are rendered unfit, even for burning on the altar, after a certain time period has past, if they are on the altar time does not affect them. Even more so, the bread that was left inside the Temple Sanctuary for over a week on a regular basis, was warm and fresh as if it had just come out of the oven. Time plays no role in a place so close to God.

The Talmud also teaches that the Ark of the Covenant took up no space in the Holy of Holies. In the place of the ultimate closeness to God, concerns of space did not exist. Even in the Temple Courtyard the space expanded to fit the size of the crowd that was there.

All of this was possible as God Himself is not part of our Universe. He is not within the 4-dimensional Universe which we inhabit. The closer we get to Him, the further we move out of those confines as well.