The year is 1818 and it is 5:30 a.m. “Cock-a-doodle-do! Cock-a-doodle-do! Cock-a-doodle-do!” Still in a deep fog, Eliezer wonders who dares to disturb his sleep. A moment later, he realizes it is his archaic enemy—Charlie the rooster. Half asleep, Eliezer throws his left boot out the window toward Charlie. The rooster is startled and stops crowing. Eliezer pulls the sheets over his head and falls back asleep. A few minutes later Charlie starts again, so Eliezer throws his right boot at him, once again silencing him. When Charlie picks up where he left off, Eliezer has nothing left to throw. With no other choice he gets up.
Fast-forward one hundred years to 1918. It is 6:00 a.m. “Trillalling!… Trillalling!… Trillalling!” Still in a deep fog, Mordechai wonders who dares to disturb his sleep. A moment later he realizes it is his archaic enemy—the alarm clock. Half asleep, he reaches out his hand and throws it across the room, silencing its annoying noise. He turns over, pulls the sheets over his head, and falls back asleep. Three minutes later, the alarm clock miraculously awakens and starts up again. Mordechai throws his pillow on it to deafen the sound but that only helps until the pillow falls off. With nothing left to throw, Mordechai reluctantly gets up.
Jump another hundred years to 2018. It is 6:30 a.m. and a beautiful melody floats across the room. Still in a deep fog, Nathan wonders who dares to disturb his sleep. A moment later he realizes it is his archaic enemy—the alarm on his phone. He wouldn’t dare throw it across the room, so instead, he hits “snooze,” pulls the sheets over his head, and falls back asleep. Four minutes later, the melody starts again and this time Nathan finds the snooze with his eyes closed. This happens another five times (at least) until he finally realizes that he must get up.
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Author: Eliezer M. Niehaus
Keywords: yetzer, yetzer hara, yetser, yetser hara, inclination, sleep, sleeping, evil inclination, evil urge, evil desire, waking up
Source: “A Meeting With Hashem—The Age-Old Battle,” Jewish Press.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.