Wake Up!

At the start of the Shmoneh Esreh we have the following words

He ... fulfills His trust to those who sleep in the dust.

That is the common translation of the term Liyshenei Afar - to those who sleep in the dust.

If you think about it - these words are quite striking.

Dust is a humbling concept to describe man as being related to - but what of sleep? Is this the sleep that a human being cannot function without?

Perhaps it isn't. Perhaps here, with the words those who sleep in the dust, Chazal are referring to a psychological state of unawareness - a state of being without really being - and at the same time the implication is - wake up!