The Sultan’s Dream and the Miracle of Istanbul Purim

About 400 years ago, Rabbi Moshe Amon, the chief rabbi of the Jewish community in Istanbul, served as both a Torah leader and a respected personal physician to Sultan Suleiman, the powerful ruler of the Ottoman Empire. Through this important position, he worked tirelessly to strengthen Jewish life in the city.

One day, peace turned to panic. Rabbi Moshe was suddenly summoned to the royal court. When he arrived, he found the Sultan deeply disturbed.

The Sultan shared that the night before, while resting in bed, a mysterious voice had spoken to him from the darkness: “Great Suleiman, awaken! I am a prophet sent from Heaven. I command you to destroy all the Jews in your kingdom. Within three days, you must issue a command: if they do not convert to Islam, they must be exiled or executed.”

Rabbi Moshe listened carefully, then tried to calm the shaken king. “It was only a dream,” he said gently. “It means nothing.” The Sultan slowly calmed down and dismissed the rabbi with kindness.

But the following day, Rabbi Moshe was called to the palace again. This time, the Sultan said that the mysterious man had returned this time not in a dream, but while the king was wide awake. The figure again demanded that the Jews be expelled immediately.

Again Rabbi Moshe tried to soothe the king. After some effort, the Sultan agreed to wait one more night. If the voice returned again, he said, he would carry out the “prophetic command.”

Rabbi Moshe rushed back to the Jewish community and gathered everyone in the synagogues to pour out their hearts in tefillah (prayer). The community leaders declared a public fast, begging Hashem to overturn the harsh ruling. That night, Rabbi Moshe once again walked to the palace to plead for mercy.

On his way, an elderly man appeared out of nowhere. He extended his hand in greeting and asked, “Why do you look so worried?”

Rabbi Moshe told him about the terrifying situation, the possible destruction of the entire Jewish community.

The old man listened and then said something unexpected. “Great is the God of the Jews. He will not hand over His children to be harmed. My advice to you: check what’s happening behind the door in the king’s bedroom.”

In that moment, Rabbi Moshe understood. His eyes lit up, and he whispered a quiet prayer of thanks to Hashem for sending help. He turned to thank the old man but he was gone. Just disappeared. Rabbi Moshe had no doubt he had encountered a heavenly messenger.

He hurried to the palace. “Your Majesty,” he said to the Sultan, “I believe I may know the secret behind these strange voices. Isn’t there a hidden door in your bedroom?”

The Sultan paused, then remembered that when he was a child, his father had once told him about a secret passage that led from the bedroom to a tunnel outside the palace. Rabbi Moshe asked the king to station a group of armed guards near the room, and he himself joined the Sultan in hiding.

At midnight, they heard a soft creak, the door was slowly opening.

Then a voice called out from the darkness, “Suleiman! This is your last warning. I am the prophet…”

But before the sentence was finished, the guards jumped out, tackled the intruder, and placed him in chains.

To everyone’s shock, the so-called prophet was not a heavenly figure at all, but the king’s own deputy. He was known to hate Jews and had used the secret door to sneak into the king’s bedroom and pretend to be a prophet, trying to convince the Sultan to destroy the Jewish community.

The Sultan was outraged. He ordered the traitor to be executed and turned to Rabbi Moshe with deep gratitude.

“I promise you,” he said, “as long as I live, I will protect the Jews of my kingdom.” And true to his word, the Sultan kept his promise.

From that day on, the Jewish community of Istanbul celebrated the miraculous salvation as their own version of Purim, known as “Istanbul Purim.” It became a yearly remembrance that Hashem watches over His people even when danger hides in the shadows, and even when help comes from a stranger at just the right moment.