The power of vision

Hi,

"Esther 3:5 says, 'And Haman saw that Mordechai would neither bend his knee nor bow to him.' Rabbi Eivo cited Tehillim 69:24, 'May the eyes of the wicked be darkened from seeing,' for the vision of their eyes brings them down to Gehennom…

"But the vision of the eyes of the righteous raises them to the greatest heights, as Bereishit 18:2 says, 'And he [Avraham] raised his eyes and he saw, behold, three men,'…"

(Midrash, Esther Rabbah 7:9)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Megilat Esther: Malach #3

Hi,

Esther 7:8 says, "And the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the feast of wine, and Haman was falling on the bed on which Esther was seated. And the king said, 'Do you also think to take my wife, with me in the house?" In the following passage, the gemara is sensitive to the word "falling", as well as the narrative difficulty of why Haman would place himself in such a compromising position:

"'And Haman was falling on the bed' - 'Falling'? It should say 'fell'!

Rabbi Elazar explained: This teaches that an angel came and knocked him down on to the bed. Achashverosh declared, "Woe is me from my house, woe is me from outside [see the preceding email for the events outside]!"

(Talmud, Megilah 16a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Fools rush in

Hi,

"'And Memuchan spoke before the king and the officers (Esther 1:16)'

"Why did Memuchan leap to offer counsel first? We see that a fool leaps to go first."

(Midrash, Esther Rabbah 4:6)

Have a great day,
Mordechai