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

Megilat Esther: Malach #2

Hi,

The following Talmudic passage appears to be sensitive to Megilat Esther's repetition of "the palace garden".

"Esther 7:7 says, 'And the king rose in his anger from the feast of wine, to the palace garden... And the king returned from the palace garden.' It links his return to his rising from the feast; just as he rose in anger, so he returned in anger, for he went and found angels, looking like men, uprooting the trees of his orchard. He said to them, 'What are you doing?' And they replied, 'Haman told us to do this.'"

(Talmud, Megilah 16a)

Have a great day, Mordechai

Megilat Esther: Malach #1

Hi,

"Esther 7:6 says, 'And Esther declared: A man, a foe and an enemy, Haman, this wicked man.'

"R' Elazar said: This teaches that she pointed to Achashverosh, and an angel came and struck her hand to turn it toward Haman."

[I believe R' Elazar is sensitive to the placement of Haman's name later in the sentence, indicating that she was pointing elsewhere first.]

(Talmud, Megilah 16a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The good old days

Hi,

"'And it was, in days of Achashverosh (Esther 1:1)' - Rabbi Levi, or some say Rabbi Yonatan, declared: We have a tradition from the Great Assembly that whenever the text says, 'And it was,' this is only an expression of pain:

"'And it was, in the days of Achashverosh' - and Haman arose. 'And it was, in the days of the judging of the judges' - and there was a famine...

[The gemara then challenges this point, pointing out that there are positive 'And it was' references in the Torah.]

"Rav Ashi said: 'And it was' may be negative or positive. 'And it was, in the days of,' is only an expression of pain."

(Talmud, Megilah 10b)

I would add, homiletically: When people live exclusively in the past, talking about, 'It was, back in the day,' then the nation is headed for trouble...

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Mordechai's Popularity

Hi,

"For Mordechai the Jew was second to the king, and a great person for the Jews, and favored by most of his brethren."

(Esther 10:3)

Esther's Megilah is ever a source of wisdom - even after playing a key role in saving the entire Jewish nation from death, the best Mordechai could do was to be "favored by most of his brethren!"

Have a great Purim,
Mordechai