Yosef, Daniel, Esther and Mordechai and their Kings

Hi,

"Nevuchadnezzar was uncircumcised and impure, Daniel was holy and pure… and he clothed Daniel in purple wool. 

"Pharaoh was uncircumcised and impure, and Yosef was pure and holy, and he coronated Yosef and clothed him in linen and placed a gold brooch upon his neck. 

"Achashverosh was uncircumcised and impure, and Mordechai was holy and pure, and he coronated Mordechai and clothed him and crowned him…"

נבוכדנצר ערל וטמא, דניאל קדוש וטהור... ומלביש לדניאל ארגוונא. פרעה ערל וטמא ויוסף טהור וקדוש, וממליך את יוסף ומלביש אותו בגדי שש, ומשים רביד הזהב על צוארו. אחשורוש ערל וטמא, ומרדכי קדוש וטהור, והוא ממליך את מרדכי ומלביש אותו ומכתירו...

(Midrash Tehillim 90:7)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Depressing, but true...

Hi,

Don Isaac Abarbanel comments on the fourth chapter of Daniel, in which powerful King Nevuchadnezzar has a dream in which he sees himself as a tree:

"Man is a tree of the field. He is like that great, tall, beautiful tree, which must grow, exist, and then be destroyed."

(Abarbanel, Maayanei haYeshuah, Maayan 6, Tamar 5)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The rehabilitation of Nevuchadnezzar, and the reaction of the Sages

Hi,

"R' Yitzchak said: Molten gold should be poured into the mouth of that wicked one [King Nevuchadnezzar, who praised Gd at the end of the third chapter of the book of Daniel]. Had a malach not slapped his mouth, he would have put all of the songs and praises of David in Tehillim to shame!"

(Talmud, Sanhedrin 92b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai