Scattered and Dispersed

 

In Haman's attempt to convince his all-powerful monarch, without whom he cannot proceed to execute his plans for the "Final Solution," the "enemy of the Jews" [Esther 3:10] argued:

"There is a certain nation scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples throughout all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws differ from (those of) every people, and they do not keep the king's laws; it is (therefore) of no use for the king to let them be." [3:8]

            Amos Ḥacham [Esther, Da'at Mikra] comments that Haman's claim that despite their dispersion among the nations, the Jews remain a single nation; "is the claim of the enemies of the Jews throughout the generations."  

            However, there is a deep irony: if the Jews were indeed united as a single nation, despite their dispersion among the nations of the world, they would not be susceptible to their enemies' plots against them. One of the most consistent lessons relentlessly taught by Jewish history is that when the nation is (internally) disunited, we are subject to our enemies' schemes, while national unity protects us from such machinations.  

Shushan Purim and Eretz Yisrael

 

Purim is unique among the holidays and festivals which Jews celebrate in the fact that it alone is celebrated on two different days, depending upon geography. Most of the world celebrates Purim on the 14^th of Adar, while Jews in walled cities celebrate Shushan Purim on the 15^th of the month. It would seem that dividing the Purim celebration into two separate days hinders the unity of Israel. This is particularly surprising in light of the fact that Israel's unity lies at the center of the Purim story. Haman's decree of his "final solution" was based upon the disunity of nation which is scattered and disunited (Alshikh's understanding of the word "m'forad")…" [Esther 3:8] The turning point comes with Esther's request/instruction "Gather all the Jews …" [ibid, v.16] Thus, it is Israel's internal disunity which leads to its suffering and the nation's unity brings God's salvation.

The logical criterion for determining the obligation to celebrate Shushan Purim is a city which was enclosed by walls at the time of Mordechai and Esther, yet the Halacha chose the criterion of walled cities at the time of Joshua, a criterion which apparently has no logic to it. The Jerusalem Talmud [Megilla 1:1] explains that this Halachic determination expresses respect for the Holy Land. During the time of the events of Purim, the Land of Israel was desolate, without a single walled city. Thus, had the logical criterion been followed, it would embarrass the Land. Thus, the Halacha adopted the criterion of cities enclosed by walls from the time of Joshua.

We may suggest that accepting the criterion of a walled city from the times of Joshua not only expresses respect for the Land, but also implies the distinction between the Land of Israel and all other lands. Zohar [Parashat Emor 83b] elucidates the verse "Who is like your nation Israel, a single nation within the Land" [II Samuel 7:23] to mean that Israel can be considered a truly untied nation only within the Land. Perhaps the division of the Purim celebration into two separate days hints that Purim, which commemorates a miracle which took place outside the Land cannot achieve complete unification of the Nation of Israel, since that level requires Israel to be present within its Land.

Not Every Day is Purim?

 

Modern Hebrew has the phrase "Not every day is Purim," meaning that not every day does a miracle occur.

However, in a real sense, every day indeed is Purim. The Purim story, as presented in Megilat Esther, has no overt mention of God. The plot seems a series of random events which combine to bring about the salvation of Israel from Haman's proposed "Final Solution" of exterminating all the Jews within the 127 provinces of Ahasuerus' kingdom. However, the insightful reader understands that the Purim saga is the story of the Divine intervention which the Nation of Israel merited during the days of Mordechai and Esther. The Purim salvation is a miracle which God performed within nature. One who is perceptive understands that reality in general, all the more so Israel's existence, is a series of daily miracles performed by Divine Providence on behalf of God's chosen people. This is true even though it is done covertly. Thus, in fact, every day is Purim.

Indeed, every time we recite the Amida, we thank God for the daily miracles He performs for His nation. On a daily basis, God grants us miracles, miracles which He performs within the natural order.

Esther, Mordechai and Joseph

 

Our Sages drew attention to the parallels between the plot of Megillat Esther and the story of Joseph, with Midrash Breishit Rabba [87:6] commenting that "The travails of the descendants of Rachel (Joseph and Mordechai/Esther) are equal and their greatness is equal." The Midrash then points out six linguistic parallels between the description of the saga of Joseph in Genesis and the Megilla's description of the events of Purim. In point of fact, there are no fewer than twenty-seven parallels between the two Biblical stories! 

 It is axiomatic that the Bible chooses its words carefully and meaningfully, and it is clear that the abundance of similarities between the accounts of the adventures of the descendants of Rachel are intentional. The Men of the Great Assembly, who in Our Sages' tradition authored Megillat Esther (at least in its final version), chose wording similar to that of the Joseph saga in order to compare the two stories. The linguistic parallels express the parallel content.

The first general similarity is that in each of the stories, a lone Israelite (Joseph cannot be called a Jew), who hides his/her true identity rises to a position of great power and thereby is able to save the Children of Israel.

Beyond this general point, we may note additional similarities:

Y As Breishit Rabba mentioned, both heroes (for our purposes, Esther and Mordechai will be considered a single unit; some of the similarities between Joseph and the Purim story relate to Esther, others to Mordechai) are descendants of Rachel; Joseph her first-born son, Mordechai and Esther descendants of her younger son, Benjamin.

Y In each of the sagas, Israel faces annihilation: in the Joseph story, the threat is famine, and the Jews in the 127 provinces of Ahasuerus are threatened by Haman's decree to " destroy, kill, and cause to perish all the Jews." [Esther 3:13]

Y Each of the stories takes place primarily outside the Land of Israel.

Y In each of the sagas, Divine providence operates, as it were, in a natural manner, without overt intervention. This is especially notable in Megillat Esther, which is the only book of the Bible which does not mention God explicitly. In each case, when we reach the "happy ending," it becomes clear that the events were indeed guided by the hand of God.

It is clear to me that the Men of the Great Assembly, in writing, or at least editing, Megillat Esther in parallel to the Joseph story, intended to convey the basic message of the general rule of the history of the Nation of Israel. Professor Eliezer Berkovits writes that the history of Israel is on a totally different plane than that of the nations of the world. The history of the world is that of power history, while the history of Israel can be understood only as faith history. In a nutshell, the fate of Israel rests upon its faith.

Each of the stories conveys the centrality of Israel's unity. Joseph created a situation in which his brothers united in defense of Benjamin, and when they demonstrated that they would not abandon their youngest brother, the viceroy of Egypt revealed himself to his brothers. Haman's threat to Israel began with the nation's lack of unity, as the Aggagite himself announced "there is a single nation dispersed and disunited," [Esther 3:8] while the turning point comes with Israel's unity, as Esther instructed Mordechai "gather all the Jews…" [ibid.4:16] In each instance, it is Israel's unity which brings Divine salvation. Indeed, one of the most consistent lessons of Israel's history is that when the nation is disunited, it is at risk, while unity provides protection against the plots of our enemies.

Jethro's Joy

 

 

 

Jethro rejoiced over all the good things the Lord had done for Israel that He rescued them from the Egyptians.                                      Exodus 18:9

Our Sages offered different opinions on the reason for Jethro's joy:

"Over all the good things": Rabbi Yehoshua says: "The goodness of the manna; (Moses) said to Jethro: 'In the manna which God gave us, we taste bread, meat, fish, grasshoppers, and all the flavors of the world.'"

Rabbi Elazar haModa'i says: "The goodness of the well[i]. (Moses) said to Jethro: 'From the well which God provided for us we can taste honey, milk, new wine and aged wine and all the flavors of the world.'"

Rabbi Eliezer says: "The goodness of the Land of Israel. (Moses) said to Jethro: 'God will give us the Land of Israel and the World to Come and a new world, the kingdom of David, the priesthood and Levites.'"

                                   Mechilta of Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai

Each of the Mishnaic Sages who expresses his opinion on the reason for Jethro's joy sees the wording of the verse as hinting that there are, in fact, multiple layers within the reason for his joy.

Rabbi Eliezer sees the reason for Jethro's joy as being the fact that the Nation of Israel will enter the Promised Land and following this, merit the World to Come, a new world, the kingdom of David and the service of the kohanim and levi'im in the Temple.

We may note two aspects of the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer:

1] His colleagues saw the reason for Jethro's joy as stemming from the past, from what God had already done on behalf of His chosen nation, while Rabbi Eliezer sees the reason as being forward looking.

2] According to Rabbi Eliezer's opinion, Jethro perceived the purpose of the exodus from Egypt and understood that it was not merely to take Israel out of Egyptian servitude, but to bring the Chosen People into its Land, where the Nation of Israel will be able to establish a "new world" which will be founded on Torah which they will receive at Mount Sinai.

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[i] "The well of Miriam," which accompanied Israel throughout the wilderness until the death of Miriam [Babylonian Talmud, Ta'anit 9a]

The Time to Appreciate Beauty

 

When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "Look, I now know what a beautiful woman you are.                                "Genesis 12:11

            The translation, which is literal, implies that it is only now, upon descending to Egypt that Abram is aware of the beauty of his wife. Rashi, after quoting the Midrashic explanation that, due to the great modesty of Abram and Sarai, Abram indeed had not previously noticed his wife's beauty, presents the simple meaning (p'shat) of the verse: Abram indeed was aware of his wife's beauty, but now, as they descended to Egypt, "the time had arrived to be concerned about Sarai's beauty." The reason that it was specifically upon the descent to Egypt, and not within the land of Canaan, that Sarai's beauty became a practical issue was that she and Abram were coming to a place where "they are not accustomed to a beautiful woman." We may add that Abram's concern arose as well from the fact that the Egyptians "are steeped in lust." [Rashi's comment on verse 19]

            Panim Yafot offers an additional explanation of the connection between Abram's concern and his departure from the land of Canaan. The Torah tells the descendants of Abraham that "no one will covet your Land when you ascend to appear before the Lord God three times per year." [Exodus 34:24] That is, Abraham's descendants will not have to be concerned about their property and assets when they ascend to the Temple. Abraham's journeys within the land of Canaan were towards Jerusalem [Rashi, verse 4]. In these journeys, Abraham "continually ascended spiritually; as he journeyed physically, so too he ascended spiritually." Therefore, in his journeys within the Land, Abraham "trusted that no one will covet that which is his," including his wife. However, as Abraham was forced to leave the Land and distance himself from Jerusalem, his concern was aroused that others may covet his beautiful wife. Essentially, Abraham's concern and fear arose from his departure from the Promised Land and the protection it afforded him, his family and his possessions.  

 

The Tenth of Tevet in Heaven

Ḥatam Sofer explains that our Sages instituted a fast day to commemorate the beginning of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, which began on the Tenth of Tevet is that "On that day, when the Babylonian king approached the earthly Jerusalem, the Heavenly Court sat, and decided the fate of Jerusalem to be destroyed." That is, parallel to the earthly events, there was a heavenly event in which Jerusalem's fate was sealed. On the Tenth of Tevet, as the Babylonian army commenced the siege of Jerusalem, the Heavenly Court commenced its deliberations on the future of the Holy City and decreed that she and her Temple were to be destroyed.

Ḥatam Sofer adds "Our Sages teach that any generation in which the Temple is not rebuilt is to be considered as the generation in which it was destroyed, thus, every year the destruction (as it were) is renewed. Thus, annually on the Tenth of Tevet, the day on which the Heavenly Court began to deliberate the fate of Jerusalem, it reconvenes to determine the fate of the Holy City and the Temple for the coming year." As was the case, more than 2600 years ago, every year until the Temple is rebuilt, the Heavenly Court judges the Holy City and decrees an additional year of destruction.

Ḥatam Sofer cites the comment of Abudraham (14^th century CE), that should the Tenth of Tevet fall on Shabbat (an impossibility, based upon our fixed calendar), the fast would not be postponed. Ḥatam Sofer notes that, other than Yom Kippur, the only fast that is not postponed from Shabbat is the Fast of a Dream (though one who fasts because of a bad dream must fast on a weekday to compensate for having fasted on Shabbat). [Shulḥan Aruch, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 294:4]

Tur explains that fasting is inconsistent with the pleasure of Shabbat (oneg Shabbat), however, the Fast of a Dream carries an element of pleasure, in the fact that one who fasts hopes thereby to annul the bad dream. (Tur adds that nonetheless, one must have the compensatory fast for having disrupted the main pleasure of Shabbat.)

We may assert that fasting on Yom Kippur as well conveys an element of pleasure, in that the one who fasts engages also in repentance, through which he hopes to be sealed in the Book of Life for the coming year.

Based upon the above, Ḥatam Sofer suggests that since the prime purpose of fasting is "to arouse the heart to open the paths of repentance" [Maimonides, Laws of Fast Days, 5:1] the fast of the Tenth of Tevet also carries an element of pleasure, in that the one who fasts hopes to influence the decision of the Heavenly Court in favor of rebuilding Jerusalem.

In my opinion, the central point of Ḥatam Sofer's enlightening comments is that the essence of the Tenth of Tevet is the opportunity to improve ourselves and thereby bring about the building of the Third Temple. Indeed, as was the case on the Tenth of Tevet when the Babylonian siege began, God issued a warning that the destruction was near and provided our ancestors with the opportunity to repent and thereby avoid the destruction of Jerusalem, so too in our days, the Tenth of Tevet presents the opportunity to repent and rebuild the Holy City and her Temple.

It is our hands!