Post date: Mar 06, 2011 1:55:34 AM
וַיָּבוֹא אֶל בֵּיתוֹ וַיִּשְׁלַח וַיָּבֵא אֶת אֹהֲבָיו וְאֶת זֶרֶשׁ אִשְׁתּוֹ
Vayuvo el beiso vayishlach vayuvei es o’havuv v’es Zeresh ishto
(5:10)
Our Pasuk tells us that Haman came home, and sent for his friends and Zeresh. It seems odd that he would have to send for his wife. If she was out of the house running an errand, wouldn’t she return home once she was done? Yes, this would be the case, but only if she still called that house her home.
Zeresh wasn’t any fonder of Jews than was Haman. In fact, her father, Tasni, was also known as an anti-Semite among his community across the river from Shushan. (What a match!) As Haman’s stature in the empire rose, he felt that, despite their shared anti-Semitic interest, it was beneath him to have a wife whose family had no honorable lineage. That being the case, he divorced Zeresh and sent her back to her family.
As Mordechai continued his acts of defiance towards Haman, Haman started to suspect that his actions were possibly just a small part of a larger plot against him; though he wasn’t sure who Mordechai’s accomplices could be. After thinking through the situation, he determined that his ex-wife, Zeresh, must be part of the scheme. So he sent for Zeresh so that she could be questioned.
(Al Hanissim)
Starting tomorrow evening, the first day of ‘אדר ב, each post will contain TWO Purim Vorts!!