Post date: Mar 14, 2011 1:4:43 AM
וַיְזָתָא
Va’ye’zusuh
(9:9)
The Vav in the name וַיְזָתָא (Va’ye’zusuh) is unusually long. However, there is a very simple explanation for why this is so.
The process regarding Ma’aser B’heima (tithing animals) is that the owner puts all of his animals in a room or an enclosure, and as each 10th animal leaves, he designates it as the 10th and it goes to the Kohanim. However, if this process isn’t followed, and the 10th animal leaves the enclosure through a different opening, like a window or a skylight, then that animal is not designated as the 10th animal and does not go to the Kohanim.
The Kohanim in Shushan were not very fond of Haman’s family, to the extent that they looked at his sons as no better than a bunch of animals. The Kohanim approached Haman and informed him that he was required to designate his 10th son to be donated for Ma’aser B’heima. Haman, knowing his sons very well, readily agreed that they were, in fact, no better than a bunch of animals, and immediately agreed that they should waste no time in proceeding with the Ma’aser process.
One-by-one, each of Haman’s sons was led out of Haman’s house through the front door. However, as the end was approaching, Haman had a change of heart, and didn’t want to waste good labor by donating his last son to the Kohanim. To avoid the problem, he jumped up to the roof of his home, threw open the skylight, and nabbed his last son, וַיְזָתָא (Va’ye’zusuh), by the collar just before he was led out the door, and proceeded to start lifting him up through the skylight. The Kohanim saw what Haman was trying to pull, and they scrambled to latch onto וַיְזָתָא (Va’ye’zusuh) before Haman could lift him too high off the ground. Haman was pulling from above, and the Kohanim were pulling from below. It wasn’t very long before they had stretched him quite a bit. And that explains with perfect clarity why the Vav in his name is longer than usual.
(Vedebarta Bam)
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וּבַבִּזָּה לֹא שָׁלְחוּ אֶת יָדָם
U’vabizah lo shulchu es yudum
(9:10)
Achashveirosh gave the Jews permission to defend themselves against their enemies, and the Jews did only that. They only defended themselves—they did not take any booty from the fighting. Their only focus on that day was to save their lives.
This was atonement for the sin from the time of King Shaul. Shmuel the Navi had told the Jews that when they waged their war on Amalek, they were to leave the spoils behind. In fact, they were to destroy everything of the Amalekim. However, they didn’t do as they were supposed to, and this time, their actions were to be a rectification for what should have happened earlier in their history.
(Nachal Eshkol)