Post date: Mar 09, 2011 4:2:47 AM
(Rav Yosef Dov Ber Soloveichik)
When Esther said “my people,” she was referring to those who would sacrifice their lives for Torah. These people were taking a great risk, and they deserved her great effort of protection. But then Esther continued and asked for “my family,” referring to those who had succumbed to assimilation. Despite their mistakes, they remained her brothers and sisters. Their mistake was serious, but those people were still part of her greater Jewish family and were also deserving of her protection.
וַיֹּאמֶר חַרְבוֹנָה...גַּם הִנֵּה הָעֵץ...גָּבֹהַּ חֲמִשִּׁים אַמָּה
Vayomer Charvonah…gam hineih ha’eitz…gavoah chamishim amah
(7:9)
The Gemara Megillah (16a) tells us that Charvonah was part of Haman’s “inner circle” that conspired to hang Mordechai. However, once it was clear that the pendulum had shifted out of Haman’s favor and was now in the direction of Mordechai, his allegiance suddenly changed and he advised the king to hang Haman. But how do Chazal know of Charvonah’s part in the conspiracy? This is best explained through a Mashal (parable).
A blind man hired an assistant to be his guide. One day, the blind man realized that 20 silver coins were missing. “Oh, my money! I’ve lost my money,” cried the blind man. His cries were so emotional and so loud, that the assistant feared that the authorities would soon arrive and discover that in fact he had taken them from the blind man.
In an effort to quiet the blind man, the assistant told him, “Don’t worry. I found your missing 20 silver coins.”
With that, the blind man smacked the assistant and said, “If you weren’t the thief, then how did you know exactly what I had lost? All I said was that I lost my coins. On your own you volunteered the precise number of coins I was missing!”
By saying that the gallows was 50 Amos (cubits) tall, Charvonah made it known that, even prior to the current conversation, he had intimate knowledge of the gallows. In doing so, he implicated himself in the conspiracy to hang Mordechai.
(Artscroll Purim)
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כִּי אֵיכָכָה אוּכַל וְרָאִיתִי בָּרָעָה אֲשֶׁר יִמְצָא אֶת עַמִּי
וְאֵיכָכָה אוּכַל וְרָאִיתִי בְּאָבְדַן מוֹלַדְתִּי
Ki eichuchuh uchal vi’ru’eesee bu’ru’uh asher yimtzuh es ami
Ki eichuchuh uchal vi’ru’eesee b’uvdon moladitee
(8:6)
The construction of this Pasuk seems redundant, but it can’t be that Esther is just waxing poetic. So what is the distinction between the people included in the first half of the Pasuk and the people included in the second half of the Pasuk?
Achashveirosh sought “לְהַשְׁמִיד לַהֲרֹג וּלְאַבֵּד אֶת כָּל הַיְּהוּדִים” (L’hashmid laharog u’li’abeid es kol hayehudim, 3:13) to annihilate, kill and destroy all the Jews. The term “Jews” implies those who hadn’t abandoned their religion by assimilating into the Persian culture. There are two possible responses to such a royal policy. Those who are fully committed risk their lives to remain true to their faith. Others give in to the allure of the life that their neighbors live and the pressure of being a marked nation and, unfortunately, abandon their religion.