Post date: Mar 06, 2012 5:27:7 AM
והעיר שושן נבוכה
V’ha’ir Shushan navocha
(3:15)
Haman dictated the edict exactly to his liking, and hurriedly sent the royal messengers to distribute the decrees locally and throughout the empire. There are opinions that differ as to the nature and reason that “the city of Shushan was bewildered.”
The Minchas Eirev tells us that the Jews of Shushan were in a state of confusion once the details of the decree became public knowledge. Haman was careful that the details not get publicized in the remote provinces—places where the prospect of a revolt was more likely. But a revolt wasn’t much of a concern in the capital city of Shushan.
The Yosef Lekach takes an entirely different approach. He opines that some of the officers in the remote provinces immediately tipped off the Jews about the contents of the letters in direct defiance of the instructions they were given. But in Shushan, only Achashveirosh and Haman knew the contents of the letters, and they didn’t divulge any of the details to anyone. So the Jews in Shushan knew less than those in the provinces.
And in yet another understanding, the Yosef Lekach and Peirush HaGra explain that all of the residents of Shushan knew that two letters were sent. They also knew that they were to prepare for the thirteenth of Adar. However, no one knew what they were supposed to prepare for or who the target of the letters was. So EVERYONE in Shushan was in a state of confusion!
[Al Hanissim]