Post date: Mar 03, 2015 4:59:33 AM
A change from the norm
Vaya’avor Mordechai
And Mordechai left
(4:17)
Esther told Mordechai that she would approach Achashveirosh uninvited provided that he gathered the Jews and had them fast on her behalf for three days. And with that, Mordechai left the palace. The Gemara (Megilah 15a) has two different (yet somewhat related) interpretations of the word “Vaya’avor.”
(1) It could be read as “And he removed,” referring to the Mitzvahs of eating Matzah and drinking the four cups of wine on Pesach because of the three day fast that Esther had insisted on (which overlapped with Pesach).
(2) Another understanding is that it could mean that as Mordechai left, he didn’t stop at the river to collect some water, but rather he passed the body of water without stopping. In any situation, he would have stopped that day to collect water to keep overnight so that he would have Mayim shelanu (water that rested overnight under his control) with which to bake the Matzahs for the next day, Pesach. However, because of the three day fast (which overlapped with the first day of Pesach, the night on which the Seder normally took place, the only day on which there is a biblical requirement to each Matzah), there was no need for Mayim shelanu this year.
(3) A third understanding [source unclear] could be that the Megilah is simply telling us that there was a body of water between the palace and Mordechai’s home to help us confirm the location of Shushan in the future. This could be relevant in helping us identify the location so that the inhabitants of Shushan would know to read the Megilah on the 15th of Adar.
[Zvi Fleisher @ shemayisrael.com]
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A really good replica
Vi’hamelech yosheiv al kisei malchuso biveis hamalchus
And the king was sitting on his throne in the throne room
(5:1)
It would seem rather obvious that the king’s throne is in his throne room in the palace. Why does the Megilah feel the need to specify the precise location of the throne?
This is the second time that the Megilah is hinting to us that the existence of the throne predated Shushan being the capital city. Near the beginning of the Megilah (1:2) when the Pasuk says that Achashveirosh was sitting on his throne which was in Shushan the capital, the same question is asked regarding the seeming redundancy of the Pasuk. Targum Sheini on that Pasuk recounts the origin of the throne. He tells us that Achashveirosh had wanted to have the throne of Shlomo Hamelech brought to his palace, but when that proved to be an impossibility, he had master artisans in Shushan build a replica of the throne. However, because of its enormity, it was impossible to transport this masterpiece to the capital. Unable to fathom the prospect of not using his newly completed throne, Achashveirosh took the next logical step (in his twisted little mind) and simply moved the capital to Shushan so that he could enjoy this fabulous throne.
At this point, by mentioning the throne before the throne room, the Megilah is reemphasizing that it was most important to Achashveirosh to have this particular throne. And since he couldn’t bring the throne to his palace, he had a new palace built around the throne.
[Zvi Fleisher @ shemayisrael.com]