Post date: Mar 23, 2016 3:25:13 AM
“V’chol zeh einenu shoveh li”
All of this is worth nothing to me
(5:13)
At Esther’s first party, she volunteered little information about her true intention for summoning them together. But when Haman heard her invite him along with the king to yet another party the following day, he was tickled pink. Of course, his exuberance was short lived, for as soon as he encountered Mordechai who still refused to bow to him, his mood quickly soured. When he arrived home, he immediately gathered his friends and his wife to share the agony of his life with them.
Consider the totality of the situation, and it’s pretty hard to have much empathy for Haman. We’re talking about someone with a tremendous amount of money and power. He had offered 10,000 talents of silver in exchange to wipe out the Jews—an enormous amount of money. And he was now Achashveirosh’s most senior advisor (3:1) and had been given the king’s signet ring (3:10) to do with as he pleased. He was living the dream of many a man. Yet Mordechai was the fly in his ointment. This singular hold out from among the rest of the Jews caused him such anguish and fury to the extent that he felt as if he had nothing, saying “all of this is worth nothing to me.”
There is an age old question regarding why the righteous, who are supposed to be blessed, do not always appear to be living an easy and comfortable life. Rabbi Shimshon Pincus tells us that it’s really just a matter of priorities, and that it’s up to us to correct our perspective. Luxuries may seem like success, but if there is deep unhappiness, then the success is only superficial and is actually a curse. Alternatively, a simple lifestyle may not seem like success. But if there is satisfaction and happiness, then that person is truly blessed.
Haman verbalizes what many people have trouble understanding and accepting (even in our times). Happiness is not about the things you have (physical in nature or social status), as much as it is about your emotional wellbeing and your perspectives on life. Haman’s character flaws are evident in the Megilah and ultimately are key to his downfall. By recognizing these bad traits, hopefully we can distance ourselves from them as much as possible and thereby improve our own quality of life as a result.
[Glimpses of Light, p. 247]
“Vayimatzei kasuv”
And it was found written
(6:2)
As is the way of all kings, Achashveirosh kept an official record of all events that transpired under his rule. The incident involving Mordechai saving Achashveirosh’s life was included in this book of records, but the recording of this incident wasn’t a foregone conclusion. The official record keepers were no more pious than their ruler, and left to them, the event with Mordechai the Jew would have been omitted. However, it wasn’t left to them, and through a miracle, the record of that event appeared in written form in the record book. The Mei’am Lo’ez tells us that we see this in the passive voice of the Pasuk (2:23) when it says “Vayikaseiv b’sefer Divrei Hayomim” (and it was recorded in the book of Chronicles). It doesn’t say that it was written, but rather that the record of the event was captured in the record book, which was a miracle.
Not only that, but when Achashveirosh has trouble sleeping and his attendant reads from this very spot of the king’s record book, another miracle takes places. The attendant summoned to read from the record book must read from it exactly as it is written. But in order to avoid bringing attention to the honorable act that Mordechai the Jew performed, the attendant attempted to rewrite the history book right then and there. But much to his amazement, he was not successful in doing so, as the book kept rewriting itself with the correct text. This can be seen, again, from the passive voice used by our Pasuk when it says “Vayimatzei kasuv” (and it was found to be written). No matter how hard the attendant tried, he could not rewrite history (literally) as the truth constantly prevailed.
[Divrei Hayamim]