Post date: Mar 24, 2016 3:50:46 AM
“Vayomeru na’arei haMelech misharasav”
The king’s young men who ministered to him answered
(6:3)
Throughout the Megilah different officers are mentioned along with their titles or positions; officers in the palace and officers in the countries. The Megilah isn’t a history book, so we need to realize that this level of detail isn’t superfluous to the transmission of the miracle. In this case, we again hear from the Na’arei haMelech, the chamberlains (see Vort from 7 Adar II on 2:2). They were the ones who had given Achashveirosh the completely inappropriate advice that a beauty pageant was the best way to fill the vacancy left by Vashti. The chamberlains were not considered as part of the royal staff of the palace. They were just laborers. And they were not fans of Achashveirosh or Haman, and now they were going to play a big role in setting up Haman’s downfall.
When Haman arrived at the king’s quarters on the night that he could not sleep, the chamberlains didn’t bother to warn Haman that the king was likely unsettled and irritable from being unable to sleep. True friends of Haman would have suggested that he return at a time when the king was in a better mood. But these guys were far from being friends of Haman, so they let him walk into a treacherous situation.
By specifying the positions/titles of the various people mentioned throughout the Megilah, we can take notice that in this case Achashveirosh did not consult with his cabinet or official advisors. The fact that he consulted with the chamberlains (who didn’t like either of them) created a hole in the scheme that Haman was planning in conjunction with Achashveirosh.
Every detail in the Megilah is there to help us understand the magnitude of the Hashgacha Pratis that was present Bayamim haheim, in those days.
[Glimpses of Light, p. 272]
“Ma la’asos ba’ish asher hamelech chafetz bikaro”
What shall be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor
(6:6)
A few Pesukim earlier (6:3) Achashveirosh asked his servants, “What honor and greatness was given to Mordechai for [having saved his life]?” Clearly he felt that the person who saved his life deserved both honor (ie, pubic recognition) and greatness (ie, an increased amount of power). The Vilna Gaon points out that when Achashveirosh poses this question to Haman in our Pasuk, he asks only about the honor owed to such a person, omitting any mention of rewarding the person with additional power. If Achashveirosh had asked Haman about how to reward someone with both honor and greatness, Haman might have figured out that the king was not referring to him since Achashveirosh had already instilled enough power in Haman to make him almost as powerful as himself (3:1).
Often times, honor breeds a thirst for additional honor, and Haman was not immune from this. When the prospect of additional honor presented itself to him, he suddenly became intoxicated with the possibility. He proceeded to list a generous helping of royal honor that he presumed was destined for himself. If Achashveirosh wasn’t already irritable enough from the lack of sleep, this definitely pushed him over the edge. If Haman hadn’t been so sure that he was the target of the king’s gratitude, he wouldn’t have gone quite so far with the list of honors. Of course, had Achashveirosh opted to reward Mordechai with both “honor and greatness” as he had originally planned, there was a better chance that Haman would have realized that the king was referring to someone else, and Haman’s list would have been vastly different. It takes a lot of rationalizing to come to any understanding other than that Hashem was manipulating the situation to set up the downfall of Haman and the salvation of Klal Yisrael.
And let’s not forget about the gallows that Haman had built. Haman was so excited about having just completed the constructions of the gallows that he couldn’t even wait until the morning hours to speak to Achashveirosh about his desire to hang Mordechai from it. Had the construction taken any additional length of time, it’s possible that Achashveirosh might have already been in the middle of rewarding Mordechai when Haman was ready to ask Achashveirosh for permission to hang him. (How awkward would that have been?!) And had the construction of the gallows taken less time, it’s possible that Haman might have gotten permission from Achashveirosh to hang Mordechai before the king had decided to reward Mordechai for having saved his life.
But since the construction of the gallows ended when it did, Haman came to the king at the precise moment after he had decided to reward Mordechai, but before he had actually done so. This was perfect timing for Mordechai and Klal Yisrael, and the worst possible timing for Haman. Don’t forget that Haman’s hatred for Mordechai had been simmering for years, yet he decided to act on it on exactly the same night that Achashveirosh decided to reward Mordechai for his loyalty for something that had happened years earlier. That’s a lot of coincidences to consider! (Hint: “Coincidence” = Hashgacha Prais, Divine orchestration of events!)
[Glimpses of Light, p. 275]
“V’nason halevush v’ha’sus”
Then let the robe and horse be entrusted
(6:9)
Feeling quite confident that he was the object of the king’s gratitude, Haman went for broke when he started describing the tribute that should be bestowed on the honoree. Rashi points out that in the previous Pasuk, Haman mentioned the royal crown along with the king’s robe and the king’s horse. But in this Pasuk, when he actually describes what should be done, the crown is curiously missing from the list. Rashi explains that Haman crossed the line when he mentioned the royal crown, and the fury of Achashveirosh was apparent. Realizing that he had gotten greedy, he quickly modified the list omitting the crown this time.
Ibn Ezra takes a different approach and says that Haman never actually insinuated that the crown should be used. He was merely using the crown as a point of reference to help identify which of the king’s horses should be used. Haman meant that the horse that the king rode on at the time of his coronation should be the same horse that the honoree will now be led on. (Targum Sheini tells us that the name of the horse was “Shpirgaz.” Tuck that nugget in your back pocket for Torah-Bowl.)
[Zvi Fleisher @ shemayisrael.com]
“Vayisaper Haman…eis kol asher karahu”
And Haman told…everything that had happened to him
(6:13)
There are many instances of “chance occurrences” and “happenstance” in the Megilah that, upon retrospection, are clearly the hand of Hashem. Haman being charged with leading Mordechai on a parade route when he had come to Achashveirosh in search of permission to hang Mordechai is quite possibly the biggest example of them all. We’re taught that Haman descended from the nation of Amalek, the nation that branded events as “chance” whenever possible, and we’re given an example of this in our Pasuk.
Haman returns home from having led Mordechai through the streets of Shushan in the most humiliating of parades. This was quite possibly the most unlikely of events that he could have expected—something that could have only played out under the orchestration of Hashem. Nonetheless, he didn’t miss the opportunity to chalk it up to nothing other than dumb luck. Our Pasuk tells us that Haman relayed to his wife and friends all that “karahu” (happened). The root of the word “happened” is the letters Kuf, Reish, Heh, which is the same root as the word “mikrah,” a chance occurrence. He wouldn’t have imagined such irony playing out even in his wildest dreams. But attribute it to a Higher Being? Not a chance. (Pun intended.)
R. Yehuda Y. Steinberg also points out that the letters of the word “Mikrah” (Mem, Kuf, Reish, Heih) can be rearranged to spell “Rak MeiHashem” (only from Hashem), indicating that although events may appear to be by chance, they only happen because they were willed by Hashem.
[Glimpses of Light, p. 28]
“Im mi’zerah haYehudim Mordechai asher hachilosa linpol lifanav lo suchal lo ki nafal tipol lifanav”
If Mordechai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but will undoubtedly fall before him.
(6:13)
Haman told Zeresh and his friends what had happened to him with leading Mordechai on a grand parade through Shushan. She responded to him saying that “If Mordechai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but will undoubtedly fall before him.” Usually “to fall” is expressed as the word “Lipol” with the first letter of the verb (the Nun) disappearing. However, in our Pasuk, the word is expressed as “Linpol,” with the Nun still present.
R. Zvi Fleisher says that perhaps the letter Nun was left in the word because of the context. Zeresh and Haman’s friends were telling him of his impending doom. The Gematriah (numerical value) of the word “Linpol” (Lamed, Nun, Peih, Lamed) is the same as the word “Keitz” (Kuf, Tzadi) which means “the end.” Just to make sure Haman understood the impending doom that they were predicting, they not only made use of syntax that could not be misconstrued, they even used a word that itself meant quite ominously that “the end is near.”
[Zvi Fleisher @ shemayisrael.com]