Post date: Mar 07, 2017 3:54:38 AM
It just wasn't enough
“V’chol zeh einenu shoveh li”
Yet all this is worth nothing to me
(5:13)
The Gemara (Chullin 139a) informs us that all the way back in Parashas Bereishis (3:11), we already have an allusion to Haman in the Torah. When Odom and Chava are questioned by Hashem for, among other things, having eaten from the Eitz Hada’as, Hashem asks, “Hamin ha’eitz...” ([Did you eat] from the tree). The letters of the word “Hamin” are the same letters as the name “Haman.”
But the connection is more than just the similarity in the letters of these words. The actual behavior of Odom and Chava’s sin is embodied in Haman. Odom and Chava were living in Gan Eden, the most wonderful place in the world. And they were given permission to enjoy everything in Gan Eden except for a tree. Not an entire region, or an entire species, or even an entire orchard. One. Singular. Tree. Yet that minimal limitation was too much, and the next thing you know, they’re getting the boot with no refund on their cover charge.
Similarly, Haman was as high as a person could get without actually being the king over a massive empire (or, quite possibly, the entire inhabited/known world). He was second in command to Achashveirosh. He had everyone bowing to him as he passed in the streets. Well, everyone except Mordechai. One. Singular. Person. And that minimal amount of dishonor was too much for him to bear. Instead of recognizing that he had a tremendous amount of power and honor, he instead felt that “V’chol zeh einenu shoveh li.”
[Zvi Fleisher @ shemayisrael.com]
Make it good
“Ya’asu eitz gavo’ah chamishim amah”
A gallows fifty amos tall should be constructed
(5:14)
The Rokeach shares three insights with us related to these words. First, that Zeresh and Haman’s friends unknowingly made reference to the fact that Haman and his sons would all hang on the gallows. The word “Ya’asu” (Yud, Ayin, Sin, Vav) can be split such that Ayin, Sin, and Vav are in one group, and Yud is on its own. The group of letters can be read as “Eisav,” while the letter Yud has a Gematriah of ten. So what they were alluding to by using the word “Ya’asu” was that the descendent of EISAV (Haman) and his TEN sons would all hang from the fifty amos high gallows.
Additionally, the Rokeach points out that the Roshei Teivos (leading letters) of the words “Gavoah Chamishim” spell the word “Chag” (holiday), indicating that Haman would be hanged on a holiday. And in fact he was hanged during Pesach!
Lastly, the Gematriah of the word Haman equals the Gematriah of “Nun Amah” (50 amos) indicating that Haman was always destined to hang from fifty amos up. (Ed. - It’s easier with Hebrew lettering. The letters used are Nun, Alef, Mem, and Heih. Using the Gematriah rule of “Kollel,” that a Gematriah within one is close enough to make the desired connection, they are deemed to be “equal.” So, you can add Gematriah to the short list along with horse shoes and grenades.)
[Inside Purim, p. 279]