Post date: Mar 02, 2020 5:9:56 AM
“Kach es halevush v’es hasus”
Take the attire and the horse
(6:10)
Why did Achashverosh send specifically Haman to parade Mordechai through the streets of Shushan wearing the king’s clothing and riding the king’s horse? Didn’t he understand that to lead Mordechai in such a manner was quite disgraceful to his second-in-command? Couldn’t he have taken Haman’s idea of dressing Mordechai in the king’s clothing and riding the king’s horse and had almost anyone else lead Mordechai through the streets in this manner?
According to Esther Rabbah, the fateful night of Achashverosh’s insomnia was because he had just experienced a horrible dream in which Haman was holding a sword with the intent to kill him. As you can imagine, he was quite agitated from this dream. And when his servants told him that Haman was in the courtyard, Achashverosh immediately assumed that he was there for no other reason than to kill him! After all, who drops in on the king in the middle of the night simply to shmooze?! Having decided on the reason for Haman’s presence, he determined that the appropriate course of action was to humiliate Haman.
The Melo Ha’omer takes a completely opposite approach compared to the Medrash. The Melo Ha’omer says that Achashverosh felt such a sense of responsibility to repay Mordechai properly, that he looked for the most prestigious way to honor him. In Achashverosh’s mind, there was no one more prestigious to lead Mordechai through the streets of the capital than his second-in-command, Haman. Similarly, the Maharal says that because Achashverosh felt so strongly about repaying the debt owed to Mordechai, he resolved that the first person who appeared before him would be charged with taking care of this more pressing need. It just happened to be Haman who was the first to appear before Achashverosh, so he was tasked with this responsibility.
A different angle is taken by the Alshich. Instead of Mordechai’s honor being the focal point, Achashverosh was in fact looking out for none other than himself! Achashverosh was concerned that there might be a conspiracy between Esther and Haman, and he was hoping anyone with knowledge of the matter would come forward. He wanted everyone to see that even the honor of the second-in-command, Haman, was unimportant compared to the reward for providing intel that could save the king’s life. By having Haman parade Mordechai around the city, everyone was able to see how much the king valued intel.
The Maharal opines that Achashverosh was struck by the vast contrast between Haman and Mordechai. Haman just finished making a (weak) case for being honored using the king’s clothing and horse, yet there seemed to be no good reason to do so. Yet Mordechai, someone who had saved the king’s life, someone who truly deserved to be honored in a most prestigious way, was a very humble person, and probably wasn’t even thinking about the unpaid debt that the king had to him. So, either in a fit of disgust and rage (or perhaps with a chuckle at the irony of the situation), he sent Haman to honor Mordechai as he sought to have himself honored. (One can only wonder if Achashverosh afterward rubbed his hands together and let out a good “Buwahahahaha,” at his insight, and subsequent untwisting of the situation.)
Lastly, in possibly the most “V’nahafoch hu” themed explanation of what had taken place, the Chut Shel Chessed points out that on this night, there were two very significant transformations that took place involving Achashverosh’s opinions of both Mordechai and Haman. Until this point, Mordechai had been hated by Achashverosh no less than Haman hated Mordechai. However, upon being reminded how Mordechai had saved the king’s life, he realized that Mordechai had, in fact, been quite loyal to him. And while Haman was trying to get honor that was undeserved, to the extent of even asking the king to allow him to use the king’s clothing and horse, Mordechai was humble and not looking for personal recognition, despite having saved the king’s life. Haman was undeserving of honor, yet tried mightily to achieve it. Yet, Mordechai who truly deserved royal recognition, was not looking for it in the slightest. The irony of the situation was not lost on Achashverosh. In fact, the disparity between the two of them was so glaringly obvious, that he felt the immediate need to publicly transfer Haman’s prestige to Mordechai.
[Megillas Esther: The Answer Is…, p. 183]