Rabbi Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer הרב יוסף גבריאל בקהופר
Rav Chaim Kanievsky ZTVK"L
The Challal left with the Histalkus of the Gadol HaDor
Rischa D'Araisa Season 4 Episode 23:
But the Targum is different for these two instances of mikreh.
In the case of Eliezer it is:
זמין כען קדמי יומא
But in the case of Amalek it is:
די ערעך בארחא
Eliezer ask Hashem to destine a wife for Yitzchak. That mikreh is an hazmanah - because to Eliezer there are no coincidences, only Yad Hashem.
Amalek, on the other hand, is out to exploit random occurrence - to usurp the place of Am Yisroel. Which is, of course, the idea of Haman's lottery, a random destiny.
However, in the Megillah both Mordechai's and Haman's mikrim are described:
ית כל די ערעיה
The difference there, as I noted in the name of the Rebbitzen, is between ויגד (by Mordechai, rendered as וחוי) and ויספר (by Haman, rendered as ואשתעי).
מלבי"ם <באור הענין> על תהילים פרק יט פסוק ב
ויש הבדל בין ספור להגדה - שהמגיד יגיד דבר חדש הנוגע לחברו, וזה מגיד הרקיע - שמודיע בכל עת מעשי ידי ה' המתחדש בבריאה לצורך ישוב בני אדם, אבל ספורי השמים הם מדבר עבר שה' ברא הכל בששת ימי המעשה, שזה כמספר דבר שכבר היה לעולמים שאינו נוגע לנו בהוה
A slight variation. The targum of משכו is נגידו. A Naggid is a leader. Haggadah implies purposeful, directed, active telling. Sippur is a neutral, undirected recounting of events. Thus, the term Maggid is given to an orator who with his story is exhorting and directing his audience.
If something happens to Haman, it happened. That is all. No lesson to be learned, no direction to take. If something happens to Mordechai, it is instructive, it provides direction and demands action.
Hence, the ultimate haggadah in Tanach (Micha 6:8)
הגיד לך אדם מה טוב ומה ה' דורש ממך כי אם עשות משפט ואהבת חסד והצנע לכת עם אלקיך
See our previous post at
http://rygb.blogspot.com/2022/03/toras-purim-5782-part-2-some-good-short.html
The first Mikdash was the bechinah of Torah she'b'Ksav, and therefore it was destroyed on account of revealed sins. The second Mikdash was the bechinah of Torah she'b'al Peh, and therefore it was destroyed on account of a concealed sin. He adds a remarkable chiddush, that Torah she'b'al Peh is comprised of the middos tovos of Am Yisroel, which themselves are a product of the achdus that Haman denied (as Amalek exploited at Refidim), and which were firmly established by ההתאחדות כמ"ש נקהלו כו'. ועל ידי הקיבוץ שכתיב כנוס כו' כל היהודים.
Rav Hutner (Pachad Yitzchak to Purim, Kovetz Reshimos 22) suggests that the episode of Purim was a transfer point between the persecutions of Bayis Rishon, which were the "normal" wars of nation vs. nation, and the persecutions of Bayis Sheni, which were attempts to eradicate Judaism, Haman was interested in undermining both, of course. We may add that the Bayis Rishon persecutions were also on the revealed - the Jewish nation, while the Bayis Sheni persecutions were on the concealed - Judaism.
A book is public. A letter is private. But, on the other hand, the minhag is פושטה כאגרת - to "spread" the Meggilah like a letter. (see the elaboration at https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/303030?lang=bi)?!
It must be that throughout the year, the bechinah of penimiyus of Torah she'b'al Peh, with its correlated achdus and middos tovos are בהצנע לכת. But on Purim, just as the penimiyus is supposed to be revealed by ad d'lo yada (see just about every sefer written by Reb Tzadok for explanations at length!), it is also revealed as an "open letter."
The name itself - Megillas Esther - is both revealing (Megillah from gilui) and concealing (Esther from hester). Even Chazal wanted to keep the Megillah an Iggeres. Esther had to demand from them kisvuni l'doros. And they still had to find a source in Tanach to fulfill her demand. The chiddush is not the hester, the nes nistar, the Iggeres and the element of Torah she'b'al Peh. The chiddush is the gillui, the pirsuma nissa, the Sefer and the element of Torah she'b'Ksav.
We will come back to Iggeres. Later. Remember, it is 604. The 604th pasuk in the Torah is:
ספר בראשית פרק כד פסוק י"ב
וַיֹּאמַר ה' אֱלֹקי אֲדֹנִי אַבְרָהָם הַקְרֵה נָא לְפָנַי הַיּוֹם וַעֲשֵׂה חֶסֶד עִם אֲדֹנִי אַבְרָהָם
Note the word that appears for the first time in the Torah in this pasuk that is echoed in a different form, but in what is apparently the same meaning (which is very problematic!), in its last appearance in the Torah, in Parashas Zachor...
ספר דברים פרק כ"ה פסוקים י"ז-י"ח
זָכוֹר אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לְךָ עֲמָלֵק בַּדֶּרֶךְ בְּצֵאתְכֶם מִמִּצְרָיִם אֲשֶׁר קָרְךָ בַּדֶּרֶךְ
And, אם נשכיל נבין, how to deal with its appearance (which is also very problematic!), in its two appearances in the Megillah:
In Perek 4, Pasuk 7:
וַיַּגֶּד לוֹ מָרְדֳּכַי אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר קָרָהוּ וְאֵת פָּרָשַׁת הַכֶּסֶף אֲשֶׁר אָמַר הָמָן לִשְׁקוֹל עַל גִּנְזֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ בַּיְּהוּדִיים לְאַבְּדָם
and in Perek 6, Pasuk 13:
וַיְסַפֵּר הָמָן לְזֶרֶשׁ אִשְׁתּוֹ וּלְכָל אֹהֲבָיו אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר קָרָהוּ וַיֹּאמְרוּ לוֹ חֲכָמָיו וְזֶרֶשׁ אִשְׁתּוֹ אִם מִזֶּרַע הַיְּהוּדִים מָרְדֳּכַי אֲשֶׁר הַחִלּוֹתָ לִנְפֹּל לְפָנָיו לֹא תוּכַל לוֹ כִּי נָפוֹל תִּפּוֹל לְפָנָיו
Especially problematic according to the Gra there!
1.
שקל in gimatriya is 430. The 430th pasuk in the Torah is:
ספר בראשית פרק יח
(ה) וְאֶקְחָה פַת לֶחֶם וְסַעֲדוּ לִבְּכֶם אַחַר תַּעֲבֹרוּ כִּי עַל כֵּן עֲבַרְתֶּם עַל עַבְדְּכֶם וַיֹּאמְרוּ כֵּן תַּעֲשֶׂה כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתָּ
from which Chazal learn:
תלמוד בבלי מסכת בבא מציעא דף פז/א
כתיב ואקחה פת לחם וכתיב ואל הבקר רץ אברהם אמר רבי אלעזר מכאן שצדיקים אומרים מעט ועושים הרבה
Half of שקל is 215. The 215th pasuk is:
ספר בראשית פרק ט
(ט) וַאֲנִי הִנְנִי מֵקִים אֶת בְּרִיתִי אִתְּכֶם וְאֶת זַרְעֲכֶם אַחֲרֵיכֶם
2.
אגרת הפורים in gimatriya is 945. I haven't yet checked the 945th pasuk in the Torah. But...
it is, in gimatriya:*
הטוב שמך ולך נאה להודות
and אגרת itself is 604. I haven't checked the 604th pasuk yet either, But...
the 604th mitzvah in the Sefer HaChinuch is:
מצוה להכרית זרעו של עמלק
*However, in the Megillah it is written חסר...
939. If you are a Zionist you will be happy to know that this is,
ה אייר התש"ח
😊
but that's not the only gimatriya. It is also:
כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה
and
ידעו אותי למקטנם ועד גדולם
(ירמיהו ל"א ל"ג)
Rischa D'Araisa Season 4 Episode 22:
Featured Post
There is no moral ambiguity in Russia's unprovoked military aggression. It is evil, and Ukraine's history of antisemitism is simply not the issue right now
US embassy, branch office, in Tel Aviv, lit with the colors of the Ukrainian flag. (Wikimedia Commons)
Some have expressed their deep discomfort about valorizing the people of Ukraine in this war, given the long history and remaining embers of Ukrainian antisemitism. These emotions have been particularly well articulated in several columns written by emigres from Ukraine. They are understandable.
I do not understand or accept, however, the theological, philosophical, or political wavering. To that hand-wringing I respond: Let me make this easier for you.
This is not about Ukraine per se, it is about Putin’s naked aggression. It is about the injustice of “might makes right,” a belief that Hitler championed overtly. It is about exposing the lies of the bully rather than passively emboldening him and others like him.
Ukraine is certainly imperfect. It has not yet fully freed itself of that endemic corruption that flourished under Soviet rule and under Putin’s kleptocratic regime and the overlord he installed. It has not cleansed itself of bigotries or fully confronted the very dark sides of its long history. But it is a sovereign state with a democratically elected government. Putin has concocted against that government accusations with no factual basis as a pretext to create the veneer of a justification for his indefensible attack. In truth, there is neither Ukrainian belligerence nor a threat against which Russia needs to defend itself to justify this war.
People of good will stand with Ukraine against Russia today. We praise its people, because they have made this decision of their own volition – that if Ukraine falls, it will not be as yet another domino bringing others down with them, but on their own terms, resisting in their own voice, without cowardice or complicity. We praise them because, having chosen the path of democracy and liberty, they are utterly unwilling to abandon it, to scurry back to the protection of Mother Russia’s smothering embrace and participate in rebuilding a repressive empire. We remember that ruthless Russian empire, whether Czarist or Communist, and we know that it must not be reconstituted under the leadership of a KGB-trained dictator. We cheer on the Ukrainians who are fighting against that dictator, thus exposing to the world his calculated lies, his amorality, his army’s tactics and weaknesses, his expansionist ambitions, and possibly his eroding rational judgment.
Here I quote from the clear words of the representative of Albania to the United Nations, spoken at the Security Council meeting on the night of February 23, 2022 before Russia’s invasion:
Every development of the last 48 hours confirms to us and to the world that Russian worries have nothing to do with its security; that its anxieties are not linked to NATO enlargement; that this issue is not a confrontation between Russia and the West.
This is a confrontation between Russia and international law, the UN charter that it deliberately has chosen to ignore; a confrontation between a hegemonistic vision and the rules-based world order.
It’s not about Russia’s concern; it’s about Russia’s appetite.
The Ukrainians are facing another aggression just because they dare to exist, because they have chosen to be independent, because they have opted for democracy. This is a dark hour not only for Ukraine but for the entire international community as we witness with trepidation the progression of a pure act of aggression, carefully planned and cold-bloodedly being executed.
At this most critical moment, we stand firm for their right to be free and to choose who they want to be.
There is no moral ambiguity in this situation. We no longer live in a world in which one nation may simply gobble up its weaker neighbor, thankfully. Russia’s unprovoked military aggression and territorial ambitions are bringing fear, suffering, and death to millions. This is not genius, it is not savvy, it is not deserving of any sort of respect. This is evil and if unchecked, this sort of lawlessness threatens to make the world a far more dangerous place for everyone.
How long can you hover over both banks of the river? Choose a side and please don’t waffle (publicly). Nobody is asking you to declare Ukraine to be the bastion of all virtue. What this moment does demand is clarity about right and wrong. Root for the people who want to live in peace. Root against the ruthless dictator who sent his soldiers to kill them, quash any opposition, and install his puppet to govern them against their will. If “rooting” is not your thing, try this: Refrain from justifying the aggression of a bully because you think the bully might favor you, or because the bully’s friends donated a lot of money to your cause, or because the victim’s grandparents were bad, or because the enemy of your enemy is your friend. Don’t be distracted by arguments about politics or about who should have done what, if these blur your vision. Let us cultivate in our hearts compassion for human beings who are terrified, uprooted, and in danger. Let’s cultivate in our souls rejection of injustice, aggression, and bullying.
