Vayikra: 5784 - Special for Purim: Haman, the enemy, the relentless schemer, and the wicked plan to sow discord in the kingdom: Rabbi Shimon Zonnenfeld, following the Daily Daf shiur by Rabbi Betzalel…

00:00 Speaker 1 Please.

00:01 Speaker 2 Since we’re now so close to Purim, there’s an explanation of Megillas Esther—a beautiful, sound, correct, enduring, and straightforward explanation, and so on. Megillas Esther tells us that Mordechai learned of all that had happened, and the Gemara in Tractate Megillah says he knew it through ruach hakodesh. Then it says that Mordechai put on sackcloth and ashes, went out into the city street, and cried out a loud and bitter cry. Esther hears about it and immediately sends Hathach to find out what this means and why it’s happening. What happened? Why is Mordechai wearing sackcloth and crying out so loudly? Mordechai tells Hathach what Haman has decreed, and it goes on to say that he gave him an account of the money and a copy of the written decree to show Esther. The question is: Why does Mordechai tell Hathach about the money? In the whole story, the matter of the money seems like a side issue. The main thing is that he sends a message to Esther to plead with the king and have the decree annulled. Why does the money matter here? It seems like a detail, something incidental. But there’s a very interesting explanation. Besides hating the Jewish people and wanting to destroy them, Haman was also a tireless schemer, and he had a plan here. He also had his eye on the king’s throne. He wanted, as it were, to bring down Achashverosh and take his place. So what was his plan? When he came to Achashverosh, he proposed: “There is one people, scattered and dispersed among the peoples. They do not keep the king’s laws. Let it be written that they be destroyed.” Then he says, “I will weigh out ten thousand talents of silver to those who carry out the work.” That’s an enormous fortune, ten thousand talents of silver. What was Haman’s intention? He had two aims: to destroy the Jewish people, and also to stir up

02:34 Speaker 2 hatred and rebellion against Achashverosh. Why? Because when the news reached all the king’s provinces that he was willing to destroy the Jewish people for ten thousand talents of silver, people would think: Tomorrow, if Achashverosh’s treasury runs empty, he’ll kill some other nation for money. That would stir up unrest and rebellion against King Achashverosh. That was Haman’s plan. Now, Achashverosh was a foolish king, but something here didn’t smell right to him. Haman was willing to spend so much money to destroy the Jewish people. He didn’t like it. What did he say? “The money is yours.” I don’t need your money. “And the people, to do with them as you see fit”—do what you want, but without the money. Haman, though, had a plan. He wanted to incite rebellion against Achashverosh, and he didn’t give up on it. When he wrote the letters and sent them to all the provinces, he included the account of the money in them too. Why? Because that was his plan. He wanted to turn the provinces against the king. And so, when Queen Esther held the wine banquet with Haman, she said, “For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, killed, and annihilated.” What does “we have been sold” mean? When were they sold? Achashverosh hadn’t wanted to take the money. So what did she mean by “we have been sold, I and my people”? Suddenly, it clicked for Achashverosh. He realized that Haman had another plan here. He had his eye on the throne, and that was why, in the decrees sent to all the provinces, he wrote that he had indeed paid the money. Achashverosh suddenly understood what Haman was up to. From there, events began to unfold until, in a complete reversal, “it was turned around.” Yes, they hanged him and his sons on the gallows he had prepared for Mordechai, and for the Jews there was

04:39 Speaker 2 light and joy, gladness and honor. So may all Your enemies perish, Hashem, with Hashem’s help; and “for the Jews there was light and joy, gladness and honor”—so may it be for us.

04:48 Speaker 3 Amen.

04:48 Speaker 2 A happy Purim to everyone.

04:50 Speaker 3 Amen.