Tetzaveh: 5786 - "And King Achashveirosh said... Who is he, and where is he, who dared to do this": But didn't he know what he…

00:00 Speaker 1 Please. In the Al Hanissim prayer, we say that Hashem performed miracles for our ancestors “in those days, at this time.” Today we can see with our own eyes how the miracles that happened then, in the days of Purim, are happening to us right now. Esther is sitting with Achashverosh at the feast to which she invited Haman, and he says to her, “What is your wish and what is your request? Even to half the kingdom!” The second time, Esther says, “My life is my wish, and my people are my request. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. Had we been sold as slaves and maidservants, I would have kept silent, for the adversary is not worth the king’s loss.” And King Achashverosh says, “Who is he, and where is he, who dared to do such a thing?” Now there’s a question everyone asks: Why does Achashverosh suddenly jump up? “Who is he, and where is he?” Who signed off on it? He himself signed it. Doesn’t he know what he signed? Suddenly he rises in anger at the wine feast, as though someone has done something to him. You signed it yourself. The answer is a very difficult one. There are several answers to this. One of the answers given by Rabbi [unclear] in Jerusalem explains it this way: Haman was cunning, just as the Iranians today are cunning liars. In fact, he wasn’t only after the Jewish people. He was plotting against Achashverosh and wanted to take the throne. When he came to Achashverosh, he said, “There is one people, scattered and dispersed among the peoples. They do not observe the king’s laws, and it is not in the king’s interest to tolerate them.” Yes, he was descended from Amalek, so he hated the Jews. And he said to the king, “Let an order be written to destroy them.” In return, he said, “I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry out the work.” Do you know how much ten thousand talents of silver is? A talent is roughly more than fifty kilos of silver. More than fifty. He’s offering ten thousand talents! That comes to more than five—five tons of silver. It’s an astronomical sum. But he’s prepared to do it in order to

02:34 Speaker 1 destroy, kill and annihilate the Jews. He wants to tempt the king. King Achashverosh thinks it over and says, “Listen, the money is yours, and you can do whatever you want with the people.” Why didn’t he want to take the money? Achashverosh thought that if he took it, then tomorrow other countries—after all, he ruled over a hundred and twen—twenty-seven provinces—would think: For money, the king is willing to destroy, kill and annihilate a people, as he did to the Jews. Tomorrow he could do the same to us. He understood that this was no good; it could stir up opposition, and they might rebel against him. What, you’re going to destroy people for money? Kill them? So he said, “The money is yours.” I don’t need the money. I don’t want the money. Fine, so what instead? He said they would be slaves. They would be slaves rather than be destroyed, and whatever they earned from their work would go into the king’s treasury. So the king wouldn’t lose out, either. The king agreed to that. What happened afterward was that Haman, being cunning, did the following: In the letters he sent to all the provinces, he mentioned the money—that he had given the king ten thousand talents of silver. But in the copy for the king himself, he deleted the part about receiving the money, because that would make it look as though the king was willing to destroy and kill people for money. So he left that part out. “And Mordechai knew all that had been done.” Mordechai immediately understood Haman’s trick and what he was trying to do. First, he made all the spiritual preparations needed to annul the decree. Then he put on sackcloth and went through the streets of the city, until Esther sent Hasach, one of the king’s eunuchs. “What is this,

04:50 Speaker 1 and why is this happening?” What’s going on here? Mordechai is walking around in sackcloth. So Hasach comes out to the city street and asks Mordechai, “What happened?” Mordechai tells him everything that happened, mentioning the matter of the money and the text of the decree issued in Shushan. Mordechai sends word to Esther so she can show Achashverosh Haman’s trick. What is he trying to do? Haman was given a letter that didn’t say he had paid money—the king had given the money to him. But in the letters he sent to all the other peoples, he wrote that he had paid the king ten thousand talents of silver. Now, as they sit at the king’s feast, the wine feast, Esther shows Achashverosh: “For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. Had we been sold as slaves and maidservants, I would have kept silent.” She is showing Achashverosh the forgery. There’s a letter you signed that makes no mention of money, while the letters sent to all the king’s provinces say something else. He falsified them. They mention the money, and that’s meant to stir up a rebellion against King Achashverosh. That’s when it clicked for Achashverosh, and he became furious: “Who is he, and where is he, who dared to do such a thing?” To falsify the king’s letter, changing what he had agreed to and writing something else! That’s why he was so angry. That’s King Achashverosh. And on that night, you know, the king has the account read to him of how Mordechai saved him. Then Haman arrives, and the king asks, “Who is in the courtyard?” They tell him, “Haman”—he has come to ask King Achashverosh for permission to hang Mordechai. King Achashverosh thinks: Mordechai is the one who saved me. Haman has come now to kill Mordechai. So he immediately says, “Hang him on it.” Hang Haman. And from this came the story of

07:02 Speaker 1 Purim. So may all Your enemies perish, Hashem.

07:06 Speaker 2 Amen.

07:06 Speaker 1 With Hashem’s help, may He perform miracles for us.

07:08 Speaker 2 Amen.