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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Vayikra
- Tzav
The simple answer (actually, it’s not so simple!) is that there is so much happening beneath the surface of this story, that we absolutely must go back & hear it again. Like a book or movie with a special twist at the end, when you see or read it again, after you know the ending, you can appreciate it so much more. So it is with Megilat Esther.
Beneath the fairy-tale like facade is a serious sequence of events which impact upon the entire history of Am Yisrael. The backdrop is the re-building of the Bet HaMikdash after the Babylonian exile: Ordered by Cyrus, prohibited by Vashti (the granddaughter of Nebuchadnezer) & then renewed by Darius II, son of Esther & Achashverosh.
And there is a lot to consider about the lead actress in this elaborate Purim play:
We have 2 fast-days named for a person: Tzom Gedalya & Ta’anit Esther. Now, I understand the Gedalya tragedy; his brutal assassination, at the hands of a fellow Jew, nonetheless, brought about a final, bitter end to the Jewish community in Israel after the Temple’s destruction. But Esther?! Why should her name be associated with such a "down" day? While the fast she called for did precede her appeal to the king, it seems inappropriate, almost cruel that our heroine princess should forever be linked with such a sad event.
But the deeper truth is that Esther, for all of her beauty & stunning triumph over Haman, is a truly tragic figure. Orphaned at a young age, married to her much older uncle (with whom she had no children), she is coerced into an immodest beauty contest & then forced to live with a crude, Jew-hating tyrant. She understands that her situation is completely hopeless, & she desperately wants to end it. That is why, says the Gemara, she invites Haman to her party along with the king. Her plan was to "make eyes" at Haman, in the hope that Achashverosh, in a fit of jealous rage, will kill them both. This, she reasoned, would solve all her problems at once.
The trait of m’sirat nefesh, self-sacrifice, characterizes all our greatest heroines. Think Rivka, think Rachel, think Chana, think Rut. These women do what they have to do at great cost to themselves & their personal freedom & luxury. They win their eternal greatness at a high price.
Let us therefore, especially on Purim, pay homage to all those – our mothers, our wives, our soldiers come to mind - who give selflessly of themselves for our survival.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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D'varim Judaism’s Social Vision
Re’eh
Giving is more than an act of generosity—it is an essential part of human dignity that belongs to everyone, rich and poor alike. The ultimate goal of help is to empower others to stand on their own.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
