Tafsiran yang Mengutip untuk Ester 4:16

"[He will] build," "He will bring in" - like [it says] "Go, bring in all the Jews..." (Esther 4:16).

Therefore also, because Moses sinned four times against the Holy One, he first recounted his sins before God and praised God that He had punished him justly. The first was when the Holy One wanted to send him to Pharaoh in Egypt. Moses said: “I have never been a man of words” [Exodus, 4:10]. I have a heavy tongue and mouth to speak. The Holy One responded: who made and created speech for the person? I did this. I can also make you speak before Pharaoh. I am God the creator and the one who can heal all the people. Therefore, the Holy One said: Moses, because you did not want to go on My mission to Pharaoh, therefore, you will not be worthy to lead Israel into the land of Israel to conquer the thirty-one kings. Therefore, Moses says here, “the Rock – His deeds are perfect” [32:4]. That is to say, I have not done right against God when I said; I cannot speak, since God is a greater artisan than all artisans, over all the craftsmen. He could have made me speak before Pharaoh. Therefore, I praise God who correctly punished me. Concerning the second sin that Moses said to God: why have you allowed Israel’s servitude to Pharaoh to be heavy? The Holy One responded to him: now you will see what signs I will do for Israel. However, you will not see the miracles that I will do for Israel in the land of Israel. Concerning this, Moses says here, “yea, all His ways are just” [32:4]. That is to say, God is just in all of his deeds. The third sin was that Moses said: “could enough flocks and herds be slaughtered to suffice them?” [Numbers, 11:22]. That is to say, how can enough meat be given to Israel? The Holy One said: do I not have the power to give enough meat to Israel? If I want to, I have the power to do everything. Concerning this, he also said to Moses: you will see that I can give enough. However, you will not see the miracles that I will do in the land of Israel. Therefore, Moses here praised the Holy One and said: “a faithful God” [32:4]. God is truthful with all of His deeds. “Never false” [32:4]. He did not do anything unjust when He punished me. Concerning the fourth sin, Moses was supposed to speak to the rock to give water. Moses hit it with his staff. Thus, the Holy One punished him publicly and said: you will not come into the land of Israel, but you will die in the wilderness. Concerning this, Moses said here: “true and upright is He” [32:4]. That is to say, the Holy One is just with His law and judgment in what He did. Therefore, Moses said to Israel: you must accept the judgment and praise God that he forgave your sins. The Torah also alluded here to four exiles that Israel will have, because of their sins. Concerning this, they should say, “the Rock – His deeds are perfect” [32:4]. That is to say, when Israel will have troubles, they should say, “the Rock – His deeds are perfect” [32:4]. The first exile was in Babylonia. This was a strong and heavy exile, like a strong and heavy rock, and a much heavier stone than the Egyptian exile. Concerning this, he said: “the Rock – His deeds are perfect” [32:4]. This means, a strong rock of the Babylonian exile. This is much stronger than the Egyptian exile. With this, the Holy One is also just that he punished us and afterwards he said: “yea, all His ways are just” [32:4]. Concerning the exile of the Medes, that the Holy One punished them because they had pleasure at the banquet of Ahasuerus, and bowed down to the image. For these two sins, Mordecai and Esther said, “fast in my behalf; do not eat” [Esther, 4:16]. You should fast and not eat and drink. That is, because you ate by Ahasuerus, therefore you should fast and not eat. Here one can ask. One knows well that when one fasts, one does not eat. But the explanation is, he told us: you should fast because you ate by Ahasuerus. Therefore, you should not eat now. Regarding the sin that Israel bowed down to the image, therefore Mordecai did not want to bow down before Haman, since he made himself to be an image and a foreign god. Because of this, Mordecai placed himself in danger. Concerning this, the verse said here, “yea, all His ways” [32:4]. That is to say, the Holy One does everything, measure for measure, like by Ahasuerus. Afterwards, it says here, “a faithful God, never false” [32:4], in relation to the Greek exile. They hurt Israel very much with their evil decrees. They wanted to harm Israel’s observance of Torah and commandments. The Holy One kept his word that He said concerning the priests, “bless, O lord, his substance” [33:11]. That is to say, the Holy One blessed them with few people. The priests should have the power to struggle against the nations. It was also so in the time of the Greeks. The children of Yohanan, the priests, killed many nations. Concerning this, he says here, “a faithful God” [32:4]. That is to say, the Holy One, who is truthful with His words and does no injustice. Afterwards, he said, “true and upright is He” [32:4], regarding the exile of Edom that we are in now. This exile has no time for how long it will last. Therefore, he says, “true and upright is He” [32:4]. That is to say, even if it lasts long, yet the Holy One is righteous and true. He knows well why this exile should last so long.⁸Zeror ha-Mor, Deuteronomy, 32:4.

AND LO, A DREAD, EVEN A GREAT DARKNESS FELL UPON HIM. The Rabbis in the Midrash have interpreted this fourfold²⁷³“A dread,” “a great,” “darkness,” “fell.” expression to be an allusion to the servitude of the four exiles,²⁷⁴Mentioned further in the text. for the prophet²⁷⁵See Ramban further, Verse 17, as to the nature of the prophetic vision. Abraham found his soul overtaken by “a dread,” followed by “darkness,” which in turn became “a great darkness,” and then he felt as if an overwhelmingly heavy load “fell” upon him. Thus the Rabbis have said:²⁷⁶Bereshith Rabbah 44:20. “A dread, this is Babylon. Darkness, this is Media that darkened the eyes of Israel with fasting²⁷⁷A reference to the fasting in the time of Mordecai and Esther. (Esther 4:16.) and affliction. Great, this is the kingdom of Antiochus.²⁷⁸By prohibiting the practice of the commandments of the Torah, the Greeks caused “a great” darkness to descend upon the descendants of Abraham. Fell upon him, this is Edom.²⁷⁹Edom being a synonym for Rome.
This experience came to Abraham because when the Holy One, blessed be He, made a covenant with him to give the land to his children as an everlasting possession, He said to him, by way of a residuary of His gift, that during the four exiles the nations will subjugate his children and rule in their land, subject to the condition that they sin before Him. Following this general allusion, He then informed him explicitly concerning another exile into which they will first go, namely, the Egyptian exile with which he had already been punished, as I have explained.²⁸⁰Above, 12:10.