וַיֹּ֤אמֶר הָמָן֙ לַמֶּ֣לֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵר֔וֹשׁ יֶשְׁנ֣וֹ עַם־אֶחָ֗ד מְפֻזָּ֤ר וּמְפֹרָד֙ בֵּ֣ין הָֽעַמִּ֔ים בְּכֹ֖ל מְדִינ֣וֹת מַלְכוּתֶ֑ךָ וְדָתֵיהֶ֞ם שֹׁנ֣וֹת מִכָּל־עָ֗ם וְאֶת־דָּתֵ֤י הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ אֵינָ֣ם עֹשִׂ֔ים וְלַמֶּ֥לֶךְ אֵין־שֹׁוֶ֖ה לְהַנִּיחָֽם׃
Lalu Haman berkata kepada Raja Ahasyweros: “Ada suatu bangsa yang tersebar dan terpencar di antara bangsa-bangsa di seluruh provinsi kerajaan Tuanku. Hukum-hukum mereka berbeda dari hukum setiap bangsa, dan hukum-hukum raja tidak mereka laksanakan. Tidak ada gunanya bagi raja membiarkan mereka.”
Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot
It is written (Neh. 8:6): “Ezra praised the Eternal, the great God.” In what did he declare Him great? He declared Him great by the Explicit Name113The name YHWH pronounced with the correct vocalization that is unknown to us.. Rav Mattanah said, he declared Him great by a benediction. Rebbi Simon in the name of Rebbi Joshua ben Levi: Why are they called the Men of the Great Assembly114The parallel is in Megillah 3:8; in Babli Yoma 69b it is spelled out that Rav Mattanah means the first benediction of the ‘Amidah that contains the sentence “the Great, Strong, and Awesome God” chosen by the Men of the Great Assembly, and the observation of R. Joshua ben Levi is intended to buttress the argument of Rav Mattanah.? Because they returned the Crown to its former status. Rebbi Phineas said, Moses fixed the formula of benediction, (Deut. 10:17) “the Great, Strong, and Awesome God.” Jeremiah said (Jer. 32:18): “the Great, Strong God,” but he left out “Awesome.” Why did he say “the Strong”? He may rightly be called strong because He sees the destruction and is silent. And why did he not say “the Awesome”? Awesome is only the Temple, as it is said (Ps. 68:36): “Awesome is the Eternal from Your holy place.” Daniel said (Dan. 9:4)115The same expression is used by Nehemiah, Neh. 1:5.: “the Great and Awesome God,” he did not say “the Strong”; His sons are put in neck-irons116Latin collare “neck-iron.”, where is His strength? Why did he say: “the Awesome?” He may well be called “the Awesome” by the wonders He did for us in the fiery oven. But when the Men of the Great Assembly came,they restituted Greatness to its former place, “the Great, Strong, and Awesome God.” Does flesh and blood have power to set limits in these matters? Rebbi Isaac ben Eleazar117There were two sages of this name, one a student of R. Yoḥanan and the other in the fourth generation, a colleague of R. Mana. In the Babli, the statement is attributed to R. Eleazar. said, the prophets know that their God is Truth and they will not fawn before him.
Megillah
“There is one people” (Esther 3:8): Rava said: No one was ever as skillful at evil language as Haman. He said to Ahashverosh: Come, let us destroy them. He replied: I am afraid of their God, lest He do to me as He did to my predecessors. He replied: They are “negligent” (yashu) of the precepts.
Megillah
Should you say that I will make a void in your kingdom, they are “scattered abroad among the peoples”. Should you say: There is some profit in them, I reply, “they are dispersed” [nifredu], like an isolated bough [peridah] that does not bear fruit. Should you say that they occupy one province, I reply, “they are in all the provinces of your kingdom”.