Musar su Ester 8:16

The construction of the Tabernacle, first reported in Parshat Terumah, commences with the Torah's instruction to make the Holy Ark, the repository of the Tablets, symbol of the light of Torah. When you invert the letters in the word ארון, Ark, you have אורן, "their light." This alludes to the fact that the Torah in the Ark is the source of light for all of us. Parshat Tetzaveh, on the other hand, commences with the commandment to provide the oil for lighting up the lamps of the Candlestick. When we look at the adjective used by the Torah for the olive oil to be used, i.e. זך, we note that the word זך has a numerical value of 27, i.e. the number of different letters used in the written Torah when we include the five "final" letters as separate letters. The word כתית which describes the pounding the olives have to undergo before they yield the oil, is an allusion to the way in which a potential Torah student has to "pound himself" in order to study with the proper kind of dedication. We find an allusion to this in Esther 8,16: ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששון ויקר, "The Jews enjoyed light and gladness, happiness and honour." The word אורה is a reference to Torah. They emerged from the darkness caused by Haman into a great light, the light of Torah."

The word אורה is understood to refer to the spiritual illumination provided by Torah; the word שמחה to יום טוב, a holiday; the word ששון to circumcision, whereas the word ויקר is a reference to the phylacteries. The scriptural proof for the latter statement is derived from Deut. 28,10: "All mankind will see that the name of the Lord is on you and they will be in awe of you." Rabbi Eliezer the Great said that this is a reference to the phylacteries worn on the head.

[The author connects four questions raised in Chulin 139 concerning where the Torah had alluded to future events as corresponding in some way to the four expressions used in Esther 8,16. He also draws parallels with the expressions used in the Torah for G–d's relationship with the Jewish people such as חשק, חפץ, דבק, i.e. different levels of liking for the Jewish people. The expression דבקות is used as applying to the Israel/G–d relationship in a reciprocal manner, thus creating a fourth expression of G–d's relationship with Israel. Those who are interested in studying these allusions in greater detail are referred to the original text. The author uses statements in the Talmud such as that we have an allusion to Mordechai in the Torah because the Torah says in Exodus 30,23 מר דרור, as his justification for finding similar allusions to the Purim i.e. Amalek episode in our portion. I will continue quoting his commentary concerning such allusions. Ed.]