에스더 3:13의 미드라쉬
וְנִשְׁל֨וֹחַ סְפָרִ֜ים בְּיַ֣ד הָרָצִים֮ אֶל־כָּל־מְדִינ֣וֹת הַמֶּלֶךְ֒ לְהַשְׁמִ֡יד לַהֲרֹ֣ג וּלְאַבֵּ֣ד אֶת־כָּל־הַ֠יְּהוּדִים מִנַּ֨עַר וְעַד־זָקֵ֨ן טַ֤ף וְנָשִׁים֙ בְּי֣וֹם אֶחָ֔ד בִּשְׁלוֹשָׁ֥ה עָשָׂ֛ר לְחֹ֥דֶשׁ שְׁנֵים־עָשָׂ֖ר הוּא־חֹ֣דֶשׁ אֲדָ֑ר וּשְׁלָלָ֖ם לָבֽוֹז׃
이에 그 조서를 역졸에게 부쳐 왕의 각 도에 보내니 십이월 곧 아달월 십삼일 하루 동안에 모든 유다인을 노소나 어린 아이나 부녀를 무론하고 죽이고 도륙하고 진멸하고 또 그 재산을 탈취하라 하였고
Sifrei Devarim
(Devarim 1:3) "And it was, in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel": What does this ("in the eleventh month") come to teach us? If that a year has eleven months, is it not written (Esther 3:13) "on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar"? And thus is it written (I Kings 4:7) "And Solomon had twelve commissioners over all of Israel … (Ibid. 19) and one commissioner over the land." For which month? The intercalated month, whereby we are taught that the year (itself) is twelve months. R. B'na'ah says: Now before Solomon did we not know that the year was twelve months? Is it not written (I Chronicles 1:27) "… month by month throughout all the months of the year … the twelfth (marshal), for the twelfth month, etc." — But it ("the eleventh month") comes to teach us that in thirty-six days (from the first of Shvat ["the eleventh month"] to the sixth of Adar) Moses explained the entire Torah, as it is written (Devarim 34:8) "And they mourned Moses thirty days" and (Joshua 1:11) "for in three more days you will be crossing this Jordan," and (Ibid. 4:19) "And the people ascended from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month (Nissan)." Subtract thirty-three days retroactively and it is found that Moses died on the seventh of Adar. (And whence is it derived that Moses was born on the seventh of Adar? From (Devarim 31:2) "And he said to them: I am one hundred and twenty years old this day." Let "this day" not be written. Why is it written? (To signify) this day (the full circuit of) my years and days have been completed — whence it is derived that the Holy One Blessed be He "sits" and fills out the years of the righteous from day to day and from month to month and from hour to hour, as it is written (Shemoth 23:26) (If you are righteous) "the number of your days shall I complete." — whence it is derived that in thirty-six days Moses explained the entire Torah.
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Eikhah Rabbah
“Who is it who said and it occurred, if the Lord did not command it?” (Lamentations 3:37).
“Who is it who said and it occurred, if the Lord did not command it?” – who did command? Haman commanded, but the Holy One blessed be He did not command. Haman commanded “to destroy, to kill, and to eliminate” (Esther 3:13). But the Holy One blessed be He did not command it, but rather, “the plot [that he devised]…return [upon his head]” (Esther 9:25).
“Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that evil and good emerge?” (Lamentations 3:38).
“Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that evil and good emerge?” – Rabbi Elazar said: From the moment that the Holy One blessed be He said: “See, I have placed before you today: life and good, and death and evil” (Deuteronomy 30:15), no good has emerged for a performer of evil nor evil for a performer of good, but rather good for a performer of good and evil for a performer of evil, just as it says: “The Lord will reward the performer of evil in accordance with his wickedness” (II Samuel 3:39).
“Of what shall a living man complain, each man for his sins?” (Lamentations 3:39).
“Of what shall a living man complain?” – it is sufficient for him that he is alive. Rabbi Levi said: The Holy One blessed be He said: Your life is in My hands, yet you complain? Rabbi Huna said: Let him stand like a mighty one, confess his sins, and not complain. Rabbi Berekhya said: Of what shall he complain about the One who gives life to the worlds? If he seeks to complain, it should be each man for his sins. Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] says: Descendants of bearers of grievance; Adam, the first man, after all the good that I bestowed upon him, he expresses a grievance before Me and says: “The woman whom You gave to be with me, [she gave me from the tree, and I ate]” (Genesis 3:12). Jacob, too, did so. I am engaged in crowning his son king in Egypt, and he expresses a grievance before Me: “[Why do you say, Jacob…] my way is hidden from the Lord” (Isaiah 40:27). His children, too, I am engaged in providing them with easily digestible bread so that no one among them will be afflicted with indigestion or diarrhea, and they express a grievance before Me: “Our soul loathes this insubstantial bread” (Numbers 21:5). Zion, too, is similar: “Zion said: The Lord has forsaken Me and the Lord has forgotten Me” (Isaiah 49:14).
“Who is it who said and it occurred, if the Lord did not command it?” – who did command? Haman commanded, but the Holy One blessed be He did not command. Haman commanded “to destroy, to kill, and to eliminate” (Esther 3:13). But the Holy One blessed be He did not command it, but rather, “the plot [that he devised]…return [upon his head]” (Esther 9:25).
“Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that evil and good emerge?” (Lamentations 3:38).
“Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that evil and good emerge?” – Rabbi Elazar said: From the moment that the Holy One blessed be He said: “See, I have placed before you today: life and good, and death and evil” (Deuteronomy 30:15), no good has emerged for a performer of evil nor evil for a performer of good, but rather good for a performer of good and evil for a performer of evil, just as it says: “The Lord will reward the performer of evil in accordance with his wickedness” (II Samuel 3:39).
“Of what shall a living man complain, each man for his sins?” (Lamentations 3:39).
“Of what shall a living man complain?” – it is sufficient for him that he is alive. Rabbi Levi said: The Holy One blessed be He said: Your life is in My hands, yet you complain? Rabbi Huna said: Let him stand like a mighty one, confess his sins, and not complain. Rabbi Berekhya said: Of what shall he complain about the One who gives life to the worlds? If he seeks to complain, it should be each man for his sins. Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] says: Descendants of bearers of grievance; Adam, the first man, after all the good that I bestowed upon him, he expresses a grievance before Me and says: “The woman whom You gave to be with me, [she gave me from the tree, and I ate]” (Genesis 3:12). Jacob, too, did so. I am engaged in crowning his son king in Egypt, and he expresses a grievance before Me: “[Why do you say, Jacob…] my way is hidden from the Lord” (Isaiah 40:27). His children, too, I am engaged in providing them with easily digestible bread so that no one among them will be afflicted with indigestion or diarrhea, and they express a grievance before Me: “Our soul loathes this insubstantial bread” (Numbers 21:5). Zion, too, is similar: “Zion said: The Lord has forsaken Me and the Lord has forgotten Me” (Isaiah 49:14).
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Esther Rabbah
“It was contemptible in his eyes to lay hands on Mordekhai alone, for they had told him of Mordekhai’s people; Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were in the whole kingdom of Aḥashverosh, the people of Mordekhai” (Esther 3:6).
“It was contemptible [vayyivez] in his eyes to lay hands on Mordekhai alone” – contemptible one son of contemptible one. It is written there: “Esau showed contempt [vayyivez] to the birthright” (Genesis 25:34), and here it is written: “It was contemptible in his eyes.”
“Haman sought to destroy all the Jews” – Rabbi Shimon ben Yosei ben Lakonya said: In this world, Israel was likened to rocks, as it is stated: “For from the top of rocks I will see them” (Numbers 23:9); “look to the rock from which you were quarried” (Isaiah 51:1). They were likened to stones, as it is stated: “From the shepherd of the stone of Israel” (Genesis 49:24); “the stone that the builders rejected” (Psalms 118:22). The nations of the world were likened to pottery; that is what is written: “He will break it as a potter’s jug is broken” (Isaiah 30:14). If a boulder falls on a clay pot, woe to the pot; if the pot falls on a boulder, woe to the pot; one way or the other, woe to the pot. So it is regarding anyone who confronts them [the Jews]; he will receive his just deserts from them. And so it says in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream: “That a stone was hewn from the mountain, not with hands, and it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay”10The stone will destroy the image made of the different materials, each representing an empire that will be destroyed. (Daniel 2:45).
Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Yannai said: If the royal purple is sold in the marketplace, woe to the buyer and woe to the seller. Likewise, Israel is the royal purple in which the Holy One blessed be He glories; that is what is written: “My servant Israel, that I glory in you” (Isaiah 49:3); if they are sold, woe to the seller and woe to the buyer.
To what is the wicked Haman comparable? To a bird that made a nest on the seashore and the sea swept away its nest, and it said: ‘I will not move from here until the sea becomes dry land and the dry land becomes sea.’ What did it do? It would take water from the sea in its mouth and pour it on the land, and would take dirt from the land and cast it into the sea. Its fellow came and stood alongside it and said to it: ‘Luckless and unfortunate one! Ultimately, what can you accomplish?’ So said the Holy One blessed be He to the wicked Haman: ‘World class fool! I said I would destroy them, so to speak, and could not, as it is stated: “He said He would destroy them, were it not for Moses, His chosen one, who stood before Him in the breach to turn back His wrath from destruction” (Psalms 106:23), and you said “to destroy, to kill, and to eliminate” (Esther 3:13) [them]. By your life, your head will be severed instead of their heads, as they are destined for deliverance and you for hanging.’
“It was contemptible [vayyivez] in his eyes to lay hands on Mordekhai alone” – contemptible one son of contemptible one. It is written there: “Esau showed contempt [vayyivez] to the birthright” (Genesis 25:34), and here it is written: “It was contemptible in his eyes.”
“Haman sought to destroy all the Jews” – Rabbi Shimon ben Yosei ben Lakonya said: In this world, Israel was likened to rocks, as it is stated: “For from the top of rocks I will see them” (Numbers 23:9); “look to the rock from which you were quarried” (Isaiah 51:1). They were likened to stones, as it is stated: “From the shepherd of the stone of Israel” (Genesis 49:24); “the stone that the builders rejected” (Psalms 118:22). The nations of the world were likened to pottery; that is what is written: “He will break it as a potter’s jug is broken” (Isaiah 30:14). If a boulder falls on a clay pot, woe to the pot; if the pot falls on a boulder, woe to the pot; one way or the other, woe to the pot. So it is regarding anyone who confronts them [the Jews]; he will receive his just deserts from them. And so it says in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream: “That a stone was hewn from the mountain, not with hands, and it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay”10The stone will destroy the image made of the different materials, each representing an empire that will be destroyed. (Daniel 2:45).
Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Yannai said: If the royal purple is sold in the marketplace, woe to the buyer and woe to the seller. Likewise, Israel is the royal purple in which the Holy One blessed be He glories; that is what is written: “My servant Israel, that I glory in you” (Isaiah 49:3); if they are sold, woe to the seller and woe to the buyer.
To what is the wicked Haman comparable? To a bird that made a nest on the seashore and the sea swept away its nest, and it said: ‘I will not move from here until the sea becomes dry land and the dry land becomes sea.’ What did it do? It would take water from the sea in its mouth and pour it on the land, and would take dirt from the land and cast it into the sea. Its fellow came and stood alongside it and said to it: ‘Luckless and unfortunate one! Ultimately, what can you accomplish?’ So said the Holy One blessed be He to the wicked Haman: ‘World class fool! I said I would destroy them, so to speak, and could not, as it is stated: “He said He would destroy them, were it not for Moses, His chosen one, who stood before Him in the breach to turn back His wrath from destruction” (Psalms 106:23), and you said “to destroy, to kill, and to eliminate” (Esther 3:13) [them]. By your life, your head will be severed instead of their heads, as they are destined for deliverance and you for hanging.’
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