70 Days of Fear
Every date in the megillah is important. The meforshim explain the significance of the order of the events and how all of the events in the megillah fit together. There is one event mentioned in the megillahfor which the date is given, and it is unclear what the significance of the date is. The megillah describes the second letter which Achashveirosh sent out (8,9-13). Achashveirosh’s first order gave permission to our non-Jewish enemies to, rachmanah l'tzlan, wipe out the Jewish people. His second order, in a sense, overruled the first order, and the second letter (8,11) gave permission to the Jews of every city to organize and ‘to defend themselves, to destroy, to slay...every armed of any people or province that threatened them...’
The megillah tells us that the second letter was sent out on the twenty-third day of Sivan(8,9). What is the significance of this date? How does this fit into the flow of the megillah? I once heard the following explanation[i]. There is a krovetz, a special tefillah which some add into their davening on Purim. The krovetz mentions seventy days of tza'ar, seventy days of distress. Apparently this is the hint which explains the significance of this date. The original letter was sent out on the thirteenth day ofNissan, which means that there were seventy days from when the original letter was sent out until the new second letter, which overruled the first letter, was publicized. That means that the Jewish people were nervous and in distress for seventy days. They were in fear of being wiped out, rachmanah l'tzlan, by their enemies.
What is the significance of the seventy days? Chazal tell us (Megillah 12a) that one of the reasons B'nei Yisroel deserved punishment at the time of Mordechai and Esther is because they took part in Achashveirosh's party. Why was this problematic? Chazal explain (Megillah 11b) that Achashveirosh was convinced that the seventy years of galus described by Yirmiyahu were over, and yet he was still in power. Achashveirosh thought to himself that the prophecy was not going to come true. Achashveirosh decided to celebrate the fact that he “defeated Hashem,” rachmanah l'tzlan. This is why Achashveirosh took out the klei hamikdash, the vessels of the Beis HaMikdash, and used them at the party. Therefore, when Am Yisroel took part in this party, they were, in essence, supporting the notion that the seventy year prophecy was not going to be fulfilled[ii]. This is a terrible aveirah, a terrible chillul Hashem.Am Yisroel needed atonement for this aveirah[iii]. Therefore the krovetz is telling us that Am Yisroel needed to be in fear and distress for seventy days. Each day corresponds to one year of the prophecy. There were seventy days of fear which served as atonement for partaking in the party which celebrated the “nullification” of the seventy year prophecy.[iv]
One lesson for us is that we have to recognize the significance of every line in the megillah.Every date, every posuk, every letter in the Torah and Nach carries importance and must be studied carefully[v].
Purim Sameach,
B. Ginsburg
[i] I heard this from my children's sixth grade rebbe, Rav Moshe Shtern shli”ta.
[ii] Mordechai was against going to the party, but his warning was not heeded. Rav Mersky shli”ta (Hegyonei Halacha vol.1 p.251) points out that we find another example in the Purim story of Mordechai’s yearning for Eretz Ysroel, Yerushalayim, and the Beis HaMikdash. Chazal tell us (Megillah 16a) that on the day of the second party, Haman sees Mordechai teaching Torah. Haman inquires ‘What are you studying? and Modechai responds ‘The laws of kemitza’ (part of the Avodah in the Beis HaMikdash). Mordechai was focused on the Beis HaMikdash. Chazal’s comments here blend well with Mordechai’s opposition to the party.
[iii]Our cheit, therefore, included not having proper connection with and longing for Eretz Yisrael and the Beis Hamikdash. When the yomtov of Purim was established, the posuk writes that we differentiate between walled cities and unwalled cities because during the Purim story there was a differentiation between Shushan and the other cities in the kingdom. Walled cities celebrate on the 15th, and unwalled cities celebrate on the 14th. When Chazal established the yomtov of Purim, some tana’aim mantain (and this is how we paskin) that when we look to define walled cities, we judge based on whether they were walled at the time of Yehoshua Bin Nun, and not whether they were walled at the time of the Purim story itself (Megillah 2b). Why? The Rishonim explain (see the Ran and Ramban at the beginning of Maseches Megillah) that this is in order to show kavod to Eretz Yisrael. At the time of the Purim story, during galusbayisrishon, Eretz Yisrael was in ruins, and there would not have been any walled cities in Eretz Yisrael at all. Therefore, in order to give more kavod to Eretz Yisrael, Chazal decided to use the yardstick of the walled cities from the time of Yehoshua Bin Nun. Rav Mersky shli”ta (Hegyonei Halacha vol.2 .181-184) points out that this fits very well with the previous idea. Since part of the cheit was not showing proper longing for Eretz Yisrael and not showing proper connection to Eretz Yisrael and the Beis Hamikdash, therefore when Chazal established the mitzvah, they specifically focused more on Eretz Yisrael. Our connection and our longing for Eretz Yisrael should be highlighted. This particular halacha fits very well with the discussion of Chazal regarding the cheit of Am Yisrael at the party.
[iv] I mentioned this p'shat to Rav Nevenzahl shli”ta and he said “yafeh me'od.”
[v] Two other lessons. First, one should try to find good rebbes for his children. The Rav Shtern who said this idea is a wonderful Talmid Chacham and teacher. The second lesson is we should say and study the special tefillos associated with each Yom Tov.