Megillah 13b (יג:) — the Talmud in English

Rabbi Elazar said: What is the meaning of that which is written:

“He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous” [that is, the Holy One, blessed be He, directs His attention to the deeds of the righteous in order to repay them their reward, even after a very long time]?

As a reward for the modesty that Rachel displayed—

As a reward for the modesty that Rachel possessed—

she merited that Saul descended from her,

who was modest.

And as a reward for the modesty that Saul possessed—

And what

Esther descended from him .

And what

is this

modesty

that you say

Rachel possessed?

As it is written: “And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother.”

And there is reason to wonder:

Was he really her father’s brother? Was he not the son of her father’s sister!?

Rather,

that

Jacob said to her,

Rachel:

“Will you marry

me

?”

She said to him: Yes! However, my father—

he is a swindler, and you will not be able to prevail over him.

He said to her: I am his brother

in trickery!

This is the meaning of “he is my father’s brother.”

She said to him: But is it permitted for the righteous to act deceitfully?

He said to her: Yes!

As it is written:

“With the pure You show Yourself pure, and with the crooked You show Yourself astute” .

He said to her: And what is the deceit

with which your father will deceive me?

She said to him: I have an older sister, and he will not marry me before her

[before her].

He gave her identifying signs

so that he would know that she was Rachel and not Leah.

When night came, she said

Rachel:

“Now my sister will be humiliated,

for it will become known that she is not Rachel!”

She passed them

the signs

to her

Leah.

This was her modesty: she did not reveal that Jacob had given her identifying signs .

And this is what is written: “And it came to pass in the morning, and behold, she was Leah,” implying that until now—

she was not Leah? Rather,

because of the signs that Rachel had given Leah—

he did not know

her, Jacob,

until now.

Therefore, she merited that Saul descended from her.

And what modesty did Saul possess?

As it is written

in the account of Saul, who went to ask Samuel where the donkeys were, and Samuel anointed him king over Israel. When he returned and his uncle asked him what Samuel had said, he told him that Samuel had informed him that the donkeys had been found,

“but concerning the matter of the kingship

[with which Samuel had crowned him]

he did not tell him what Samuel had said” .

Therefore,

he merited—

and Esther descended from him.

And Rabbi Elazar said: When the Holy One, blessed be He, determines greatness for a person, He determines it for his sons and his grandsons—

until the end of all generations. As it is stated:

“He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous, etc.,

and He seats them forever, and they are exalted,”

that is, greatness for generations .

But if he becomes haughty—

the Holy One, blessed be He, lowers him. As it is stated

at the end of that verse:

“And if

they are bound in fetters, etc.,”

meaning that if he exalts himself, he comes to poverty and suffering .

It is written:

“And Esther continued to obey Mordecai’s command.” Rabbi Yirmeya said: She would show the sages menstrual blood .

“As she had been under his care”—

Rabba bar Lima said:

This teaches

that she would rise from Ahasuerus’s lap and immerse herself

[for the sake of cleanliness, so that she would not be repulsive to the righteous man after having lain with Ahasuerus],

and sit in Mordecai’s lap .

It is written:

“In those days, while Mordecai sat

at the king’s gate, Bigthan

and Teresh became angry.”

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yohanan said: The Holy One, blessed be He, made a master angry with his servants in order to fulfill the will of a righteous person. And who was this?

This

was Joseph.

That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, made Pharaoh angry with the chief cupbearer [as it is written there: “Pharaoh became angry with his two officials,” etc.], so that he would tell Pharaoh that Joseph could interpret his dream.

As it is stated

that the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh:

“And there, with us, was a Hebrew lad, etc.”

And the Holy One, blessed be He, made

servants angry with their master,

in order

to perform a miracle for a righteous person. And who was this?—

Mordecai.

A miracle was performed for him because the Holy One, blessed be He, made Bigthan and Teresh angry with Ahasuerus.

As it is written: “And the matter became known to Mordecai, etc.”

Rabbi Yohanan said: Bigthan and Teresh,

who were the king’s cupbearers,

were two Tarsians, and they spoke in the Tarsian language

[the name of a place].

And

they

said,

one to the other:

“From the day this one came

[Esther]—

we have not seen sleep in our eyes.”

Since Esther was beloved by Ahasuerus, he engaged in intercourse more frequently and was constantly thirsty.

Come, let us put poison into the cup

of the king,

so that he will die.

But they did not know that Mordecai had been among those who sat in the Chamber of Hewn Stone, and that he knew the seventy languages ,

and understood what they were saying , and told Esther about it .

His fellow said to him,

his companion:

“But my watch and your watch are not the same,

for you are appointed over one task, while I am appointed over another task; if so, how can we neglect our work in order to put poison in his cup” !?

He said to him: I will guard both my watch and your watch.

And this is what is written: “And the matter was investigated and found.”

How was the matter found? Through

their not being found at their posts.

It is written:

“After these events

the king, Ahasuerus, promoted Haman.”

After what?

Why did Scripture state that the king did not promote him until after this incident involving Bigthan and Teresh?

Rava said: After the Holy One, blessed be He, created a remedy for the wound,

through the incident involving Bigthan and Teresh.

For Reish Lakish said: The Holy One, blessed be He, does not strike Israel unless He first creates a remedy for them. As it is stated: “When I would heal Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed.”

That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, first creates a remedy for Israel, and afterward the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed through the blow with which He strikes them.

But with regard to the nations of the world—

it is not so. He strikes them

first, and

afterward creates a remedy for them .

It is written:

As it is stated: “And the Lord shall strike Egypt, striking and healing.”

It is written:

“And it was contemptible in his eyes to lay a hand on Mordecai alone

etc., and Haman sought to destroy all the Jews” etc., together with Mordecai.”

Rava said: At first—

he wished to lay a hand

on Mordecai alone. But in the end—

on the people of Mordecai; and who were they?—

the Sages. And in the end—

on all the Jews.

It is written:

“He cast the pur—that is, the lot

before Haman from day to day and from month to month” .

The tanna taught: Once the

lot fell on the month of Adar—

he rejoiced

Haman

with great joy .

He said: The lot has fallen for me in the month in which Moses died .

And he did not know that he died on the seventh of Adar, and on the seventh of Adar

also

was born. .

And the day of birth is sufficient to atone for the day of death [ Rashi].

It is written:

“There is one people

scattered and dispersed among all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different from those of every people, and they do not observe the king’s laws, and it is not worthwhile for the king to leave them.”

Rava said: No one knew

how to tell

evil speech [

slander]

like Haman.

Haman said

to Ahasuerus:

Come, let us destroy

the Jews [Come and let us annihilate them]!

He said to him: I fear his God, lest He do to me as He did to my predecessors.

He said to him: There is

Israel

sleeping from the mitzvot. .

Ahasuerus said to him:

Here,

there are Sages among them

who observe the mitzvot!

He said to him: They are one people [

and he derives this from the word “one,” which is superfluous], and just as the entire people do not observe the mitzvot, so too the Sages .

Lest you say, I am making a bald spot in your kingdom,

since one kingdom would be filled with them, and if we destroy them, a bald spot would be made in your kingdom—

they are scattered among the nations,

so there is no concern .

Lest you say, there is benefit to be derived from them!

That is not so:

“dispersed”!

They are

like this mule, which bears no offspring [

which does not give birth].

And lest you say, there is a small province [

a small country]

belonging to them! The verse states: “Among all the provinces of your kingdom.”

“And their laws are different from those of every people”—

for they do not eat from ours, they do not marry from among us, and they do not give their women in marriage to us.

“And they do not observe the king’s laws.”

They do not perform the king’s service ,

for they take the entire year off with “Shab-ha-yom, Pesah-ha-yom,”

always saying: “Today is Shabbat! Today is Passover!” and we are prohibited from labor .

“And it is not worthwhile for the king to leave them,”

it is neither fitting nor safe to leave them—because

they eat and drink ,

and they show contempt for the monarchy .

And even if a fly falls into the cup of one of them—

he throws it out and drinks from it

without concern .

But

if

my lord the king touches his cup

of one of them—

he strikes it against the ground and does not drink from it .

“If it please the king, let it be written

to destroy them, and ten thousand talents of silver

and so on.”

Reish Lakish said: It was revealed and known before Him who spoke and brought the world into being that Haman would weigh shekalim against

Israel. Therefore, He had their shekalim precede

those of Israel—

his shekalim

of Haman .

And this is what we learned in the Mishna: “On the first of Adar, they announce concerning the shekalim

so that Israel would bring their shekalim to the Temple before the first of Nisan.

And

they likewise announce on the first of Adar

concerning diverse kinds ,

because at that time the seeds had already grown somewhat, and their mixture was discernible, so they had to be uprooted.”

“And the king said to Haman, ‘The silver is given to you ,

and the people, do with them as is good in your eyes.’”