Parshas Tzav/PURIM: To See Or Not To See

אש תמיד תוקד על המזבח לא תכבה (ויקרא ו':ו')

A continuous fire shall burn upon the mizbayach; it shall not go out.

  When discussing the korban olah, the Torah commands the Kohanim to keep a constant flame on the mizbayach/alter. The flame would burn 24/7 never distinguishing. The Kohanim had a mitzvah to add wood for fuel to the fire at different times of the day. The gemara in Mesichta Yoma (21b) teaches that even though the fire miraculously came down from heaven, there was still a mitzvah for the Kohanim to bring it from below. Chazal tell us that at times, when it rained, the fire continued burning as well, clearly demonstrating the miracle.

The Sefer HaChinuch wonders why if in fact it was a miracle, was it necessary it supply the wood? He explains that it is well known amongst us and to every person of wisdom that when Hashem performs miracles, He does so in a way that it can appear to be an act of nature. This is done so that we can have the choice to see yad Hashem or we can just brush it off and say it was nature or a coincidence etc. Every miracle is always accompanied with some sort of possible explanation. Of course, a quick look with open eyes will clearly show that it was Hashem’s hand at work, but the choice is there for us to make. The Chinuch cites as an example the well know miracle of kriyas Yam Suf. The Torah tells us that there was an eastern wind at that time. A non-believer will try and explain to you that the waters split because of the wind. Of course there is no explanation for the countless midrashim that explain that after the waters split, the floors were glass covered, and that there were fruit trees from the walls and all sorts of miraculous things happening. But for the non-believer, he is happy writing it all off by using the wind factor. The choice is ours to see or not to see.

This idea comes up time and time again. In fact, Chazal tell us that this is the focus of Amaleik. They try at every possible moment to convince us that there is no such thing as yad Hashem.

If we look into the Megillas Esther, and then at Parshas Zachor, we can see this idea very clearly.

ויספר המן לזרש אשתו ולכל אהביו את כל אשר קרהו and Haman told over to Zeresh his wife and all his loved ones all that had occurred.

Haman had just gone through the most humiliating experience of his life. As viceroy to the king, he was not expecting to walk through the streets shlepping the reigns of the horse that held his arch-enemy, Mordechai. As if this was not enough humiliation for one day, Haman's daughter naturally assumed that it was her father on the horse and Mordechai the shlepper. As a good daughter, she threw her garbage from a rooftop scoring a direct hit on the head. Upon realizing that it was in fact her father that she had hit, she committed suicide by jumping off. 

Walking into his home, the possuk tells us that Haman told over to Zeresh (his wife) and his family את כל אשר קראו all that had occurred. The Malbim wonders why Haman would tell all. Wouldn't this be something that he would prefer to hide?

If we look a little deeper into the story, we can gain a better understanding. The last time that Haman saw his family, he was on his way to the king to gain consent to hang Mordechai on the gallows. Haman understood that his family assumed that the king had flat out refused him, and responded rather harshly. So with the egg yolk dripping from his glasses, he tells them that they have it all wrong. It's not how it appears. This was no setback at all. "I had a stroke of bad luck, coincidentally walking in as the king was reviewing his ledger. He had a debt that he needed to pay to Mordechai and I had some bad timing. But it means absolutely nothing. I will still gain the king's consent to hang Mordechai."

The Malbim explains that the mantra of Amaleik is that hashgochas HaShem does not exist. Everything that happens is coincidental. אשר קרך בדרך, Amaleik wants us to believe that it is all מקרה /happenstance. Haman is the proverbial grandson of Amaleik. He tells over  את כל אשר קראו everything that happened, because he sees it as just a big coincidence. The word kara-u is the same as mikreh. Haman was not at all concerned.

Zeresh responded that "you are mistaken in assuming that your setback was coincidental. The Jews have a special hashgocha (Providence) which guides their destiny. If you carry on, you will continue to fall before him. Your only hope is to wait until the Jews relax their guard and slacken off in teshuva and tefilla. Then you will be able to overcome them.

Let us be mechazek in our emunah that HaShem runs the world, and that there is no such thing as coincidence. In this z’chus, may we be zoche to a renewed קימו וקבלו, finally stamping out the name of Amleik once and for all!

Ah freilichin Purim!!!

Good Shabbos, מרדכי אפפעל