Resources for Megillah 16

Rabbi Yitzchok Gutterman

1. The גמרא says that המן asked מרדכי why he kicked him when he got on his back to get on the horse. After all, doesn’t the Torah say בנפל אויבך אל תשמח? In response, מרדכי said that the פּסוק only applies to Jews and not to נכרים. See the ספר דברי שאולwho asks that the  בית יוסף in סימן ת"צ says (based on a מדרש) that the reason we don’t say a full הלל on the last six days of פּסח is because the last day is when the מצריים died and בנפל אויבך אל תשמח! See also the ספר חסידים  in פּרק מ"ד, ט  who quotes the concept of בנפול אויבך אל תשמח as the reason נח was forbidden in תשמיש in the תיבה. I would add a similar question is why we take out a drop of wine at the סדר when we read the ten מכות? After all, it seems we are allowed to be happy? The דברי שאול answers that there is a difference between קודם מתן תורה and אחר מתן תורה. Before מתן תורה, there was the טענה of הללו עובדי עבודה זרה והללו עובדי עבודה זרה. It seems we were not yet fully Hashem’s nation. However, after מתן תורה when we became the עם הנבחר, the concept  of בנפל אויבך אל תשמח became limited only to Yidden.

2. The גמרא brings the story of when אחשורוש went out to the garden in anger, he met מלאכים who were uprooting trees from the garden. He asked them what they were doing and they responded that המן told them to do it. It sounds like a very unusual story. The מלאכים just “סתם” made up a “buba-maaseh” to get אחשורוש upset? See the  גר"א in his פּירוש on מגילה in פּרק ז פּסוק ז who explains that this was exactly מדה כנגד מדה. After all, המן made up false claims about the Jews in order to get them killed. מדה כנגד  מדה  required that his downfall comes through lies and deceit. He explains that this is also why the Jews had to “borrow” vessels from Egypt before leaving even though they would not be returning it (presumably also why פּרעה was told they were only going for three days as well), and why the מלאכים had to come in the middle of the night to take sheep from לבן and give it back to יעקב. While these all look like treachery, the reality is that they all were tricksters who had only gotten to the point they did with the Jews through lies. They therefore needed to be punished with deceit, מדה כנגד מדה.

3. The גמרא says that the ten sons of המן plus the word “ten” after it must be said in one breath. See רבינו חננאל who says “הקורא את המגילה” must say it in one breath. There is a discussion as to whether anyone else reading along with the בעל קורא needs to say it in one breath as well. The common practice today is for everyone to say the ten sons of המן. However, see the משנה ברורה in סימן תר"ץ ס"ק נ"ב  who says in the name of the חיי אדם that only the בעל קורא should say the ten names. In explanation of our custom, see the     ספר מקראי קודש on פּורים inסימן י"ג  who quotes the צפנת פּענח  who explains that although שומע          כעונה works, it cannot create any side details like the requirement to say the words in one breath. Similarly, he brings the  בית הלוי  at the end of בראשית who says that a כהן cannot be מוציא another כהן in ברכת כהנים because it must be said בקול רם and there is no way to accomplish that with שומע כעונה. See the יעקב  קהלת    in  פּסחים סימן מ"ה who explains the concept as follows: שומע כעונה means hearing itself is like a type of אמירה. However, your hearing cannot create one breath or קול רם with that type of אמירה. The מקראי           קודש brings a proof to our custom by the fact that the  ט"ז in  או"ח סימן קמ"א ס"ק ג says that a blind man can get an עליה. Despite the fact that there is a requirement for a person to see the words in the ספר תורה, he can apparently accomplish that through שומע כעונה.

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