The Gemara in Megillah (16a) relates: Haman went and found talmidim sitting before Mordechai, and he was demonstrating the laws of kemitzah to them ... Haman asked the talmidim: “What topic were you learning?” They answered him: “When the Beis HaMikdosh was in existence, one who pledged a mincha offering would bring a fistful of flour and would gain atonement through it.” Haman said to them: “Your fistful of flour has come and has pushed aside my ten thousand silver talents.”
In effect, Haman admitted here, “The game is over. I’ve lost.” He recognized that Mordechai's teaching of the Torah law regarding the kometz hamincha (fist full of flour offering) was going to negate his entire master plan for the destruction of the Jews. Why Haman should come to such a conclusion is very puzzling. On top of that, the fact that Haman reached this conclusion because Mordechai happened to be teaching his talmidim the laws of the flour offering and its associated kemitza burning on the mizbayach begs for deeper analysis.
The Roke’ach finds a remez [allusion] in the above Gemara. The Roke’ach suggests that the conversation between Haman and Mordechai is in fact a reenactment of something that occurred many centuries earlier, namely the meeting between Yaakov (ancestor of Mordechai who was descended from Yaakov's son Binyomin) and Eisav (ancestor of Haman who descended from Eisav’s grandson, Amalek).
Parshas Vayishlach contains the story of Eisav coming with 400 men to meet Yaakov when the latter was coming back to Eretz Canaan from his years with Lavan. Yaakov, fearing the worst, prepared himself for the encounter with prayer, presents, and battle plans. The Roke’ach suggests that this incident laid the blueprint for what was going to happen in the Megillah between Haman and Mordechai. The Roke’ach writes that the pasuk: וילן שם בלילה - “And he slept there that night”, describing the fateful night prior to Yaakov's encounter with Eisav, contains a hidden code foreshadowing the future event. The last letters of the words: ה בליל םש ןויל (read backwards) spell out the name Haman (Hay, Mem, Nun).
What is the connection between the meeting of Yaakov and Eisav and the meeting of Mordechai and Haman? The Roke’ach throws in one additional twist. The pasuk in Vayishlach states about Yaakov’s preparing an offering for his brother: ויקח בידו מנחה – “he took a gift (mincha) in his hand.” The Roke’ach says that this too alludes to the laws of the korban mincha that Mordechai was learning with his talmidim. Again, we may ask, what does one have to do with the other?
The Tolner Rebbe of Yerusholayim suggests that when Yaakov met Eisav and his 400 men, it was very easy for Yaakov to conclude that this was a lost cause. Yaakov had a family of 11 young sons, a camp consisting mainly of women and children. He is meeting with Eisav, an experienced warrior, a man of the field, a hunter. Eisav is coming with a band of 400 men, each of whom was presumably of the same ilk as Eisav. This is a situation that looks beyond desperate. It would be the natural inclination of anybody to throw up their hands in despair. However, what does Yaakov do? He does whatever is possible for him to do. He prepares with prayer. He prepares with presents and flattery. He prepares for war, such as he could. The main thing is that he does whatever is possible to do. As meagre as it may seem, he does it anyway.
Yaakov is exhibiting an essential part of what being a Jew is all about: You do not give up! As Rav Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin says in several places, “A Jew should never give up hope, no matter what the odds are, no matter what the situation is (ayn l'Yehudi l'hisya’esh klal)”. This explains the fact that Yaakov sent Eisav a present that must have been meager in Eisav’s eyes. Can we imagine that Eisav needed the few camels, goats, and donkeys that Yaakov was sending to him? By this time, Eisav was probably a very wealthy man. What is the whole point of sending Eisav this little “mincha”, this little present? The answer is, “This is what I can afford. This is what I have. This is the effort (hishtadlus) that I am capable of making. This is what I need to do.”
A person can only do what he is able to do. We need to have confidence that the Ribbono Shel Olam will help us accomplish the rest. This idea explains the very interesting pasuk cited earlier: “And he slept there that night”. Tomorrow is the fateful meeting between Yaakov and Eisav. He was going to face an army of 400 men. In his mind, he was perhaps on the eve of a massacre of his family. How can a person go to sleep on such a night? However, the pasuk testifies about Yaakov: “And he slept there that night”. This is because Yaakov was confident about what he did. He did everything that he could do and that is all that the Ribbono Shel Olam ever asks of anyone.
This incident between Yaakov and Eisav, when Yaakov, rather than giving up hope and throwing up his hands in despair, did what he was capable of doing, set the precedent and provided the blueprint for all future relationships between Jews and goyim. You do what you can do, as meagre as it may seem. You daven and you hope for the best. But you do not throw up your hands in despair.
This is precisely what Mordechai did. After Esther was taken into the palace and all hope seemed lost, why did Mordechai go every single day to visit her? What was the point? Was it going to help? Why did Mordechai insist that she should not tell her background? After all, it was hopeless, a lost cause! No! Because a Jew persists and does not give up hope. He does whatever he is capable of doing.
Going to the palace every day to check on Esther was the only thing Mordechai could do to try to keep her strong. If that is the only thing I can do, then I am going to do it, despite the fact that it appears to be a hopeless gesture. I am not going to ask myself “What is the likelihood of success? What are the odds? How is this going to help?” You do what you need to do.
Where did Mordechai learn this? He learned it from Yaakov. That is what the Roke’ach means that the story of Yaakov and Eisav is the forerunner of the story of Mordechai and Haman. Mordechai learned from his grandfather, Yaakov Avinu, that when faced with what seems to be a desperate situation, we do not throw up our hands in despair. We do our best and leave the rest for Hashem to handle.
According to the Viznitzer Rebbe, this is what totally deflated Haman. When Haman walks into Mordechai and he sees him learning with his talmidim - which is in itself a chiddush [novelty] – what did they happen to be learning? They should have been learning the laws of dying al pi kiddush Hashem. This after all was what most likely was going to happen. However, Haman finds them learning the laws of how to offer a korban mincha in the Beis HaMikdosh! What Beis HaMikdosh? They are in Persia and Haman is about to destroy all the Jews. Common sense would insist that there would never again be a Beis HaMikdosh. This is ridiculous! Today we study the halachos of kodshim and menachos because we pray: “speedily may the Beis HaMikdosh be rebuilt". However, under the circumstances at that time, they were facing impossible odds. Haman was shocked. “There is never again going to be a Beis HaMikdosh – and yet you are learning the laws of the mincha offering?!”
When Haman saw that, he said “The show is over – for me!” When dealing with people who even in such dire straits still have optimism and confident faith and are preparing for a seemingly non-existent future - this is a people that will not be defeated. Therefore, Haman says, “Your little kometz hamincha is going to neutralize all my plans.” This is what the Roke’ach means when he says the mincha of Yaakov Avinu corresponds to the learning of the mincha of Mordechai and his talmidim. This has to be one of the preeminent lessons of the story of Purim. No matter how bleak the situation may appear, a Jew never gives up hope.
After the Megillah reading, we sing Shoshanas Yaakov, a prayer that includes the stanza “All those who have faith in You will never be embarrassed or shamed, those people who put their faith in You.” This is the story of Purim and it is the story of Jews throughout our history. There have been many occasions in Jewish history when the only “logical” and “rational” thing to do was to give up. However, we did not give up. As a result, we are still here.
The Haftorah of Parshas Zachor, which is about the dramatic story of Shaul HaMelech and Shmuel HaNovi, contains the pasuk:נצח ישראל לא ישקר - “Moreover the Eternal One of Yisroel does not lie” (Shmuel I 15:29). This is the message of that pasuk. There will always be a Ribbono Shel Olam and there will always be a Jewish people and there will always be a Torah. “It will not be forgotten from the mouth of his children” (Devorim 31:21). This is the story of Yaakov and Eisav. This is the story of Mordechai and Esther. With Hashem’s Help, this will be our story when we will greet the Moshiach speedily in our day, Amen. (R’ Frand, quoting a shmooze from the Tolner Rebbe)
