Haman Had Self Control – How Does That Make Any Sense?
ויצא המן ביום ההוא שמח וטוב לב וכראות המן את מרדכי יושב בשער המלך ולא קם ולא זע ממנו וימלא המן חמה ויתאפק המן ויבוא אל ביתו וישלח ויבא את אהביו ואת זרש אשתו
“That day Haman went out happy and lighthearted. But when Haman saw Mordechai in the palace gate, and Mordechai did not rise or even stir on his account, Haman was filled with rage at him. Nevertheless, Haman controlled himself and went home. He sent for his friends and his wife Zeresh.” (Esther 5:9-10)
We see in the above pasukim that Haman had some self-control. The difficulty is Haman was Haman HaRosha, and we would have thought that such a person would have no self-control and would have killed Mordechai on the spot. The Kedushas HaLevi, Divrei Yechezekel and Tama Dekra all ask the above.
Rashi explains:נתחזק לעמוד על כעסו כי היה ירא להנקם בלא רשות - “He overcame his anger, as he was scared to take revenge without permission”.
The Kedushas HaLevi answers: This is why Esther invited Haman to the feast. Haman ate from the feast of Esther:ועל ידי אכילה זו שאכל אצלה נכנס בו קצת קדושה - “and through partaking of such a meal, some kedusha was instilled inside him”. Because he ate from Esther’s feast he had some kedusha inside him, and was therefore able to overcome his anger.
Similarly, the Divrei Yechezkel on the pasuk: ויצא המן ביום ההוא שמח וטוב לב- “That day Haman went out happy and lighthearted”, writes:
צריך להבין אמאי נכתב אצל המן שהוא מס''א לשון וטוב לב דזה לא שייך רק בקדושה, ויש לומר דזאת גם כן היתה כוונת אסתר שזימנה אותו על המשתה כדי שמזה שיאכל מסעודת הצדיקת יבא ללבו הרע איזה הארה והיינו שמח וטוב לב שעל ידי כן יהיה בכוחו שיעצור את עצמו לבלתי יהרוג למרדכי בחמתו הגדולה, כמו שכתבו לקמן ויתאפק המן דאין זה מדרך הס''א לעצור ברוחם רק זה היה מסיבת שנהנה מסעודת אסתר היה לו כח להתאפק עדי שיתיעץ עם זרש אשתו ואוהביו ואז ע''י עצתם נתלה על העץ אשר הכין למרדכי.
How Did Haman Manage to Achieve the Lofty Madreigah of a Tzaddik?
Esther invited Achashveirosh and Haman to a small intimate party. Haman left the party, שמח וטוב לב – “joyful and exuberant”. Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev points out that a similar expression is employed in Megillas Rus when it speaks about Boaz. The pasuk there states: וישת וייטב לבו – “Boaz drank and his heart was merry” (Rus 3:7), which the Gemara explains means that Boaz was content, with a joy that comes from learning Torah.
Rav Levi Yitzchak is troubled by the use of this expression in reference to Haman.וייטב לבו, is a lofty madreigah, a level of holy simcha that is attained by someone who learns Torah. How did Haman, a great rasha, achieve this madreigah, which is usually reserved for tzaddikim?
Rav Levi Yitzchok cites the pasuk: אם רעב שנאך האכלהו לחם – “If your foe is hungry, feed him bread” (Mishlei 25:21) and explains: Eisav’s source of power is the Samach Mem to which he is practically fused. His descendant Haman came to attack Klal Yisroel with this same source of power. How can we hope to overcome Haman and survive his threat? We had to find a way to disengage him from the Samach Mem, thereby detaching him from his source of power.
One of the ways Eisav can be separated from the Samach Mem, the source of tumah to which he adheres, is by including him in a seudah of kedusha, a holy meal. This will serve to create a distance, a chasm, between Eisav and the Samach Mem. It will not be sufficient to draw Eisav into the folds of holiness, but it will be enough to pry him far enough from the Samach Mem so that he can no longer receive power from it.
Esther invited Haman to her meal, a meal suffused with the sanctity of the tzaddekes and prophetess Esther, to weaken his connection to the forces of evil and impurity, which allowed us to be victorious over him. Rav Levi Yitzchok explains that when Haman left Esther’s party that was infused with kedusha, he was, שמח וטוב לב, because he had become significantly distanced from the sitra achra, from the Samach Mem.
