“And they slew three hundred men in Shushan.” (Esther 9:15)
On the first day the Jews killed five hundred of their enemies in Shushan the Capital. Why on the second day did they only kill three hundred in the city of Shushan?
The Yalkut Me’am Lo’az explains: According to the Gemara in Megillah (16b), although originally Achashveirosh agreed that new letters should be sent out instructing the Jews to avenge themselves and annihilate their enemies, he was shocked and upset to learn that five hundred people were killed in his capital city. Angrily, he said to Esther, “In Shushan the Capital the Jews have slain and annihilated five hundred people.” Then an angel struck him on the mouth, and with a change of attitude he said, “What is your petition now? It shall be granted you.”
According to Beis Hillel (Terumos 4:3), one showing a “good eye,” i.e. a generous person, gives one-fortieth of his produce as terumah to the Kohen and a bad-eyed person, i.e. a stingy person, gives one sixtieth of the produce. Thus, the difference between the two people is one-third. Beis Shammai says that a “good eye” gives one-thirtieth, and a “bad eye” gives one-fiftieth; thus, the difference is two-fifths.
On the first day of the war, the Jews killed five hundred people. Upon seeing that Achashveirosh exhibited a “bad eye” about how many people he was losing, the Jews killed only three hundred, in keeping with the opinion of Beis Shamai that a “bad eye” gives two-fifths less than a “good eye.”
