Why did Haman make a gallows of fifty cubits high?
The Targum (on Megillas Esther) explains that this was in order to accommodate Haman and his ten sons. (The calculation is made giving three cubits for each one, with one-and-a-half cubits of space in between.) But Haman certainly did not have this in mind — he definitely did not consider that his sons would be hanged — so what was Haman’s reason for making the gallows fifty cubits high?
In halachic ramifications, the measurement of fifty cubits represents a great distance and a totally separated domain. (Bava Basra 23a)
Haman wanted to demonstrate with the fifty-cubit gallows that Mordechai is a very sublime and holy individual, but is too far beyond the ability to deal with the Jewish people. When Mordechai went to gather the Jewish children to learn (the laws of the omer), Haman argued: Mordechai is too high for you; although it is fine and dandy that he asks that you to learn Torah, Mordechai nevertheless transcends the mundane world in which you are living, and he cannot relate to you.
Although Haman was describing Mordechai in glowing colors, showering him with “compliments”, however, in reality his scheming intentions were to tear away the little children from Mordechai.
Sometimes you can try to tear something or someone away with brutal force, and sometimes (as was the case here) you can couch your devious plans in a “sugar coating.”
The proof of one’s real intentions is in the “end result” : what does he want to accomplish with his “sweet talk”?
The same applies to anyone who might be offering very sweet and lofty compliments about the Rebbe and about the study of Chassidus. He may say that the Rebbe is very great and that his teachings are very high, so how can we understand, being that we are so very distant, etc.
This can all be with the intention of, G-d forbid, distancing someone from the Rebbe, and if that is his intent, it doesn’t matter how glowingly he may describe the loftiness and greatness of the Rebbe (or the greatness of studying Chassidus), he is following a similar pattern to Haman.
You have to look at the bottom line. Are these “sweet” words bringing someone closer to the Rebbe or is there an opposite intention and result?
When someone describes the idea of Moshiach as a “very holy, lofty concept, so sublime that how can we ‘mortals’ relate to Moshiach?” — for that matter, they argue, “How can we understand the significance of the Rebbe’s words; they are so far beyond us, etc.” if this dampens our enthusiasm in Moshiach, it is similar to the plans of Haman. We have to follow the words of Mordechai.
(Shabbos Parshas Shlach 5732. Sh”P Teruma, 3 Adar I, 5741)
