THE KING ASKED HER: "WHAT TROUBLES YOU, QUEEN ESTHER?

AND WHAT IS YOUR REQUEST? EVEN TO HALF THE KINGDOM, IT SHALL BE GRANTED

YOU."

AND ESTHER SAID, "IF IT PLEASE

YOUR MAJESTY, LET YOUR MAJESTY AND HAMAN COME TODAY TO THE WINE- FEAST THAT I

HAVE PREPARED FOR HIM…

AND THE KING SAID TO ESTHER IN THE WINE-FEAST: "WHAT IS

YOUR WISH AND IT SHALL BE GRANTED YOU? AND WHAT IS YOUR REQUEST, EVEN TO HALF

THE KINGDOM, IT SHALL BE FULFILLED." AND ESTHER REPLIED, SAYING: "MY

WISH AND MY REQUEST…"

(Esther 5:3-4,

6-7)

And the king said to Esther…: "…what

is your request, even to half the kingdom, it shall be fulfilled." Half the

kingdom and not the whole kingdom, and not something that would divide the

kingdom. What is that? The rebuilding of the Temple.

Let the King and Haman come to

the wine-feast. Our

rabbis taught: Why did Esther invite Haman?

R. Eliezer says: She set a trap for him, for it is said: Let

their tables set before them be for them as a trap (Psalms 69).

R. Yehoshua says: She learned it in her father's house, for

it is said, If your enemy is hungry, feed him bread, etc. (Proverbs 25).

R. Meir says: So that he would not

be able to consider his situation, and rebel.

R. Yehudah says: So that he would not realize that she was a

Jewess.

R. Nehemiah says: So that Israel would not say, "We have a

sister in the King's house," and [feeling secure] take their minds off of

R.Yossi says: So that he would

constantly be available to her [i.e., so that she would be able to find an

opportunity to trip him up].

R. Shimon ben Menasyah says: So

that perhaps the Omnipresent would take notice and perform a miracle for her.

R. Yehoshua ben Korha says: In

order to show him [Haman] favor, so that both he and she would be killed [by

the king, out of jealousy].

(Megillah 15b)

In the future, all of

the books of the Prophets and the Ketuvim will become

void in the Messianic era, except for Megillat Esther; that shall endure like the

five books of the Torah and the laws of the Oral torah, which will never be

revoked. Even though all memory of the troubles will cease, for it is said for

the earlier troubles are forgotten and hidden from my eyes, these days of

Purim will never be revoked, for it is said: And these days of Purim shall not pass away from among the Jews and

their memory shall never cease from their offspring (Esther 9).

(RaMBaM Hilkhot Megillah ve'Hannukah 2:18)

The Eternal

Lamp

Binyamin Salant

Our parasha opens with a description of the Eternal Lamp. The

Eternal Lamp is recalled only one more time, in the book of Vayikra (parashat Emor 24:3).

The

classical sources refer to the Eternal Lamp as the Western Lamp and the Middle Lamp, which is the torso of the

Menorah. Rashi explains the matter in these words: "Its

middle branch that rose from the middle point of the base vertically upwards. On

it was the middle lamp, made in the form of a cup into which to pour the oil

and to put the wick" (Shemot

25:31, Silbermann translation).

Regarding

the position of the Eternal Lamp, Rashi (Bamidbar

5:2) writes: "Facing the

Menorah – towards the middle lamp which is not on a branch but on the torso

of the Menorah." In First Samuel we find the expression and God's Lamp is not yet extinguished.

ReDaK explains that this refers to the western lamp,

and that the words is not yet extinguished refers to the break of dawn…Indeed,

RaMBaN (Shemot 25:30, Chavel trans.)

makes a similar statement: "Its being of beaten work, with the six branches

coming out of the seventh, and upon them the lamp of God…"

What is called "Eternal"?

As

used in Scripture, word tamid [constant

or eternal] does not necessarily mean "continuous without breaks."

Rather, it refers to a permanent practice.

In

our parasha, Rashi explains: "tamid – [doing

something] every night [as is described here] may be termed tamid,

just as you speak of the tamid burnt-offering,

although this was [sacrificed] only from day to day…"

In

addition, it should be said that while the Menorah did burn from evening until

morning, the Eternal Lamp also burned from morning until evening. The Gemara in Shabbat 22b explains: "What is the edut [pact]? Rav

said: It is the western lamp that

would be given the same amount of oil as the others, and he would light from it

and he would finish with it." Rashi explains: Finish – [performing] the maintenance

of the lamps, for it burned all day, and the Menorah would be lit from it at

twilight." Steinsaltz explains: "The

western lamp would continue burning all day while the other lamps burned only

at night." The Mishnah offers a further detail (Tamid 6:1). It

introduces a new eternal factor: the eternal fire.

After

the above explanation the Mishnah adds that "if he finds it extinguished,

he cleans it and lights it from the altar of burnt offerings," i.e., from the

eternal fire on the altar. A similar

description can be found in Josephus' book Against Apion.

Describing the altar and the Menorah in the Temple,

he writes: "Near them is found the eternal

fire that is never extinguished, day and night" (1:22).

What do the Menorah, the lamp, and the light represent?

Many

of the commentators bring up his important question; is the Menorah's role

merely technical, i.e., to illuminate the darkness? From the fact that the

Eternal Lamp also burned during the day we may conclude that it did indeed bear

an additional significance, a symbolic meaning. The Menorah in general and the

light it produced represented a kind of spiritual and metaphysical dimension. This

may be deduced from many biblical passages. Two verses in Proverbs compare a

lamp to the Torah and to life. For a commandment is a lamp, and Torah light

(6:23);

God's lamp is man's soul (20:27). A verse from Psalms reads: Your words are

a lamp unto my feet and a light to my paths (119:105).

These verses and numerous others are mentioned repeatedly in many midrashim and express the great symbolism of light and of

the Menorah.

Rabbi

S. R. Hirsch counts more than thirty verses that express exalted spiritual ideas in connection to the Menorah and

expands his discussion of them in a lengthy article about the Menorah in his

commentary on parashat Terumah and parashat Tetzaveh.

Nehamah Leibowitz devotes a great

deal of space to the Menorah in her discussion of parashat Terumah,

parashat Tetzaveh, and parashat Beha'alotkha

(see her Studies in Shemot and Studies

in Bamidbar, published by the W.Z.O. Department for Torah Education &

Culture in the Diaspora).

RaMBaM, who usually avoids dealing with the details

of a commandment or with symbols, writes in exalted fashion regarding the

Eternal Lamp: "Thereupon a lamp was placed in front of it in order to

glorify and honor the Temple. For

the Temple, which was illumined by

lamps and separated by means of a veil [from the Holy of Holies], made a great

impression upon the soul" (Guide of the

Perplexed 3:45, Pines

translation).

Quoting

the midrash Torat Kohanim,

Rashi (Vayikra 24:3) raises the Eternal

Lamp to an ever higher status: "Our rabbis explained that the western lamp

served as testimony to everyone in the world that the Divine Presence rested

upon Israel."

As

stated above, Rabbi S. R. Hirsch dealt in great detail with the whole subject

of he Menorah and the significance of light, and so he

writes: "From this we can state that the Menorah represents spirit and

knowledge" (pg. 322 in Shemot of the Hebrew

edition). Hirsch speaks of the Menorah and the lamps as representing a movement

of perfection, development, and growth. Light represents the spiritual element,

knowledge and wisdom.

A tree shaped like the Menorah

Commentaries

and midrashim compare the

Menorah to a tree or plant. This idea would seem to be understandable in the

light of the way the parts of the Menorah are described: its cups, calyxes,

and petals… Rabbi S. R. Hirsch tells us: "This is a tree in the form

of a menorah of pure gold" (op cit., 325).

Indeed, it has been suggested that the Menorah borrowed its form from the

vegetable world.

In

this picture, we see an example of a similar development. The plant to the left

of the Menorah is supposed to be a lulav (palm

branch). The image appears in an ancient synagogue in Sardis

(Asia Minor). It was originally published in an article

by Yigal Shilo ("Glilei Sifrei Torah ve'Luah Menorah me'Sardis" in Yidiot

ve'Hakirot Eretz Yisrael ve'Atikoteha, Jerusalem 5726)

The

entry on "Sage" [marveh] in Encyclopedia

shel ha'Hai ve'ha'Tzome'ah be'Eretz Yisrael (Azariah Alon, editor, vol. 11 pg.

71, Ministry of Defense Press), tells us: "The Hebrew name is

ancient and it appears in the Talmud, in several species (approximately 22

species in Israel).

The branches of the Judean sage and Jerusalem

sage are especially likely to grow out in a manner resembling the Menorah in

the Temple. Thus, some claim that the

form of the sage plant inspired the design of the Menorah, and that the name marveh derives from Moriah,

the place of God's Temple."

Dr. Efrayim and Hanah Hareuveini z"l researched

the matter and expressed similar ideas – see Nogah Hareuveini's article, "Menora

ve'Moriah – Or u'Vesamim"

(in her booklet, Semel

ha'Medinh Shorshav be'Teva ha'Aretz ve'Moreshet Yisrael, Ne'ot Kedumim 1988).

In

his aforementioned article, Hirsch stresses that the middle lamp – the Eternal

Lamp – unifies all of the lamps of the Menorah. In addition, he writes: "From

here we learn that the middle lamp is not only the unifying goal, it is at the

same time the common point of origin of all the lamps; all set out from it, and

all yearn for it." Later in his article, Hirsch compares the middle lamp

with the yearning for closeness to God, and he writes: "This yearning is

set in the heart of Israel

like an eternal fire that will not be extinguished."

Let

us conclude with a passage from the midrash: And you shall command, etc. Israel

said, "Master of the Universe, by Your light we shall see light,

and yet you command that we light lamps before you?…The Holy One blessed be

He said: "I did not tell you about the lamps because I am in need of the

light of mortals, but rather in order that you know how fond I am of you" (Tanhuma Tetzaveh

4).

Benyamin Salant is a member of Kibbutz Saad

In memory of my father

HaRav Shlomo Zalman Beck z"l

who was

born exactly 100 years ago

on Taanit Esther 1906

Loyalty before

looks

Mordechai Beck

Since the advent of the Garden of Eden,

human beings have often found it more expedient to hide than reveal themselves.

"And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God…and

naked, and I hid.'"(Genesis 3: 8-10) Concealment and exposure, too, form a

prominent theme in the story of Esther, where allusions to nakedness and

clothing abound, both literal and metaphorical. This is especially poignant in

the case of the two main characters, Esther herself and Vashti.

Vashti's famous refusal to appear before her

inebriated husband, King Ahasuerus, and his fellow revelers leads to her early

banishment, yet an interesting parallel recurs in the middle of her successor's

story. Having persuaded Esther to enter the king's palace and the beauty

contest that results in her being crowned queen, Mordechai is impelled to

upbraid her after informing her of Haman's plot to

wipe out the Jews. "Don't think that your fate will be different from that

of other Jews just because you are in the king's palace," he warns. "For

if you remain silent at this time then… you and your father's house will

perish. Who knows if you have not achieved royalty precisely for a situation

like this?" What brings about this angry note in what had been, up to

then, a close and intimate relationship? How had Esther, whose star (as her

name in Persian suggests) was indeed ever rising, come to such a pass,

regarding her loyalties to her family and people? The tension seems to be

within Esther herself. Up to this point, she has been a dutiful young woman;

whatever Mordechai has proposed, she has done. Now, suddenly, something has

changed, and Mordechai is obliged to reprimand her. These complex relationships

have particularly interested Jewish feminists. Naomi Hyman in one anthology of

writings, "Biblical Women and Midrash,"

highlights the parallels between Esther and Vashti,

while in another, "Which Lilith?" Henny Wenkart draws powerful

analogies between Esther and Vashti and Eve and the

mythological first wife of Adam, Lilith. "The

two stories," Dr Wenkart writes, "express

the same male dream… The male writer of this tale dreams of his two women:

the woman he can't live with, Lilith/Vashti, the wife

who is his equal, assured, honest, secure in the dignity of her worth: and

Eve/Esther who rules him through flattery and guile, catering to his vanity and

need to feel superior and in charge… "The uppity wife is banished, the one who is willing to feign a compliant

posture takes her place." Like her predecessor Vashti,

Esther has advanced to her superior status by virtue of her physical beauty.

Indeed, both she and Vashti are defined in precisely

the same way, as tovat mareh

"good looking," indicating that this is the main quality that the

half-sober Ahasuerus looked for in his queen. In her recent book, "Women

and Desire," Jungian therapist Polly Young-Eisendrath

suggests that many of her female clients strive "to look good and thus

desirable," in order to fulfill perceptions of femininity foisted upon

them by a still-patriarchal society. Woman's beauty is her power, but it is

also a trap. In the Book of Esther, it is her looks that land the obstinate Vashti in trouble. By refusing to "show off her beauty"

before her master and his important guests, she causes her own downfall. No

real reason is given for her refusal. Perhaps the narrator felt that none was

needed: surely basic human dignity was at stake here. However, the rabbis

mischievously suggest that she was summoned to stand naked before the king,

dressed only in her royal crown. This intriguing rabbinic invention again

re-echoes the underlying theme of hiding and revealing. What appeared to the

king to be a natural request that a man – a drunken one, at least – might make

to his wife, is to Vashti a demand to demean herself

in public, especially before her fellow female party-goers; how would it look

in front of them? Where the king saw beauty, she saw power,

and corrupt male power at that. When Esther is confronted by Mordechai, she has

to address two opposing possibilities: either to rely on her beauty to find

continuous favor in the eyes of the king, or to declare herself a Jewess and

throw herself on the mercy of a man whose support of Haman clearly indicated

his hatred of her nation. In either case, Esther could lose not only her crown

but also her head. When faced by a similar challenge to her person, Vashti prefers principles to pragmatism. Neither does she

turn to her natural support group, the sisterhood with whom she was having a

party. No collective protest by the women is even attempted. By contrast,

Esther appears to realize that her feminine beauty is insufficient to protect

her forever against the chauvinistic king. She turns instead to her natural

support group: "Go, assemble all the Jews… and fast on my behalf… I

and my maidens will observe the same fast… and if I am to perish, I shall

perish." By placing her loyalty firmly with the Jewish people, Esther

transcends her more limited identity as a woman and thus ensures the future of

the entire nation. Had she relied on her feminist identity alone, she – and we

– would long ago have vanished from the face of Mother Earth.

Mordechai Beck is an artist and a writer

Remember what Amalek did to you

In his commentary on

Parashat Zakhor, Rabbi S. R. Hirsch interprets the

commandment to wipe out the memory of Amalek as a commandment intended to

constantly remind us not to adopt "Amalekitism"

when we gain the power to do so.

I think that alongside

the need to avoid exploiting our power to exploit the weak, on a more positive

note, there is certainly also room to make efforts to protect the rights of

those who are susceptible to be hurt by exploitation.

Therefore, we should

welcome the new awakening of interest in social issues initiated by groups

within religious Zionism.

The BeMa'aglei

Tzedek organization initiated the "Social

stamp of Approval," which protects the rights of workers in catering

halls, cafes, and restaurants. It has done much to inculcate the value of

social justice in the public.

Mavoi

Satum and Matir

Assurot are two organizations which fight

fearlessly on the behalf of women who have been denied divorce by their

husbands, and for women who whose husbands are missing.

We congratulate Tze'irei Ne’emanei

Torah Va'Avodah for distributing the Mishpatim issue of Shabbat Shalom and for their

contribution to the just struggle of women who have been denied divorce and to

the resuscitation of Religious-Zionist discourse that is relevant to the

Israeli society as a whole.

In addition, Beit Morasha sponsors a "Beit Midrash for Social Policy in Accordance with the Torah"

that is headed by Rabbi Dr. Benyamin Lau. A most

interesting magazine, which deals with various halakhic aspects of social

justice, is web-published under its auspices.

All of these

initiatives, which "restore the crown of religious Zionism," should

be commended. Let us hope that "a little light shall dispel much darkness."

Pinchas

Leiser,

Editor

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