Our parsha begins and ends describing the remaining two utensils in the Mishkan, the Menorah and the Incense Altar. In between, it describes the Priestly Garments and the inauguration ceremony of the Kohanim. In this shiur I would like to explore a connection between the Mishkan/Mikdash and Purim.
Megillat Esther begins with Achashveirosh throwing a 180-day-long party, to which everyone in Shushan was invited. This was less of a party, and more a kind of a “museum” expo in which he flaunted the treasures of his kingdom. Which treasures? The utensils from the Beit HaMikdash that Nebuchadnezzar had looted.
The Gemara in Masechet Megillah says that throughout the 180 days Achashveirosh was wearing the garb of the Kohen Gadol, the same priestly garments mentioned in our parsha. Why 180 days? The Midrash in Shemot Rabbah says that each day Achashveirosh would show off six “treasures.” A “treasure” is defined (in Masechet Shabbat) as five utensils, therefore each day he flaunted 30 utensils from the Mikdash, until he ran out of utensils – which was after 180 days (there were a total of 5,400 utensils in Bayit Rishon according to Sefer Ezra).
Chazal say that Achashveirosh hated Am Yisrael even more than Haman. Achashveirosh was told by his soothsayers that he would eventually be succeeded by a Jew. Since he wasn’t particularly fond of Am Yisrael to begin with, he incorrectly assumed that the only way this could possibly transpire was if the Jews staged a coup and overthrew him. When Haman suggested his “final solution,” Achashveirosh was delighted that he finally had a concrete plan to dispose of the Jews. Only later when Esther revealed that she was Jewish and he realized that it was actually his Jewish son (Darius) who would succeed him, did Achashveirosh do a 180-degree flip in his relationship to Am Yisrael.
Fifty years following the destruction of the first Beit HaMikdash (585 BCE) Ezra HaSofer returned from Babylon to Israel after a decree passed by the Persian emperor Cyrus and together with Zerubavel they rebuilt the altar and restored the avodah in the Mikdash. It was not until about 30 years later however, until Darius (the son of Esther and Achashveirosh) assumed the leadership, that the approval to build the second Beit HaMikdash was given, in the time of the prophets Zecharia and Chagai.
During this period between Cyrus and Darius there were constant, repeated and failed attempts to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash. Achashveirosh was violently opposed to this as was Haman. We know this from Chazal, who say that Haman in fact did not have 10 sons, but 208. So why were only ten hung on the tree? Because these ten were highly active in issuing draconian edicts and legislature to prevent any attempts at rebuilding the Beit HaMikdash.
Originally Haman had no plans to wipe out the Jews. He believed that the destruction of the first Mikdash was enough to deal the death blow to Am Yisrael and that eventually the survivors would disappear through assimilation. Assimilation was quite prevalent at the time with many prosperous exiled Jews preferring a liberal, cosmo-political approach as opposed to a conservative, separatist approach. Very few remained true to the old teachings and values, like Mordechai, the former head of the Sanhedrin.
Haman’s bubble burst, however, when he overheard a class of children learning halachot, taught by Mordechai. Haman asked the children what they were learning, to which they replied hilchot Kemitza (a partial handful measurement for the Mincha offerings). He asked why they were learning specifically that subject and they replied that Pesach was approaching and they were reviewing the material relating to the Omer offering in the Beit HaMikdash.
Haman then understood that as long as there were people like Mordechai around, keeping dreams of rebuilding the Beit HaMikdash alive, Am Yisrael would forever cling to these dreams and would survive even the worst persecution. Haman realized that the only way to eradicate Am Yisrael for good was to physically kill all the Mordechais and at the same time, all the Jews as well, as part of a package deal.
According to Chazal, Haman knew that as long as Am Yisrael gave a half shekel every year for funding the korbanot in the Mikdash, this would atone for the sin of selling of Yosef. He erroneously thought that if the Beit HaMikdash was no longer in existence, this protection would disappear, since Am Yisrael were no longer bringing the half shekel and this would lower their Divine defenses. So, Haman deliberately donated 10,000 gold coins – to arouse the Heavenly prosecutor against Am Yisrael. This devious scheme was foiled when Haman saw Mordechai practicing the avodah of the Mikdash through prayer and study.
Although we celebrate Purim today as a joyous occasion, when we understand all the underlying historical and political circumstances that were the backdrop for this story over 2,000 years ago, it should actually send a shiver down our spine when we examine Am Yisrael’s current geopolitical situation and its similarity to how it was then.
Back in the time of the story of Purim, we were only 50 years after the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash and many people were still alive then, who had lived through the reality of having a Beit HaMikdash. Today, after 1,955 years, we don’t even have that and I am sorry to say that the vast majority of Jews worldwide, have practically forgotten or given up on the Beit HaMikdash. The few that haven’t, at most pay lip service to it and little else. It is a distant dream and certainly not a live, throbbing ache that should prevent us leading our daily lives as normal and prompt us to urgently remedy the situation.
The only way we can ensure return to our former glory is if we follow the way of Mordechai and Ezra HaSofer, by keeping the dream of the Beit HaMikdash alive and throbbing, at the forefront of our consciousness and not tucked away in some drawer. If we do that, as Mordechai merited seeing the rebuilding of the second Beit HaMikdash in his days – we will merit seeing the third Beit HaMikdash rebuilt in our days.
Parshat HaShavua Trivia Question: What were the hats of the regular Kohen and the Kohen Gadol called?
Answer to Last Week’s Trivia Question: Where in the Mishkan would Moshe stand when G-d communicated with him? Moshe would stand outside the Kodesh HaKodashim, in front of the Parochet. Moshe would hear HaKadosh Baruch Hu speaking to him from above the Kaporet and between the two Keruvim (Bamidbar 7:86).
