Rabbi Berland shlit"a’s Lesson — Last Night, the Night of 11 Nissan, After Ma’ariv

Holy words of The Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, from the lesson delivered last night, Monday, after the Ma’ariv prayer on the night of 11 Nissan:

It is written, “And Haman was pushed to his house, mourning and with his head covered.” Who pushed him? Mordechai. How did he know… where did he learn it? In Shuvu Banim. How did he know how to push Haman? Poor Haman—every single thing he asked the king. On everything he would consult with the king. He was the most obedient person in the world, the most compliant. But Queen Esther said: No! He must be hanged. So before this, the king had hanged Vashti because Haman said so. Now he did the opposite: he hanged Haman because Esther said so.

Where did Esther learn it? Also in Shuvu Banim. Esther was a student in Shuvu Banim. There she learned to hang all the Hamans. There she learned that Haman must be hanged—even though he is so compliant, such a “good boy,” such a “good boy of Jerusalem.” But he must be hanged; there is no choice.

השיעור בדקה 39:42

But none of this helped—nothing at all. Even though she had already hanged Haman, even though they had already hanged Haman, the king said to her: “And it was sealed with the king’s ring, and it cannot be revoked.” We sealed one hundred and twenty-seven letters! This isn’t one letter—there are copies. For it is written that there were two letters there: one letter was “to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate.” But that was secret—like what Hitler did. “To destroy, to kill, and to annihilate”—that was only for the heads of the cities, for the heads of the Gestapo. For the whole world it was just: labor camps, recovery camps, children to schools—children didn’t learn. They opened schools for the children; they took children and said, “These will be organized schools.” Here they shoot, here missiles—everything is so neat, so beautiful. But Hitler’s real plan was secret. The same thing was with Haman: one hundred and twenty-seven letters—one hundred and twenty kingdoms—letters, sealed. Esther says, “Master of the world, what is happening here?” Achashverosh says, “Forgive me—you are my eyes…” Why does it say, “If I have found favor in your eyes, O king…”? He would say to her, “You are my eyes.” Esther said to him: You tell me, “You are my eyes”? “If I have found favor in your eyes, O king”—I am your eyes, so do something! Achashverosh said: It’s impossible to do anything—“and it was sealed with the king’s ring, and it cannot be revoked.” We sealed one hundred and twenty-seven letters; it is impossible to cancel the decree. “And Esther continued and spoke before the king, and she fell before his feet, and she wept and pleaded with him: My G-d, my G-d, why have You forsaken me…”