Nachal novea; makor chochma -
A flowing river; the source of wisdom (Mish. 18:4)
Each of the twelve holy sons were rooted in a spiritual pathway to
closeness with Hashem unique to that son. Since Ya'akov was the
spiritual source of the twelve tribes, he incorporated all of those
pathways. This means he had achieved Tikun HaMishpat, i.e. he had
perfected his ability to make the right decisions by totally expelling
from his mind the spiritual pollution created by the snake and later by
Aisav and Yishmael. Ya'akov was the prototype for Tikun HaMishpat, as
the verse says, "A [day of] judgment of the G-d of Ya'akov." (Psalms
81:5) "Judgment and charity amid Ya'akov, You (Hashem) have instituted."
(Psalms 99:4) [These two verses associate perfected judgment with
Ya'akov.] So, when Binyamin was conceived, Ya'akov's vibrational essence
was of both intellectual and spiritual perfection. In addition, being
the youngest, Benyamin got the "hand-me-downs" of all of his older
brother's holy pathways and purified minds and they were thus
incorporated within him. Therefore, there was great spiritual
significance in Binyamin's birth, because his spirit incorporated such
great breadth of perfected attributes. Since the holy nation is strongly
attached to Hashem, Binyamin's state of mental perfection (which is the
ability to make the right decisions--Tikun HaMishpat) also perfected the
Divine Chariot and Hashem's Throne of Glory.
Saul was chosen to be the first king of Israel because of his great
righteousness, and especially because he was a descendant of Binyamin,
and thus strongly connected to the decision-making mechanisms of the
upper worlds. Amalek's abilities were the complete opposite of
Binyamin's ability to give the right spiritual advice. Amalek was most
adept at giving advice that led people away from Hashem, just like his
spiritual forebear, the snake. In order to fight fire with fire, King
Saul, because he was a descendant of Binyamin and was connected to
perfected holy advice, was chosen to wipe out and neutralize the nation
of Amalek. When Amalek damaged Saul's Tikun HaMishpat, it not only
damaged him, but, since he represented his entire tribe and all of
Israel, the Tikun HaMishpat of the entire nation was damaged at its
spiritual root. From that time on, it became difficult for King Saul and
the Jews to make the right decisions, whereas before this incident, they
had been able to come to the right conclusions with relative ease.
Haman's first step was to cast lots to help him to determine which would
be the most auspicious time for destroying the Jews. Casting lots in the
correct manner accesses the spiritual mechanism of judgment contained in
the upper worlds, which is why Haman used them to try to come to the
right decision. Another reason Haman cast lots was to infuse his
extremely impure essence into the spiritual channels of good judgment in
order to further hinder the Jews' ability to decide. Haman was overjoyed
when the lot fell on the Hebrew month of Adar. In his eyes, this could
not have been a better month to get the Jews for the following reasons:
Each one of the twelve tribes resonate with energies that nourish the
world during a particular month. Adar is the twelfth and last month of
the year, therefore it is associated with the spiritual energies of the
tribe of Binyamin, Ya'akov's twelfth and youngest son.
There were many ways to access the Divine Chariot. Among them were the
lots of holiness cast by the high priest to divide the land of Israel
amongst the twelve tribes; on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the
high priest would cast lots to determine which goat would be offered to
Hashem and which goat would given to Azazel (the forces of evil); the
breastplate of judgment that was worn by the high priest connected to
the Chariot as well. Haman discovered how to imitate the mystical
procedure to access the spiritual energies of the Divine Chariot, a
procedure known only to the high priest and a few other select Tzaddikim
(saints). Haman's casting of his own, unholy lots connected him to the
spiritual energies of the Divine Chariot and the tribe of Binyamin,
enabling him to severely damage them.
The holy lots and breastplate could activate the spiritual energies of
judgment from the Divine Chariot because these devices helped the user
to completely nullify himself to Hashem, which, given human nature, is
extremely difficult to do. The user's mind would become completely
merged with the Divine Intellect, all of his own ideas and conclusions
fell away. Humbling oneself to this state of total submission and
dependence upon Hashem entitled the person to Heavenly revelation as to
the proper course of action. This is exactly what Mordechai did, as the
verse says, "And Mordechai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth with
ashes. He went out into the midst of the city, and cried loudly and
bitterly." (Esther 4:1) In so doing, Mordechai completely humbled
himself before Hashem and demonstrated that he considered himself as
nothing before Hashem and His Divine judgment. Instead of trying to
devise his own plans, he placed himself fully in Hashem's care,
completely dependent upon His decisions. In contrast, many individuals
of lower caliber would have first held committee meetings, circulated
petitions, held protests, sought out influential politicians, etc.
Mordechai resorted to such methods only after he knew that he had
humbled himself before Hashem and enlisted His aid. Then Mordechai was
confident that any political maneuvering would be Hashem's instrument
for salvation. Belief in salvation solely through political means or the
whims of chance is tantamount to idolatry.
It takes great understanding to free oneself from the binds of greed and
monetary dependence that dragged him to the point where he sold himself
or his inherited land. The fiftieth gate of understanding contains the
most lofty and hidden wisdom that a human is capable of apprehending.
The spiritual energies derived from this high level of wisdom, enable a
person to connect to Hashem's Throne of Glory, which is propelled by the
Divine Chariot. When someone attains this awesome level, they are able
to access the spiritual energies of good judgment from the fifty gates
of binah, associated with the Divine Chariot. Rav Noson says that the
wisdom of the fiftieth gate is sometimes revealed to ordinary people in
dreams. When a person sleeps, he is selfless, and as mentioned above,
this enables his mind to become merged with the Divine Intellect.
Haman and his son, Shimshi carefully reviewed the portents of each month
of Jewish history and they found that the month of Adar would be the
perfect month in which to destroy the Jews. Moshe, the greatest leader
the Jews, had died on the seventh of Adar. Further investigation
revealed that the thirteenth of Adar was also the day Hashem had brought
the plague of darkness upon the Egyptians. During this period, many
wicked and unfaithful Jews had died. The lot seemed to imply that this
day would again be a time of death for the Jews. Haman was pleased that
he had almost a full year to carry out his plan and he immediately sent
out messengers to all parts of the Persian Empire to make arrangements
to implement his plans of destruction. Hashem arranged that the lot
should designate such a distant time for another reason, so the Jews
would have plenty of time to repent and be saved. Divine Providence
directed the fall of the pur especially to lead Haman into a trap. Haman
did not know th is and was ecstatic at the fall of the dice. All the
portents indicated that Haman stood to be elevated. What he didn't know
was that his "elevation" would come when he would be hoisted up on the
gallows to be hanged. (Yalkut Me'am Lo'ez: The Book of Esther )
Rabbi Nachman says that there are two nations which dominate the world
politically as a result of their connection to the forces of evil (which
are associated with the spiritual energies of the primeval snake). Their
energetic attachment to the primeval snake gives them dominion in the
world, particularly over the holy, Jewish nation. Their political and
spiritual goals are diametrically opposed to goals of the holy nation.
Thus, these two nations have been Israel's main political and spiritual
adversaries throughout history. The two nations are the descendants of
Aisav (Esau), Ya'akov's (Jacob's) twin brother, and Yishmael, Yitzchak's
(Isaac's) half brother. Their cultural, political, and spiritual
philosophies cloud one's perception, making it very difficult to find
Hashem (G-d). Rabbi Nachman says that the spiritual impurities that
these two nations emit into the world, through their actions, do
tremendous damage to the faculty of judgment, making it very difficult
to distinguish between right and wrong. A classic example of this is
when King Saul was commanded by Hashem to exterminate the evil nation of
Amalek, which descended from Aisav (cf. 1 Samuel 15:1-15:35). The reason
why Hashem called for the total annihilation of Amalek was that they
were so strongly rooted in the primeval snake, its evil could not be
rectified, as the verse says, "Amalek is the first amongst nations.
[This means that Amalek is the primary offspring of Aisav, "first" in
that they are the embodiment of extreme evil, just as Israel, its
implacable foe, is also called "first" in that they are the embodiment
of good. (Re'sisai Lay'lah)] (Numbers 24:20)
NATIONS ROOTED IN THE PRIMEVAL SNAKE
The primeval snake was responsible for turning paradise into a place of
suffering and sorrow. The nation of Amalek became the bearer of those
very same destructive spiritual powers, and throughout history, they
continued to spiritually pollute the world with the snake's destructive
essence. Israel's military campaign against Amalek had been a complete
success. However the exposure to Amalek damaged King Saul's decision
making faculty, just as the snake had done to Adam. As a result, he
violated Hashem's direct command to totally wipe out every trace of
Amalek, sparing the life of Agag, their king. King Saul was punished for
his poor judgment by being made to forfeit his kingdom to King David.
Saul's error in judgment had far reaching consequences, and came back to
haunt the Jews many centuries later. In addition, his sin remained
unrectified for many centuries as well. Several hundred years later, the
wicked Haman became the archenemy of the Jews. He quickly rose to power,
becoming the prime minister over the powerful Persian Empire. Haman was
a descendant of Agag, the Amalekite whom King Saul had allowed to live.
True to the nature of his nation, Haman's first priority was to
liquidate the Jews, and they were at his mercy.
Rav Noson says that because the spiritual damage which Amalek inflicted
upon the holy nation came through King Saul, it was more severe than if
some other righteous individual had been its agent. Rav Noson explains
why: Ya'akov was the father and main builder of the Jewish nation. He
produced twelve holy sons who became the foundation of the twelve tribes
and the holy nation. As Ya'akov matured, the holier he became. Each son
born resonated with the particular level of holiness that Ya'akov had
achieved by that time. Thus Binyamin (Benjamin), the youngest of
Ya'akov's twelve holy sons, was conceived when Ya'akov was on a much
higher spiritual plane than at the births of his preceeding children.
So, when Binyamin was born, Ya'akov's perception of Hashem and his
ability to choose between right and wrong were at their highest
level.
All heavenly decisions are channeled through the Throne of Glory and
implemented through the Divine Chariot. Because Binyamin was most
reponsible for the rectification of those heavenly tools, Hashem's
decisions, edicts and authority were best manifested on earth through
Binyamin and his descendants. Binyamin's status as the earthly
manifestation of the Divine Chariot, reflecting Hashem's dominion over
this world, was evidenced in the following ways: He was the only one of
Ya'akov's sons to be born in the land of Israel, and the holy Temple was
constructed in his territory. These are the places where Hashem's
Presence is concentrated more than anywhere else. The Sanhedrin, the
leading Rabbinical court where the application of Torah law was decided,
was situated next to the Temple, in Binyamin's territory. This is
because Binyamin's territory resonated with his connection to Tikun
HaMishpat, to the ability to make clear and correct decisions. Through
the tribe of Binyamin, this decisi on-making mechanism was available to
all of Israel. Therefore, a member of the tribe of Binyamin would be the
most suitable leader of the Jewish people.
The mission and goal of a holy nation is to come to recognize and
perceive Hashem in this spiritually polluted world. It is the purity of
the mind that enables a person to perceive Hashem and follow the right
paths that lead to Him. So the goal and collective effort of a holy
nation is to strive for mental purity, in order to create an environment
of intellectual clarity to clearly distinguish between right and wrong
and thus easily choose the right paths that lead to closeness with
Hashem. Since Hashem is infinite, the paths and methods that lead to Him
are infinite and therefore entail many different forms of service and
approaches. This is why there are twelve distinct tribes. The spiritual
abilities and philosophies that they embody span the entire spiritual
spectrum, each tribe having its own, unique spiritual path. Those
pathways are made far more direct when the different tribes pool their
talents, thus increasing everyone's ability to perceive Hashem many
fold.
There are times when the spiritual energies that nourish the world are
particularly strong and favor the Jews and there are other times when
they are weak, leaving the Jews susceptible to harm. The factors that
make a particular time more or less favorable are partially influenced
by the historical events that occurred during a specific month. There is
an axiom that actions and events create spiritual energies that are
eternal and reappear annually on the event's anniversary. For example,
the first Hebrew month, Nissan, is very favorable for the Jews, for this
is when the exodus from Egypt occurred, when the Jews earned great merit
by demonstrating their faith in Hashem and following Moshe (Moses) into
the barren desert without sufficient provisions. The month of Av is the
time when the Jews sinned in the desert, swayed to lack of faith in
Hashem by the evil report of the ten spies. For that, the two Temples
were destroyed during this month. Haman was well aware that, in order to
achieve a physical victory, one first had to win the war on the
spiritual level. Haman also knew that the Jewish nation was unique and
special, always protected by the watchful eyes of Hashem. This is why he
implemented his plans to destroy the Jews with extreme caution.
One of the many functions of the Divine Chariot is to help people make
proper determinations. It also aids in finding the pathways that lead to
Hashem. As mentioned above, the essence of the tribe of Binyamin brought
the Divine Chariot into completion, and so they had more ability than
any other tribe to access its spiritual energies of good advice.
Centuries earlier King Saul, the Binyaminite, had damaged the decision
making apparatus of the Divine Chariot. Haman understood that that
damage had not been repaired. Furthermore, since Binyamin incorporated
all of the spiritual energies of the other tribes combined, Haman knew
that if he could damage the spiritual energies of Adar, associated with
the tribe of Binyamin, he would be able to destroy the Jewish people
with one blow. Any further damage to the Divine Chariot would a) deprive
the Jews of their ability to make the right decisions and b) would make
it almost impossible for them to find the right pathways that lead to
Hashem. In such a state, the Jews would be practically cut off from
their spiritual source of defense, making them easy prey.
TO GET AT THE JEWS
The Tzaddik HaEmes (the leading saint of the generation), Mordechai, was
aware of all the things that Haman had done, and he was particularly
aware of the damage that Haman had wrought to the Divine Chariot, as the
verse says, "Mordechai learned of all that had been done [by Haman, both
on the physical and spiritual levels]." (Esther 4:1) Mordechai knew he
had to act quickly if the Jews would have any chance for survival. In
order to repair the Divine Chariot, Mordechai first had to access it.
However, Haman, through the unholy lots, had damaged and polluted the
spiritual pathways that lead there. Therefore, it could not be reached
that way. The breastplate of the high priest was unavailable, for the
Temple lay in ruins. So, to access and repair the spiritual energies of
judgment, Mordechai had to find another way. He had to activate the same
spiritual energies as the holy lots and the breastplate employed by the
high priest.
Mordechai's absolute submission to Hashem gave him full access the
Divine Chariot and enabled him to repair not only Haman's damage, but
King Saul's as well. The Talmud says that a person's name tells us about
his spiritual essence. (Talmud: Berachot 5b) The name, MoRDechai can be
rearranged into two words, MoR/D'RoR. D'ror means freedom. The word is
associated with the Jubilee year, when all ancestral land which had been
sold, is returned to its original tribal owners and all Hebrew slaves
are freed. [Poeple would sell their familial lands or sell themselves as
slaves for monetary gain, among other reasons.] The commandment of
d'ror, liberty, must be observed every fifty years. The reason why
liberty is proclaimed after fifty years is that the number fifty is
associated with the spiritual energies of the fifty gates of
understanding, binah.
One must totally nullify his intelligence to Hashem in order to access
the highest levels of wisdom. Mordechai is associated with the fifty
gates of understanding connected with the fifty year cycle of the
Jubilee, where d'ror, freedom is proclaimed (again, the name Mordechai
rearranged to mor/d'ror). This indicates that Mordechai had connected
his mind to the fiftieth gate of wisdom and that he had totally freed
his mind from the limitations of ego and self-worth, totally merging
with the Divine Intellect. Therefore, through total submission to
Hashem, Mordechai was able to access the fiftieth gate and repair the
damage done to the Divine Chariot, using its spiritual energies to turn
events against Haman and thus save the Jews.
Haman became aware of Mordechai's success in repairing the damage to the
Divine Chariot. So, Haman built a wooden gallows, fifty cubits high,
upon which to hang Mordechai [a cubit is a distance approximately 18-24
inches]. The number fifty was significant, for it would have enabled
Haman to reactivate the spiritual energies of the lot that he had cast,
which is associated with the fifty gates of binah. The energies
activated by the fifty-cubit-high gallows would have let Haman ascend to
the fifty gates of binah, where Mordechai was then spiritually
connected. Because Mordechai was merged with the fifty gates of binah,
executing him would have caused untold damage to the Divine Chariot.
However, since Mordechai had thoroughly and completely repaired all of
the damage to the fifty gates of binah and the Divine Chariot, he was,
through Hashem's mercy, able to use all of the powers from the rectified
Divine Chariot to turn all of the unholy spiritual energies that Haman
had used in his attempt to destroy the Jews against him. This was
physically manifested when Haman was hung on the very gallows that he
himself had prepared for Mordechai.
Hanging Haman on the same gallows that he had prepared for Mordechai was
similar to the high priest's casting of lots to determine which goat
went to Hashem and which one went to Azzazel. When the spiritual
energies of judgment are working properly, the high priest could
determine, through the lots, which one of the two identical goats
contained the spiritual energies of holiness fitting to be offered to
Hashem and which one was spiritually impure, associated with Aisav and
Yishmael. That goat was sent away to Azazel before it could damage the
fifty gates of wisdom associated with the spiritual energies of good
judgment, which lead to the pathways of Hashem. Therefore, the Yom
Kippur lots were similar to the gallows on which Haman hung. For
executing Haman erased the impurity before it could damage the fifty
gates that lead to Hashem. This is why the holiday is called
Purim--lots, because the entire incident revolved around lots. Through
Haman's lots, the Jews were imperiled, and through Mordechai's lots,
they were saved. We get drunk on Purim because it is similar to the
casting of lots, meaning to say that we throw away our intelligence in
our state of holy drunkenness, and depend only upon Hashem. (Lekutai
Halachot: Orach Chaim: Hilchot Purim 3:6-12)
We mentioned that the wicked Haman cast lots to determine the most
auspicious time to kill the Jews. The following is a more detailed
account of how this was actually done: Having made up his mind to
exterminate the Jews, Haman then sought an auspicious time. Making use
of a device known as pur, Haman tried, aided by his knowledge of
astrology, to determine the best month and day to implement his plans.
Hashem brought it about that Haman casted his lots on the first day of
the Hebrew month of Nissan, the most favorable month for the Jews, the
month of when the exodus had occurred, a time when Jews have always
triumphed over their enemies. Even Haman was aware of this, but he
disregarded it, because he thought that this would not have any
influence upon the lots. The very first pur was much like dice. They
were cubes, and on their six faces were the numbers one to six, written
in Hebrew and arranged so that the face of all opposing numbers added up
to seven. Thus, opposing faces resp ectively had the pairs 1-6, 2-5, and
3-4. For his pur, Haman used three dice. On the first throw, they came
out 1- 3-3, which corresponds to the Hebrew letters Aleph and twice
Gimel which spell the name AGaG, the king of Amalek, Haman's ancestor.
Then Haman turned over the dice that he had thrown, to see which letters
were on the bottom. The letters Vav, Daled, Daled appeared, which spell
the name DaViD. Haman took this as a sure sign that Agag and his
descendants would end up on top, and David's people, the Jews, on the
bottom.
Haman then cast lots for months and days. To draw a month from one lot,
would prove nothing, for one month was sure to come up and was too much
dependent upon chance. To ensure the validity of the lots, he wrote the
names of all twelve months on twelve pieces of paper and, on a separate
set of pieces of paper, he wrote the numbers 1 to 354--the number of
days in a lunar year. If the two separate drawings, the months and the
days coincided, Haman would know that the draw was truly fortuitous. For
example, if the drawing for the month yielded Adar, as it actually did,
then there was a drawing for the day. The number chosen was 337,
seventeen days before the end of the year, corresponding to the
thirteenth of Adar. Since the month that was drawn, fell within the
correct range of the number of days chosen, this verified that the lots
drawn were not the result of chance. However, if the drawing for months
had yielded Adar, and the one for days had yielded 100 (much earlier in
the year, in the month of Tammuz), it would have been clear that the lot
was inauspicious.