More and more and more insatiability

More and more arrogance and vanity.

Who are you, man, not the first?

The agent to cause a catastrophe.

 No! Not on another will you bring disaster

But on your own head will the tub be poured.

A tub filled with the humiliation of vanity

With the humiliation of forgetting G-d.

Haman haRasha (the wicked man)

There is no personality more wicked and satanic in the history of Am Israel than that of Haman the son of Hamdatta the Aggagite. The hatred of Israel which was smoldering in his heart was what brought him to seek to annihilate Am Israel in each and every place of their dwelling. This kind of hatred, and an attempt to wipe out the entire Jewish nation, repeated itself only once more – in the days of the Second World War, when the accursed Nazis attempted – G-d forbid – to erase the name of Israel from under the heavens.

Beyond the incomprehensible wickedness and monstrosity, Megillat Esther teaches us a lesson about the rise and fall of mortals. In the following paragraphs we will concentrate on the question of what, in the end, brought about the downfall of Haman and what we can learn from this episode.

Haman's Plans

After Haman received permission from Achashverosh to destroy all the Jews in his kingdom, he had to wait until the time came, the time designated by the lottery which he himself cast, namely the month of Adar of the following year. Had Haman waited patiently for that time to come, his plans, G-d forbid, could have succeeded. Even the revelation of the fact that Esther was Jewish could not have altered the sefarim (decrees to annihilate the Jews) which were already sealed with the king's ring. In all probability, Achashverosh would have sufficed with saving Esther, and would have abandoned all the rest of the Jews to be murdered and plundered by their enemies.

However, Haman's own impatience brought about the king's command to hang him and replace him with Mordechai. This ultimately led to the writing of the second set of sefarim (which proclaimed the right of the Jews to defend themselves against their assailants) and the organization of the Jewish defense which eventually became the force which attacked the enemies of the Jews and smote them with blows of swords, death and destruction.

This situation came about because Haman wasn't able to wait eleven months to carry out his original plan. And this is what the Megillah (5:9-13) tells us about Haman when he left the first feast with Esther and Achashverosh:

"And Haman went out that day happy and glad in his heart. And when Haman saw Mordechai in the king's gate, and that he didn't rise or move on account of him, Haman was filled with wrath. And Haman restrained himself and he came to his house and he brought his friends and Zeresh his wife. And Haman narrated to them the of glory of his wealth and the multitude of his sons and how the king made him great and that he elevated him above all the ministers and servants of the king. And Haman said: Behold, the queen Esther didn't bring anyone to the feast with the king which she made except for me, and also for tomorrow I am called to her with the king. And all this is worth nothing to me every time I see Mordechai the Jew sitting at the king's gate."

Haman, whose power of restraint is limited to the walking distance between his house and the king's palace, gladly embraces the disastrous advice of his wife and his band of cronies:

"And his wife Zeresh and all his friends said: Have a wood scaffold made, fifty cubits in height, and in the morning say to the king to hang Mordechai on it, and go with king to the feast happily. This thing was good in Haman's eyes and he made the scaffold."

Thus Haman built a gallows for himself, the one he would eventually be hanged from when Harvona would reveal to the king Haman's plot to hang Mordechai, who spoke for the well for the king (saving him from the assassination plot of Bigtan and Teresh).

And all this is worth nothing to me

In that which Haman says, it seems that his most atrocious statement is: "and all this is worth nothing to me." Haman was incapable of sitting and enjoying his immense wealth, his many sons and the honor showered upon him by the king's ministers and servants - as long as Mordechai would not subordinate himself to him. 

At first glance, Haman's behavior arouses ridicule and contempt. But a deeper look reveals that even today, quite a few people act as he did. The defining characteristic of insatiability is never being satisfied by what one has and always seeking more. The desire to acquire more and more prevails over the ability to enjoy what one already has. This feeling of discontent is aggravating and can never be satisfied.

Regarding this attribute if insatiability, Shlomo said in Mishlei:

"The tzaddik eats to his soul's satiety, and the stomach of the wicked is lacking (always hungry)."

The Metsudat David explains:

The tzaddik eats and is satisfied – he does not desire delicacies, but only that which satisfies the soul. But the wicked indulge themselves in eating tempting delicacies and sweets, and their stomachs are never full because there is always more room for sweet food, and so they can be filled even more.

And our Rabbis taught us in the Midrash (Kohelet Rabbah 1,13):

No man departs from this world with half of his desire in his hand (satisfied).

This is also the principle behind the Mishna in Pirkei Avot (4,1): "Who is rich? He who is happy in his portion." An abundance of money is not enough in and of itself to bring a man contentment. Only happiness and sufficing can enable one to attain proper, beneficial enjoyment.

Sofei Teivot (the last letters of the words) 

A special insight about Haman's words "And all this is worth nothing to me" is related in the commentary of haRokeach on Megillat Esther as well as Rabbenu Bechayei's book "Kad haKemach" (in the section on Purim). According to them, the last letters of the words זה איננו שוה לי (this is worth nothing to me) are the letters of HaShem's name, in reverse. Rabbenu Bechayei explains that these sofei teivot come to teach us that Haman denied the existence of G-d.

Conceivably, we can explain Rabbenu Bechayei's words through understanding the root of the uncontrollable desire to constantly get more and more instead of being satisfied and happy with what one has. The chase after temptations and the desire to acquire more and more stem from the outlook that everything in the world is determined exclusively by the actions of men. According to this approach, success and accomplishments are dependent on human effort, and the world has (G-d forbid) no overlord who determines the moral standards to which men must subordinate themselves. As far as the supporters of this view are concerned, G-d is not present in their ethical universe, and as a result they live in a world with only one rule: kol d'alim g'var (whoever is more powerful overcomes).

In contrast, the believing man is happy with his portion. He knows that what he receives is from HaShem's hand, and "one man does not touch that which has been designated for his fellow man." One who is incapable of being happy with his lot, which he receives from G-d, consequently proclaims that he doesn't believe that what he has comes to him from HaShem. Therefore he can find no peace until he makes every effort to acquire more and more. Haman and his type banish HaShem from their world and from their consciousness, and therefore comes the sign of the sofei teivot written backwards, to teach us that HaShem manifestly does not exist in their world.

Haman's sin was in being incapable of being happy with what he received, and the deep reason for this is found in one verse: "and all this is worth nothing to me."

Haman HaRasha and Adam HaRishon

It is plausible that the Midrash in Masechet Hulin 139 corresponds to this understanding of Haman's sin:

"Where is Haman alluded to in the Torah? המן העץ – from the tree (from the verse: did you eat from the [forbidden] tree?). (The word המן - from is identical to המן- Haman.)

All the trees in Gan Eden were permitted to Adam HaRishon, but he couldn't stop himself from tasting the fruit of precisely the only tree which was forbidden to him. In this respect, Haman behaved like Adam HaRishon – he wasn't satisfied with all the ministers and the king's servants (who bowed own to him) and he attempted to strike at Mordechai the Jew. In this way, Haman, like Adam HaRishon, disregarded the fact that the world belongs to HaShem, and that it is He who allocates to every man what he receives. A man can utilize only this portion, he should rejoice in it and he must thank the Creator who bequeathed it to him.

Only the awareness of HaShem's presence in our lives, in our successes as well as in our failures, can save us from the trap of being dissatisfied with what comes to us honestly, and from the accompanying lure of always attempting to obtain more.

How different is Mordechai the Jew who walks in the ways of HaShem, and is willing to risk everything in order to perform His Mitzvot. Even when his wife (Esther) is taken from him by king Achashverosh, he understands that this is the will of HaShem and anticipates that a great salvation will result from this.

"Cursed is Haman who sought to destroy me, blessed is Mordechai haYehudi"

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