Purim: Hakaras HaTov, Amalek’s Ingratitude, and the Key to True Simchah

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Shalom Aleichem, bruchim haba'im. Tonight we'll discuss, talk about Purim, the Yontif of Purim. One of the yesodos of Purim and the Megillah is to be moicheh, to destroy Amalek and the zecher of Amalek. Klipah, hashkaf, hashkafah, hashpoah — different sefarim call it different names, either the klipah of Amalek, the hashkafah of Amalek, the hashpoah of Amalek. The yesod of Purim and the Megillah is to destroy, Timche es zecher Amalek. What is the klipah of Amalek? What is this hashpoah, this hashkafah? There's a mefurash Chazal. It's a Mechilta in Parshas Beshalach: Yavoi kafui tov veyifra mi'am kafui tov. In the sefarim you'll find many different aveiros and many different evils attributed to Amalek. Probably all true. All the evil is mistama rooted from Amalek and its klipah, its shoresh. But it's clear in Chazal one thing stands out more than anything else, and that is that they're kafuyei tov. The Medrash says that when Klal Yisrael in the Midbar became kafuyei tov, the Ribono Shel Olam sends Amalek, yavoi kafui tov veyifra, and should be porea, should punish the am kafui tov. What is Klal Yisroel's kfui tov? We'll discuss a little bit later, but it's clear here in Chazal that the shoresh hara of Amalek is its kfiyas hatov. There's a Moshev Zekeinim and a Baal HaTurim in the beginning of Parshas Ki Seitzei. Baal HaTurim, Moshev Zekeinim say that if you look, Ki Seitzei is Parshas Amalek. The end of Parshas Ki Seitzei we read about Amalek. Ki Savo talks about bikurim. What is the connection? Ki Seitzei ended with Amalek. Ki Savo beginning with bikurim, say the Baal HaTurim and Moshev Zekeinim, that bikurim is about hakaras hatov. Amalek is the kafui tov. So the anecdote to Amalek is bikurim, being a makir tov, and that's the smichus, the connection between the two parshiyos. The Baal HaTurim points out, notice that Amalek is called reishis goyim Amalek, and bikurim is called reishis. Reishis, reishis. There's a connection between bikurim and Amalek. Amalek, the kafui tov; bikurim is all about hakaras hatov. That's what Vanisa v'amarta, Rashi says, she'eini kafui tov. Clearly, you're supposed to announce in the bikurim, in the bringing of the bikurim, that I am not a kafui tov. Amalek, bikurim. Lemaaseh, there's other things which are also reishis. It's not only bikurim. It's not only reishis goyim Amalek. Rashi, in the beginning of the Torah, Parshas Bereishis, Bereishis bara, bishvil haTorah shenikreis reishis, bishvil Yisrael shenikreis reishis. So we have two other reishis. We have, yes, Amalek, yes, Bikurim, but we also have Yisrael. Klal Yisrael is called reishis, and the Torah is called reishis. Is there a connection also in this equation, Amalek, Bikurim, hakaras hatov, Klal Yisrael, and Torah? As we will see, they're very strongly connected in the parsha of Mechiyas Amalek, the sugya of Mechiyas Amalek, and as a whole, in a broader, in the story of the Megillah. Let us begin by explaining and taking apart the concept of kafi tov in the Megillah. Amalek is the kafi tov. If you look at the krevitz of Purim, Ashheini, it's the piyut that we say, Ashheini. It stresses, it speaks, Lo zachar Chemla Shol, that the ra, the evil of Haman is that he didn't remember the chemla, the rachmanus of Shaul. It's referring to the history that Shaul had rachmanus on Agag. Agag.

It was the melech of Amalek. He leaves Agag alive. That night, he conceives a baby, which later on brings the grandchildren, Haman, one of those grandchildren. So theoretically, there's an hakaras hatov that Haman should have for Shaul ben Yamin, shevet Binyamin, Mordechai is from the shevet of Binyamin, Ish Yemini, Shaul's grandfather. He's not being makir tov, he's a kafui tov, and we're being madgish this as an internal, intricate part of the story of the Megillah and the story of Purim. V'lo zachar, hemla sho, he didn't remember. He's a kafui tov. So this is one of the ingredients of the story of Haman and the story of Purim: the remembrance, lo zachar. A kafui tov means he doesn't remember. That's what a kafui tov. That's where the root of his illness, for lack of a better term, I think it's well said, an illness, the illness of kafui tov. What is it rooted in? It's rooted in zechirah, lacking the ability to remember. People do toives, people have done you, and you owe a return, and you forget all that. Mefarges, mefarges, tug to tug, and sometimes from minute to minute. Sometimes it takes minutes, hours, and you already forgot what the person, the chesed that he did, and you're back to animosity and not appreciating what the person does. In sefarim, it gebracht. Sefarim write, Zochor es asher asah lecha Amalek. You have to remember what Amalek did. Timche zecher Amalek. The pasuk, the Torah ends, Lo sishkach, don't forget. So partially, lo sishkach is the lav for the aseh of zochor, timche, or it's stressing lo tishkach, please don't forget, meaning we're putting emphasis on making sure, by repeating it, lo sishkach, don't forget to do it. Chassidus sefarim write, lo sishkach is actually the trufa; it's the antidote. Zochor, to remember, because the klipah, the ra of Amalek is to always forget, to never remember the good. If you look at all the yotzros that is said on Parshas Zachor, it emphasizes zechirah and all the different things that we need to remember forever. Zechirah, zechirah, zechirah, because the ra of Amalek is to forget. Says the Torah, Lo sishkach, don't forget, and by this you're being mekayem timche zecher Amalek. Lo sishkach is the antidote. That is the way to combat. So kemfen kegen Amalek, un di shlechtskeit, the ra of Amalek, lo sishkach, never forget, because Amalek is about forgetting, forgetting and not remembering all the good that's done. If you look in the Gemara, the Gemara says, Haman min haTorah minayin. How do we know Haman? Where is it merumaz in the Torah? We know that everything is merumaz in the Torah. Where is Haman merumaz in the Torah? says the Gemara Megillah. Haman, hamin ha'etz. From the tree that I told you not to eat, did you eat? Hamin, Haman, hamin ha'etz. What is the connection, the shaychus, Haman and the eitz hadaas, hamin ha'etz? Baal HaMusar say a beautiful deher. Adam had the same weakness, so to speak, that Haman has. Haman has everything, and yet, Vechol ze einenu shaveh li — it's all not worth anything to him. Why? The one Yid, Mordechai HaYehudi, yoshev b'shaar hamelech, lo kam v'lo zaz. Right? So forget about him. It's one person. Move on. Ignore it. The one person, okay, but you have everything else. No, I need that one. Even that, what's not allowed or what I don't have, oh, I need that, then everything else is not worth it. I'm ready to give up everything for it. Adam HaRishon too wasn't ganedin, he had everything. The Ribono Shel Olam said, just one thing, one thing is off-limits for you, one thing you don't have — eitz hadaas — and he couldn't be happy with everything else he needed.

The eitz hadaas, the das licked the shoresh of a haman, of— so it's interesting, it comes out that Adam's weakness to wanting the eitz hadaas is Haman's ra. It's a little bit schwer to correlate, as he stated in the Baal HaMussar. Efsher keman zogen gar pashut, we could say a simple connection between the eitz hadaas and Haman. The eitz hadaas, Chazal clearly defined to us, was an act of hakfiyas hatov. It was an act that lacked hakaras hatov. HaKadosh Baruch Hu put Adam in a beautiful Gan Eden and gave him everything, and yet he went against what the Ribono Shel Olam said, the tzivui the Ribono Shel Olam gave him, and then he was kafui tov by saying, Haisha shenasata imadi. Kfiyas hatov is the shoresh ra, the chet of eitz hadaas, and it's really Haman. Like we speak, Amalek, Haman, kafui tov. So there's a direct connection between Haman and hamin ha'eitz, eitz hadaas. If you look at the Megillah, the entire story revolves around hakaras hatov and Haman's kfiyas hatov. What is Haman's kfiyas hatov? Chazal tell us that— it's brought in Rashi already in perek hei, pasuk yud-gimmel, the Megillah. Rashi says every time Haman passes by Mordechai, Mordechai shows him his shoe. What's on his shoe? His shoe has a shtar, a document written. They wrote it on the bottom of the shoe, so it was there for everyone to read. I guess it had a kiyum, it was leather. I guess shoes were leather. He wrote on the shoe. You are my eved. Haman, you are my eved. Why is Haman his eved? There's a story that Haman went to war and he lost, and he came back starving for food. He was ready to die from hunger, and Mordechai saved him. And in return, Haman promised away himself as payment that he'll be the eved. And Mordechai is showing this constantly to Haman: Haman, you're my eved. Freg Brisker Rav, why is he mizgareh? Why is he instigating Haman? What does he have from it? What would be the point of it? There's also a rule, al tisgareh l'rashaim b'shaas sleicha, when they're up, when they're in a situation of luck, so to speak, leave the rasha alone. It's his lucky time, so to speak. He's being matzliach. Stay away from him. Why is he being mizgareh b'rishaim? Why is he instigating Haman? And the pshat, the, kiyadua, everyone says over, the pshat, the teretz to the kasha is: Haman is a kafui tov. Mordechai is being me'orer to him, Where is your hakaras hatov? I saved you, and now you turn around and you want to kill me, my nation. V'lo yizachar chemlas Shaul is also v'lo yizachar chemlas Mordechai, and that's what Mordechai is being me'orer. He is addressing, he is pointing out to Haman, You owe me hakaras hatov. I saved you. How could you go now and want to kill me and all my people? Amolik the kafi toiv, as the Mechilta says. Haman is a kafi toiv, lo zachar chemlas Shaul, and we read in Rashi, lo zachar chemlas Mordechai. Meforshim ask, we know a big part of the story of the Megillah is that Mordechai saves Achashverosh from the plot of Bigsan v'Seresh. Why? Why is Mordechai going out of his way to save Achashverosh? Achashverosh is going נגד הצדיק. He did make a seudah and put on the bigdei kohen kehuna. Congroissa, Groissa Torah mentions in Ishkaven, he wasn't a good person. So why is it that, I mean, Mordechai's not going to kill him with his own hands, he's not going to be a dayim with his own directly kill him, so let Bigsan v'Seresh get rid of him. Why is he interfering? And of course, the famous pshat is, the dictator you know is a lot better than the dictator that you don't know. If Achashverosh falls, who knows who comes after him? Maybe Haman comes in instead, in his place. Better to deal with Achashverosh than to deal with the next. In world politics, it's one of the famous rules. You know, sometimes we don't take out a despot.

A dictator thinking, nishkefarlach, and who knows if we get rid of him, who comes in his place? And I saw the mefarshim say another pshat. Mordechai felt Achashverosh is the melech. He took in the Jews, wasn't bad to the Jews. If anything, he was mekarev the Yidden, okay, it was l'shem Shamayim, at the seudah, the Beis Hamikdash, good, understood. Ah, but he wasn't bad to the Jews as a whole. As a whole, he wasn't bad to the Jews. So mimeila, it's kumt dem akaras hatov. We know there's a famous rule, to be mispallel bishlomo shel malchus. We owe akaras hatov. Yidden don't come into countries and want to topple the government and the countries. Other religions always have done that. They came into a country and instead of being subordinate and appreciating and respecting and being makir tov, they right away wanted the downfall of that empire or country or government. Akaras hatov was mechayev to appreciate and to want the hatzalah, the salvation of Achashverosh, the melech. So we have vayter akaras hatov. We have Haman is a kafui tov. Mordechai is a makir tov by saving Achashverosh. Achashverosh in return is also makir tov. If you take a look, you'll notice Achashverosh wants to repay Mordechai the favor. He repays Mordechai the favor for saving him. Chazal even point out that he had a tremendous ma'alah. The ma'alah of Achashverosh was he had a sefer zechronos, that he wrote down anyone who ever did him a favor to repay him. And because of that, he repays Mordechai. It's very possible that there's a deeper, also understanding to this sefer zechronos. בלילה נדדה שנת המלך, it's really the Eibishter, HaMelech. And we even use the tune of Rosh Hashanah, בלילה נדדה שנת המלך, it's the Melech, and the sefer zechronos, which is zechronos of the hakaras hatov, the hashlamah, to pay back good, because the Ribono Shel Olam is tov u'meitiv, and tov u'meitiv means to be meshalem tovah tachas tovah and not meshalem ra tachas ra, or meshalem ra tachas tovah. So inherently, avad it's Achashverosh, yes, but Achashverosh represents something deeper, represents something bigger in the picture, and that's the Ribono Shel Olam through Achashverosh, which is the tov and Haman, which is the klipah, which is the ra, the ultimate ra. So it's good versus evil. It's the Ribono Shel Olam's to be mashlim tovah, to give good, to repay people good in this world and in the next world, of course. And Haman, that's a kafui tov, and he's a meshalem ra, and that becomes the internal conflict in the Megillah itself of tov in opposition ra. And therefore, Ein hakisi sholom ad sheyimachei. Amalek has to be erased because it's the antithesis to everything that the Ribono Shel Olam is, that He's a tov u'meitiv, and what He put this world and He created this world for. Hakaras hatov is the deep theme of the story of the Megillah and the nes of Purim. Avada, yes, Haman is a kafui tov, and Mordechai is a makir tov, but the whole conflict and the tzarah is about kfiyas hatov, to deny good, and the yeshuah and the nes is the tov over the ra, hakaras hatov over kafui tov. And it plays itself out through Achashverosh, who is a melech shoteh and probably has every chisaron you can think of, and yet at the same time he has a maalah that he's a makir tov. Pirlei plaim, pirlei plaim. It brings out the inner story within the story, and that is the hisnagdus, the conflict of ra fighting tov, kafui tov fighting hakaras hatov.

Chazal tell us that Esther said over the story of Bigsan v'Seresh that Mordechai told her, b'shem Mordechai. And from here we learn, kol omer davar b'shem omro meivi geulah l'olam. What's the big thing that if you say davar b'shem omro, you say over in the name of the person, you're a meivi geulah, and the whole story of Purim seems to be based on this part of the story that Esther said it over b'shem omro. And the teretz is, the way we're explaining, because the entire story of the Megillah and the yeshuah is about hakaras hatov. B'shem omro is hakaras hatov. Someone tells you something, don't be a kafui, don't overlook, don't cover up. A lot of times you do a person a favor and you give him advice or whatnot. Two days later he says, Me? You helped me? You told me? You spoke to me? I don't... Yeah, I thought of it myself. Davar b'shem omro is the meivi geulah l'olam, because the geulah is hakaras hatov. That itself is the geulah. That itself is the thing that brings the geulah, the point of the geulah. If you take a look, the nes of Purim is defined in the sefarim as a nes nistar. You look at the Rambam. The Rambam at the end, in Hilchos Megillah, he writes something interesting. He says, All the mo'adim, all the Yom Tovim, asidin l'batel. There won't be Pesach, and there won't be Sukkos. They're all going to become batel. The only thing that will remain: Chanukah and Purim. And Purim is based on a pasuk that it's l'olam; it'll always be, kamita shel Torah. It'll always be something that we celebrate. Freg the Raivid and the Rishonim, how could it be that all the Yom Tovim will become null if they're from the Taryag mitzvos? To keep Pesach and keep Sukkos is in the Torah, and the Torah can never be batel. And even when Moshiach comes, the Torah will be chayav v'kayam l'olam. So what does the Rambam mean that it'll become batel? And the Rishonim are masbir. They explain that it doesn't mean batel, that it won't be and we won't keep them, but it won't be such a big thing. It won't be celebrated with such fanfare. Pesach, we sit by the Pesach Seder and we talk about the nisim. The nisim when Moshiach comes will overtower; they'll overtower those nisim. You'll see bigger miracles, so we won't talk about it with such enthusiasm. Purim will always be talked about. It'll always be celebrated with great fanfare. Why? Why is Purim different than Pesach? And the teretz is: Pesach is nes nigleh, nes nigleh that the Eibishter split the ocean. All right, the Ribbono Shel Olam can ... b'dibur echad. Ribbono Shel created the whole world b'dibur. Ribbono Shel said, Yehi ..., and then the world happens. But the nes nistar is an unbelievable greatness, because it has to be connected with different acts from different people and different thoughts and... And everything has to be woven together to create the outcome. As the mefarshim tell us, it was a 12-year story, the story of the Megillah. Every part of the Megillah lends itself to the next part of the Megillah, and it's all woven together with this person saying and this person doing and this person thinking. It's all about the thoughts of every person involved and the acts of every person. I always say over the pshat that the Gemara says, if you miss one word of the Megillah, you're not yotzei. Why? And the teretz, because every word connects. Every word has deeper meaning, has deeper significance in the story. As a puzzle, if you had a puzzle and you'd be missing one piece, it's not a puzzle. I have most of it. Imagine you hang up a puzzle on the wall that you put together and you're missing one piece of the puzzle. It's a small piece. Yeah, it's not the full picture. That's the gadlus of nes Nister and the nes of Purim, and that's why even l'asid lavo, when we will have great nisim, which will be greater, with greater splendor than the nisim of Mitzrayim, we'll always talk about Purim. With this I understand how Purim is directly...

Connected to hakaras hatov, because kfiyas hatov is not on the nisim geluyim. Kfiyas hatov is on the daily nisim nistarim. Something big happens, no one thinks that it's a coincidence and it's normal, and something happened. It's a big story. He was saved from a big, big tzarah. Yeah, that nobody denies, Yad Hashem. But it's on the daily, on the constant, on the he went and he came and he made money and he spoke and he had hatzlachah here and this and that. On the daily, the connecting facts and situations of the day, we admit, yeah, vadei the Ribono Shel Olam, but we lack the proper hakarah of tov, that it's all the Ribono Shel Olam's chesed. The Ramban says when we celebrate the big Yom Tovim, for example Pesach, the point and the tachlis of that is to come from those nisim geluyim that we celebrate and that we're makir and modeh and we recognize and thank Hashem, so min ha-nisim ha-gedolim, ata ba lehakir v'lehodos. You come to understand, appreciate, and thank for the nisim nistarim, because the trick and the kunst, Yiddish word kunst, is to be makir tov on the nisim nistarim. So we're drawing a picture now of the different parts of the story of the Megillah, how Haman is a kafui tov, the grandchild of a kafui tov. Mordechai is a makir tov, and we'll soon elaborate about that. Achashverosh is a makir tov, and we'll soon elaborate about that as well. Soon we're going to also learn the koach and the beauty of Esther is that she's also a makir tov. And then we're going to show from the Medrash that actually the Medrash addresses that Klal Yisrael, at the time of Golus Paras under Achashverosh, they were kfuyei tov, and that led to the tzarah, which needed a tikkun to bring up the yeshuah and the geulah, and we will soon see how this plays itself out. Let me begin by the original kafui tov that brings Amalek. We said that the am was kafui tov in the Midbar because of that Amalek comes. What was the am kafui tov? What did they do? The Alkut Shimoni says, mashal l'mah hadavar domeh. It's compared to a father carrying a child on his shoulders. This is to keep the child away from all harms, and as the child passes by, says, Get me this. Okay, I'll get it for you. I want this. I'll give that to you. The father is buying everything and giving everything to the child, and all of a sudden, the father meets up with a friend of his and the child—this is all in the Medrash, a mashal to Klal Yisrael's behavior in the Midbar—and the child turns to the person and says, Tell me, your friend of my—did you see my father? You're his friend. Did you see him anywhere? And the father says, What do you mean, did you see him anywhere? I'm carrying you. I've been carrying you the entire day, and I've been giving you and buying you. You say that you don't know where I am? Okay, you know what? I'm not here. I'll put you down, and let's see how long you survive. And right away, the kelev, the dog—dogs roaming around usually, especially in the mall—and the kelev attacks the child. This is the mashal to Klal Yisrael when they said, Hayesh Hashem b'kirbeinu? Hashem, is Hashem with us? They said this in the Midbar. Says Rebboish, what do you mean? I'm carrying you. I'm not a koved. I'm carrying you on my hands. I'm giving you mon, be'er. I took care of you. I gave you the Torah. What don't you see? And you're questioning, Where is your father? Hayesh Hashem b'kirbeinu? I put you down, and the dog comes. The dog is Amalek. Amalek, says the Medrash. Amalek—lek—it's like the licking of a dog. Amalek is a dog. Misha'as ani es hakelev. The Zohar writes clearly that one of these things that Hashem has given you, like the father who gives the child, they're asking. Zohar writes clearly, it's the Anani HaKavod and the mon. That was the daily life in the Midbar, that they questioned, Hayesh Hashem b'kirbeinu. They didn't question this after Kriyas Yam Suf, open miracle. That's pretty clear. Sham am yirgazun, all the world acknowledged and was in...

Astonishment and surprise about Kriyas Yam Suf. What became the kafui tov for forgetting the chesed was the daily. It was the daily that the Ribono Shel Olam protects, and the Ribono Shel Olam feeds, and He gives to drink, and He takes care of all the needs. That's the nissim hagluyim. The dog in the story of Amalek and Megillah needs to be addressed, right? Chazal tell us, I send you the dog. A dog could be a bad, a wild animal. There's more significance to the kelev. If you notice, in Mizmor Shir Lyom HaShabbos, Esther is mispalel. She davens to the Ribono Shel Olam, Hatzileini me'kelev yechidasi. Save me from the dog. Again, the dog comes into the picture. What is this dog, kelev yechidasi? Chazal say she calls Achashverosh a kelev, and because of that she's taken back. How can I call him a kelev? I made a mistake. Maybe because of this, I am in this tzarah, Klal Yisroel is in this tzarah, and therefore I made a mistake. I have to be misaken it. And she changes it and she says, Save me from the aryeh, from the lion. He's a lion, not a dog. She said, Dog is not a lion. And what's the big deal that she davened to the Ribono Shel Olam, Hatzileini me'kelev? She didn't say it to his face. She didn't say it in public. Hatzi gezogt in the davening az a kelev. Can good-tosheine mentions an ish gemen, right? So, tzigerufene mahu, ti call him a dog is so what, that because of this the whole gezeirah... There's a sefer, Anochi Yafah. It's the son of Reb Chaim Palagi, Reb Nissim Palagi. It says a meyredike pshat. I saw it. It's a very, very interesting sefer, very nice sefer on the Megillah. He says, Hakores hatov. You don't call your husband a dog, no matter what, whatever it is. It could be a nachash sheretz, but l'maaseh it's her husband. It's her husband. You can't call him kelev. It's felt an hakores hatov. And the taich of what he's trying to say is, if already Esther spoke like this, it's the influence of the people. It's already the language, already accepted. It's the language that speaks volumes of the atmosphere and the culture. And she thought that culture brought a tzarah to Klal Yisrael. It became that it's normal to be a kafui tov. Blurt out of your mouth that he's a kelev means it became a normal thing to say, hakores hatov, kfiyas hatov. Kfiyas hatov brings tzarah. So she quickly changed it, and she said, Hatzileini me'Aryeh, save me from the Aryeh. But it could be there's a little bit of a deeper meaning here. Maybe she was fataiching that the mistake is who she called a kelev. Achashverosh? No, maybe it's not that he's the kelev. Haman is the kelev. You notice it says, Mi hu zeh v'eizehu asher m'lo libo, and she points at Achashverosh, and the malach pushes it to Haman, the Chazal say. She actually pointed originally to Achashverosh. In a deeper understanding, who was the evil here? Was it Achashverosh's evil that was dominating the story of Purim, or was it Haman's? And then she said, maybe I'm misunderstanding the whole story of the Purim. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the whole tzarah. Which is a problem because when the tzara is not understood, so then it becomes, like the Rambam says, it's an achzarius not to fatach the tzara because you can't take it away and you can't address it properly. Maybe she was bothered by who she called a kelev. But one thing we see for sure: someone is a kelev in the story. And what is a kelev? There's a pasuk in Tanach, in Shmuel Aleph, perek chaf-hei, gimmel. Someone called Naval HaCarmeli. His wife gives a present for the person who gave for the land of the Mishkan, of the Beis HaMikdash, and this Naval HaCarmeli, he's all upset, so he's called the Naval HaCarmeli. Naval, naval HaCarmeli. It's an interesting name. I don't know which parent gave his child the name Naval and Calbi. Calbi, says the Ralbag, is because he was cheap. He was upset at the present that his wife gave, so he's a cheap, like a dog. A dog is cheap. I think what the Ralbag means, if you ever notice a dog, even though Chazal tell us he's kulei lev, and a dog is very moser to his adon, yet between friends, so to speak, between his other kelev brothers.

He's extremely cheap. He's extremely not giving. He's a kelev. You ever notice a dog, when he has a bone, he'll dig and hide it in the ground. No one else is allowed to touch it, and if anyone comes close, any other dog wants it, he'll bark. So a kelev is a dog, and those who have that midah are called a dog. That what? That they don't want to give. They're takers, but they're not givers. The kafi toiv is the quintessential. He is the taker and not the giver. You give him, he doesn't recognize that someone gave him v'zkumtem. He's a taker. Of course, you give me, I deserve it. It's mine. Yeah, but someone did you a favor and gave it to you, but you don't see that, because it's all about, I take, I take. There's an interesting Zohar. Zohar says if someone on Rosh Hashanah, in place of davening, thinking Malchius, the Ribono Shel Olam's kingdom, giving praise, giving to the Ribono Shel Olam the kavod and the sefarah, he asks, Give me, give me, give me this, give me that. It's Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the year. I'm davening, it's my good year. I want to have this. He's like a kelev, ha'omer hav hav. Hav hav is like the bark, hav hav. And Chazal darshen the bark. It's an interesting thing. Just like we darshen amolek, amolek, the licking of the dog, we darshen the bark, hav hav of the dog. Hav is to give. Hav, give me, give me, give me, give me. A dog is about give me. And instead of what, I give you. I give the melech. I give the Ribono Shel Olam. I take. Let's talk a little bit about Haman. Haman's busy about taking and taking, and it's not about the melech. It's not about the king Achashverosh; it's about what he can have from the king. Am naval v'lo chacham. He was called naval ha-Kalbi. Naval and kelev is their connection, yavadah. The Ramban says, Am naval v'lo chacham. Klal Yisrael—it's a pasuk in Haazinu—they're am naval v'lo chacham, so they're a naval. What's naval, says the Ramban? Klal Yisrael, k'fuyei tov. And that's why they're called naval. Am naval. They were kafui tov in the Midbar, am naval. So we see naval and kelev is the kafui tov v'lo chacham. What's not wisdom about—he doesn't remember. Like we spoke in the beginning, what is the kafui tov? A gedankernisht. Foolish. But you talk to him, you got it by yourself. When it came to you, out of nowhere, it's coming from somewhere. Like all the groise ge'onim that the world created itself—it's coming from somewhere. Am naval. The kafui tov is lo chacham; he's not wise. I always say over, chacham is a ro'eh es hanolad. He's definitely not a shocheach es haavar. If he's a ro'eh es hanolad, if he's smart enough to see what's coming, he's definitely smart enough not to forget what happened five minutes ago. Rather this year I saw from Chut HaMeshulash, from the Tzemach Tzedek, a very nice vort. The Tzemach Tzedek says, it says, Eizehu chacham? Haro'eh es hanolad. It doesn't say haro'eh es hayilud. Yilud would mean something that is going to come in the future, born in the future. Says the Tzemach Tzedek, haro'eh es hanolad means that it's nolad from what happened in the past. The chacham is to remember the past. Which has an effect on what's going to be in the future. Not re'iyas hayilud, says the Chut HaMeshulash, beautiful vort, not re'iyas hayilud, what will come, what will arise, but noylad, which is something that is extracted from something that happened. It's noylad from the past, what's going to be in the future. So the chacham actually remembers the past as well as he understands the future. This is the makir tov. The makir tov is not only thinking ahead, but he also thinks ahead with remembering, remembering the past. With this, I think we can explain a beautiful Baal HaTur, another Baal HaTur. The Baal HaTurim in Bereishis speaks about Esav's request, Haliteini na min ha'adom ha'adom. Esav comes back from the field and he's hungry and he's, hoylech lamos, he's ready to pass out. He turns to Yaakov and he says, Haliteini na min ha'adom ha'adom, give me from this red lentil soup. Says the Baal HaTurim, halite...

Haliteini na min the oisius Haman. Haliteini na min — hei, nun, mem — you have Haman. What's the connection? It's gargeshmak. Haman is the einikel of Amalek, which is the einikel, actually, of Esav. Esav is Amalek. What is Amalek? Amalek is the great — what a spokesman for Amalek would be Esav and Haman, and that is, Haliteini na, save me, give me. And the moment you give me, I turn around and want to kill you for the rest of my life. My agenda is to kill you. Esav — Yaakov saves his life, out to kill him from that juncture, Haliteini na. Haman, the same thing. Mordechai saves his life, gives him to eat. How the history relives itself. Taken sefarim vert gebracht that Haman's agenda is to kill Klal Yisrael, so now he can get back the brachos that were taken away from his grandfather Esav. It's a tiefer raayon. It's a very interesting deher. And we find, actually, a Chazal that Yaakov made Esav cry. Zeh hakol gadol u'mar, says the Gemara. Therefore Mordechai, in return, had to go out, Vayizak ze'aka gedolah u'marah. He went birchov ha'ir. So you see the connection already in the Chazal, how the scenarios replay itself: Yaakov with Esav, and Mordechai, again also, Vayizak ze'aka gedolah u'marah, to repay and to fix the ze'aka gedolah u'marah. Haliteini na min ha'adom ha'adom hazeh is already liktchen dem einikel. The genes are here of Haliteini, give me and I'll kill you. Haliteini, give me. And give me, and give me, aliteni, that's Esav. Give me. Give me, give me, give me is al Esav, aliteni na. Min ha'adom ha'adom hazeh. Now we understand the maila and the chein. Chein is a chelek, Esther was noseis chein b'einei re'eha. Sefarim, we know chein is the Ribono Shel Olam's hashraas haShechinah makes chein on a person. What was the hashraas haShechinah of Esther? Say the Plekhtalimel Zagen, say the Reb Shmuel David zatzal used to say, Oy, bikshah davar, she didn't ask anything. She's not a taker, she doesn't want anything. That's noseis chein b'einei kol re'eha. She's not a want, give me, give me. She doesn't want anything, she doesn't need anything. Chazal say that the heter of Esther to be with Achashverosh was karka olam. Karka olam means passive. It could be it's a tefa ra'ayon for the whole kedushah and personality of Esther, that she's karka olam. She's passive. Ribono Shel Olam, whatever you do with me, I'm mekabel. I'm makir. You give me, I'll take it and I'll appreciate it. It's kumt mir nisht. It's not about, it's kumt mir. Everything belongs to me. You know, why do people say, I need this and I need—it's because they think that everything's entitlement. They're entitled to everything. The true makir tov is humble, that nothing's kumt mir, and meileh everything I get and everything that's given to me is kulei chesed. It's kulei hatovah, it's kulei matanah. Let's see it in the personality of Haman. It's such an interesting phenomenon of the crank of Haman. So such a psychologically sick person, Achashverosh asks him, I would like to do a chesed, a favor, a glory to someone who did me a favor. Haman says to himself, Nobody in the world besides me could be that person. L'mi yachpotz hamelech la'asos yekar? Who? Only me. What do you mean? There's a whole country. Maybe someone did something good for the king in years of king. Maybe there are other people that the king wants to give back to. And the truth is, when a person is so self-centered and he feels that sense of entitlement that he's the only person around, there's nobody giving him anything, this results the shoresh of a kafui tov. L'mi yachpotz? It's kumi. It's kumi. What do you mean? Of course. What do you mean? I'm entitled to it. And because of this, because of this, he just never appreciates and is never makir tov, and he's a kafui tov. Efsher kemetzagen that that's the reason for the takanah. That's the omek of the takanah of...

Of mishloach manos. Mishloach manos is to be a giver. It's about giving. There's a very, you do a dikas Sfas Emes that asks, why were they mesaken mishloach manos? Is it not a problem of soneh matanos yichyeh? Best thing is not to give presents, because a person who owes everything to everybody because he got presents is lo yichyeh; he doesn't have a life. So the Sfas Emes answers, yeah, you're getting, but you're returning right away. The whole problem of lo yichyeh, right, soneh matanos lo yichyeh, is because he owes everything to everybody. Imagine you owe everything to everything people did you favors, you become a baal chov. But you're returning right away, so it's not a problem. Efsher k'menzagen, efsher, that the pshat in mishloach manos is fakert, not to get back; it's to give and not get back. I'm chayiv to give the same person who gave me; you give me and I can give another person. Aderaba, it's to give and not to get back. It's about giving where you don't get back, because the ikar is to be a giver. It's not about what you're taking and getting in return, because the whole yesod of the Megillah was about giving, lo bikshu davar, you're not looking for anything. And Mordechai, he shavel l'shav, he goes back to l'sakev v'tanis, he's not looking for anything. There's a bird which is not kosher. She's called the chasidah. She's a behemah temeiah. She's a treifah animal, a tameidike bird. What is her character trait? She is oiseh chesed im chavriseha. She does chesed. She does kindness with her friends. Fregen ale mefarshim, so why is she beheima treifus? Sounds like a good trait. All the beheimos treifus, all the oifos are, they're tarfim, they're scavengers, they're hunters, they're wild. Seems like a very respected middah that she has, that she's oiseh chesed im chavriseha, and the mefarshim explain the key word is not chavriseha. You're missing the last word. She does chesed, but who does she do chesed with? She does chesed with her chaverim only, strictly. What is that a sign of? It's more about her than about the chesed that she's doing. Because if it was about the chesed she was doing, if she wanted to do chesed, she wouldn't only do it with her friends; she'd do it with everybody. It's self-centered chesed, and sometimes that is the epitome of lack of chesed. I always say over a pshat, haChanani HaBoir, the Ribono Shel Olam gave me mechaven to an interesting pshat the Gaon brings down, that this chassidah, she goes to the mikveh before she mates. Interesting Gaon, פלא. So where is her tznius? Where is her not kashrus? She goes to the mikveh, and the Torah says, Letzi her chesed. Her chesed is not real; it's chesed le'umim chatos. It's self-centered chesed. Da is ihr frum, un da is zi schlecht. It's got to be balanced. It's got to be real. And that's what makes her a beheima temeiah. Tedu mishloach manos is not in chavrisecha. Even though it says matanos, it says mishloach manos ish l're'eihu. I know, it says it in the pasuk, ish l're'eihu. But could be l're'eihu means to make friends. It's not friends that you have already, because then it's just giving back to you your friends. Maybe. Maybe you should give to new people. Maybe you should give it to people who are not necessarily going to give back to you, and make new friends. It's about giving. On Purim, the Yid becomes a giver. The Yid becomes a true makir tov, chesed, to give in the ways of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, that the Ribbono Shel Olam is a give, is to give, and to give is kulo tov u'meitiv, hatov, ki lo chalu rachamav, hameitiv, ki lo samu chasadav. With this, I think we can explain an interesting bizarre hanhaga of Amalek. Chazal tell us that in the time of the milchamah in the Midbar, they were choteich...

The milahs, vayizarku klapei maalah. They threw it up to Shamayim. He says, Re'u, Ribono Shel Olam, see what you are boicheh; you are boicher in the milah. Pashut, it's masochism. It's a type of hashchasah, to mutilate the body of the soldier that you're fighting. But efshar there was a tipah deher in the milah, that they were being mevazeh bris milah. They were degrading the bris milah. What is the bris milah, rabosai? Chazal tell us Mordechai, Mordechai hayehudi, he was a Yehudi. Now what does Yehudi mean? Pashut means he was a Jew, which means that was his nationality. You look at the Targum Sheini, the Targum says Chasida. Yehuda, Yehudi means that he was chasida. What is chasida? Remember I told you, the chasida, the bird. That's where the bird comes into the story of the shir. Chasida, chasidoi, he was a chassid. So the Yehuda becomes not his nationality, but his tzidkus. What is the tzidkus? He's a moideh. Yidden are moidim. They're able to thank the Ribono Shel Olam. They're not kfuyei tov. If you notice, the Gemara tells us something interesting, that actually Mordechai comes from Binyamin, Yeshimini, but he also comes from Yehuda. Chazal say, me'imai, he was from Binyamin, Yeshimini. I'm sorry, he was, excuse me, the opposite. From his father he was from Yehuda, and from his mother he was from Binyamin. His genes were what? Yehuda and Binyamin. What's Binyamin? There's an interesting Meshech Chochmah. The Meshech Chochmah says— That Chazal tell us that Amalek falls in the hands of Zarei shel Rachel. If you notice, the first to fight Amalek, not Moshe, Yehoshua goes to fight. And then we find Shaul goes to fight. And then we have Mordechai here in the Purim story against Haman. It's all the children of Rachel. Why? Says the Meshech Chochma, the midah of Rachel is akaras hatov. Like we spoke, Yosef's ma'alah is hakaras hatov. We spoke in the perek shiurim. Amalek is the kafui tov, the one that goes to war against him, the makir tov, Zarei shel Rachel, the children of Rachel. So we have over here the genetic makeup of Mordechai is Binyamin, which is Rachel, and it's also Yehuda, which is hoda'ah, hakaras hatov. So Binyamin brings the gene, the lineage of hakaras hatov, and Yehuda brings the hoda'ah, to be modeh, to thank the Ribbono Shel Olam, which is based on hakaras hatov. If you notice, the Beis Hamikdash is in the chelek of Binyamin and Yehuda. Why Binyamin, Yehuda? What is the significance of Binyamin, Yehuda? The Ramban says, She'ein laKadosh Baruch Hu ba'olamo. What does the Ribbono Shel Olam have from this whole world? It's a pretty difficult, complicated world. What does the Ribbono Shel Olam have from all of it? Ein laKadosh Baruch Hu—the Ribbono Shel Olam has one thing from it, one tachlis. One purpose: we should come to his home, his house, and thank him and praise him for hakaras, from appreciation of all the chesed that he does. The Beis Hamikdash is this home of the Ribono Shel Olam. So the Ribono Shel Olam is looking for hakaras hatov and hodaah. It's in the chelko shel Binyamin and Yehuda, because Binyamin is the makir tov, and Yehuda is the modeh al hatov, together. And that's what really Mordechai stands for. Mordechai is from Binyamin and Mordechai is from Yehuda. What's the pshat in the Megillah? Rishonim say clearly Mordechai's agenda was to build the Beis Hamikdash. He's yoshev b'shaar hamelech. What's he doing all the time b'shaar hamelech? The mefarshim say he was waiting for the moment that he could have an audience with Achashverosh passing by, to beg him, to request from him that he should build the Beis Hamikdash. Achashverosh actually knows this, right? Ad chatzi hamalchus, the Gemara says that Esther, when she asks, Achashverosh knows already that what is she going to ask? Maybe to build the Beis Hamikdash. Ad chatzi hamalchus and not the Beis Hamikdash. So you see that the agenda of Esther, Mordechai, was about the Beis Hamikdash.

And the taiches, Yehuda binyamin, the taiches, makir tov. The story of Purim is the milchama of hakaras hatov against the kfiyas hatov of Amalek. Now we can say and explain the reishis that the Baal HaTurim spoke about. The Baal HaTurim says that Amalek is reishis goyim Amalek. Bikurim is reishis, but there's also Yisrael that's reishis. What's the pshat? Yisrael is Yehuda. They're Yidden that they're makir tov. Bikurim represents what the Yid really stands for. Bikurim is such a mitzvah that it brings out the toichen, the essence of the Yid. What is the essence of a Yid? He's a Yehudi. He's a makir tov. So it's reishis. Yisrael shenikra reishis. Bikurim, reishis. Amalek is fighting reishis. Which reishis? It's fighting the bikurim, the ma'aseh, and Yisrael, the nation that has this midah of bikurim. And that's why there's zorek milos, klapi ma'alah. Where does the Yid become this beautiful Yid, this beautiful essence that he's able to be makir tov? Bris milah becomes a Yid. If you notice, I've always thought about this, after every seudas bris milah, we sing Yom lei habosha, Yom lei habosha, nebachu metzulim, shir chadashah. It's about Kriyas Yam Suf and shirah that they sang. How did Kriyas Yam Suf come into the milah? How did shirah on Kriyas Yam Suf come into the milah in the Teretz is gargeshmak. Kriyas Yam Suf, we became the am. We became Klal Yisroel when we left. Hinei am yotzei miMitzrayim. As an am Yisroel, Yehuda, we became moedim, and therefore we have shirah chadashah. We're able to sing and be makir tov, and it's directly connected to the bris milah that we're Yidden. This is the zarak milos klapi Shmaya. They're throwing up the milos. Why are they throwing up the milah? They're throwing up the milah because the milah is the stamp of the Yid, which is a makir tov. And Amalek, the milchamah, is keneged this hakaras hatov of the Yid. If you notice, Amalek is not waiting for Klal Yisroel to come to Canaan. They're coming to the Midbar to fight. What's the pshat? A batei rei tachas, there's a Chazal, but there's a deeper, theher here, l'choira, in the personality and agenda of Amalek. Canaan is about their land. That's what they're against. That's the conflict. The source of conflict is the land. Amalek, it's about Klal Yisroel. And where does Klal Yisroel become Klal Yisroel? In the Midbar, when they leave Kriyas Yam Suf, when they mekabel the Torah. So the attack of Amalek is in the Midbar, because it's against Klal Yisroel as Klal Yisroel. And that's the sin of Amalek. Haman's sin is to destroy the Jew, the Yid. He can't be sovel the Yid, because the Yid stands for everything he's not. It's the antithesis of an Amaleki. Amalek is a ra, is a meshalim ra tachas tova. It's a kafui tov, and the Yid is the exact opposite. I think with this we can explain a very interesting Chazal. Chazal say, Esther asks—Mordechai says to Esther, לדעת מה זה, v'al ma ze. She wants to know, מה זה v'al ma ze. What does it mean, מה זה v'al ma ze? So Chazal say there's two zayins in the pasuk. Maybe Klal Yisroel was over on zeh Keli v'anveihu. So you see already Chazal bring in shira of Az Yashir after Kriyas Yam Suf to the story of Purim. Maybe they were over, maybe they were over on zeh Keli v'anveihu. What does zeh Keli v'anveihu have to do with this and the teretz, rabosai, is gargeshmak, the way we're speaking. After Kriyas Yam Suf, Klal Yisroel said shira. What was their shira? Zeh Keli. Keili is special. There's a special connection. The Ribbono Shel Olam takes care of me. Keili, He's my... But what they saw in Kriyas Yam Suf was the Ribbono Shel Olam was carrying each one separately. Yad ha-yad is k'vayachol, that the father carries on his shoulder.

Like the mashal of the Chazal, they saw it, zeh Keili. It's not Hashem is the Ribono Shel Olam of the world. Keili, He's caring for me. Azoi vi der tateh, He's like my father who cares for me. He's caring for me. And the meileh v'anveihu, I always ask, where did v'anveihu, hisna'eh lefanav b'mitzvos, come into the story of Kriyas Yam Suf? Why over here do they say v'anveihu? And the teretz is because they saw special, a special treatment, a special love from the Ribono Shel Olam. The meileh v'anveihu, I'll be makir tov, and I'll be misna'eh lefanav b'mitzvos, to take His mitzvos and to do it b'hiddur, with love. Mimeila, as we're soon going to learn, that even in the story of Purim, Chazal tell us that the Yidden were kfuyei tov. They were kfuyei tov. Going to the seudah was a form of kafui tov. What was the kafui tov? The Ribono Shel Olam was, during the zman of galus, they weren't being persecuted. They lived happily, so to speak, in Paras. They had to go to the seudah. Be proud you're a Yid. Stay away from the seudah. No one's bothering you. Why would you have to go and search and seek to be part of the seudah? Medrash says clearly. The Medrash says that they were called kfuyei tov by going to the seudah. So they were being kafui tov. So they were being over. They were transgressing on the zeh Keili v'anveihu. You know, Esther. Esther says, Keli, Keli, lama azavtani. Keli means, Ribono Shel Olam, You're watching over me every step of the way. You're taking care of me. You're carrying me. Throughout the whole thing, I see the Yad Hashem every moment, every second. Esther's saying, Ribono Shel Olam, You're holding my hand. You're holding my hand. It's like, Keli, Keli, lama azavtani. Why'd You let go? Keli is a bechinah. Keli is the name of Hashem that guides personally by holding the hand, by carrying on the shoulder. And Esther sees that that is camouflaged, and she's scared. And she says, Maybe it's because Klal Yisrael was over on Zeh Keili v'anveihu. Hayesh Hashem b'kirbeinu? It's possible that they overlooked, and they don't see that the Ribono Shel Olam is guiding and the Ribono Shel Olam is holding their hand. So the hayesh Hashem b'kirbeinu. They went to the seudah. They weren't proud that they were eating, thanking the Ribono Shel Olam that in galus they were surviving. That becomes the kfiyas hatov. That becomes the kfiyas hatov. If you look at the letter that Haman has drafted that he should send out, clearly he speaks of Klal Yisrael being kfuyei tov. It's an expression in English, the writing is on the wall. Here the writing was in the papers. The letters were significant in the story of Purim. Klal Yisrael was supposed to take from that letter, you know, they're taining against, we're kfuyei tov. Haman is pointing out, but we're kfuyei tov. Maybe the Ribono Shel Olam is sending us a message that our hanhaga is a chisaron of zeh Keili v'anveihu, that we're kafui tov. Now let's go to the Bereishis, bishvil haTorah שנקרא ראשית. So we've explained how Amalek is the antithesis to reishis. They're the kvuyei tov. Reishis is bikurim, hakaras hatov. Klal Yisrael is נקרא ראשית because they are the essence, they are the peoples of hakaras hatov. There's another reishis, and that's Torah. The connection to Torah, there's a Chazal. Chazal say that whoever's a kafui tov is kofer b'Toras Moshe. He's a kofer in Torah. A kafui tov can't be learning Torah; it doesn't go together. It's interesting how in the Chazal we find that Klal Yisrael were kvuyei tov by saying, Ayeh Hashem b'kirbeinu. Yet Rashi says that where does Amalek come?

Like the Medrash says, because, Hayeisha Hashem yikabeinu, I sent you the amalek, the dog, but rather because rafu yedeihem min haTorah. Upkishvach, they were weakened through Torah. They started to learn Torah without the zeal and the geshmak and the appreciation, and because of that, Amalek comes. So which one is it? Is it the kafri tov, or it's the rafu yedeihem? And the teretz is, rafu yedeihem is a symptom which comes from a kafri tov by not appreciating the tov of Torah, the gift. Whoever is a kafri tov is kofer b'Toras Moshe, because the greatest gift is Toras Moshe, is the Torah that the Ribbono Shel Olam gave. And by being a kafri tov, you can't be a person who's learning Torah. It doesn't go together. You're being kofer in the tov, ein tov ela Torah. There's a beautiful Ohr Hachaim. Ohr Hachaim, taka when we bring bikurim, it says, V'samachta b'chol hatov, the parashah of bikurim. You bring the terumahs and maasros, pasuk ends over there in parashas Ki Savo, V'samachta b'chol hatov, says the Ohr Hachaim, kol? V'samachta ba-tov. What's kol hatov? Says the Ohr Hachaim, ein tov ela Torah, the greatest good, the greatest matanah that a person—it's not the fruits, it's not the reishis pri ha'adamah, it's actually the Torah, ein tov ela Torah. Famous Zohar expression from the Ohr Hachaim, that if people would only taste, have a small taste of the sweetness of the Torah, yemishagim, they would run after it as the drunk runs after a bottle of wine. So we have, tov is Torah. סמכת בחלקך טוב. Simcha in Torah is a siman of hakaras hatov. And if you're a kafui tov, then you become a person who doesn't learn Torah mi'simcha. No. Purim, we became makirei tov. What did we do? We did Kabbalas HaTorah anew. We did Kabbalas HaTorah because we had hakaras hatov now. The story of Purim gave us to understand and to appreciate. ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששון ויקר — ששון is milah. Milah, remember hakaras hatov, ששון זו מילה. Second, Torah, tefillin. Torah, tefillin. How did Torah and tefillin come in here? And why does it say, ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששון? Let it just say, ליהודים — Torah, that, tefillin. Famous kasha. The terutz is, they had that before also. They had the Torah before, and they had milah before, and they had tefillin before. But they didn't have hakaras hatov and appreciation and simcha and orah. They didn't see the beauty, and they didn't see the privilege in it. They lacked full hakaras hatov till the story of Purim, which brought out, Yehudi, Yehudi, Yehudi, Yehudi. LaYehudim, laYehudim. LaYehudim means to those that have hoda'ah, those that see and appreciate. LaYehudim, that they can appreciate a person in life can have so much good, doesn't appreciate it, doesn't see it. A Yid, appreciate. You're a Yid. What are you going to sue the Chashveirish? Now all of a sudden, laYehudim. They became this ultimate in the persona of a Yehudi, which means they achieved perfection in Yehudi. Mimeila, they had orah v'simcha, the milah. Remember I told you, the milah, the milah, milah, sa'aseh zu milah. Torah, they had hakaras hatov. They weren't kafui b'tovaso shel HaKadosh Baruch Hu. And tefillin, tefillin is the kesher. They started to appreciate the unique zechus helifaneiו, the kesher, the kesher, the kesher that a Yid has with Ribono Shel Olam. It's something special, unique. It's the greatest gift that we have. We're connected in galus. We're in, yes, galus. Yes, galus paras. We're in galus. We have Yehudi milah. We have Yehudi Torah, and we have Yehudi tefillin, the kesher. We're always connected, zeh keli. Zeh keli v'anvehu. Actually, Chazal even say maybe the zeh, al ma zeh, al ma zeh is mizeh, mizeh, ksuvim b'tzurah luchos gar. That maybe they were kofer in the luchos. How were they kofer in the luchos? And the teretz is, when you're a kafui tov, you're kofer in the luchos. Eigel was a kafui tov, according to many Rishonim.

U'koifer in the luchos. There was a kefirah, there was a kefiyas hatov. With this, I think we could speak the gam charvoinah zachur latov. Interesting statement, gam charvoinah zachur latov. I mentioned to you, Anach Yafa, the peirush of Anach Yafa from the son of Rav Chaim Palagi, Rav Nissim. He says, avada gam charvoinah, because the whole inyan of Purim and the nes is, b'sheim omrei, is to be a makir tov. Yeah? Mimeila, v'gam charvoinah zachur latov. You have to remember everyone that's part of the story, everyone that did good, everyone who deserves credit in the story. Mimeila, there's an emphasis, v'gam charvoinah zachur latov. Beautiful. We have a speech, right? They tell you, don't forget to mention this and don't forget to thank, yeah? Because it's a speech of hoda'ah, of thanking, because Purim, we become the quintessential Yehudi. We become the Yid in its shleimus, and Yehudi in its shleimus is to be modeh, based on a deep and wise hakaras hatov of everything and every part, and every—not to overlook, to see every chelek of the story. Yeah, you see this part of it, that was a chesed, and this part is a chesed, and this connects to this. The Yid is a chacham, and if not, we become am naval v'lo chacham. If you notice, the eitz, hineh ha'eitz—he made a tree. What is Haman and the tree, and the charvoinah says here, Behold the tree. What's this tree? What is all of this tree about? There's a beautiful pshat in the mefarshim. It originates with the Arizal, that says, eitz hadas — there's some connection, eitz hadas. Hinei ha'etz, here's the tree. I saw mefarshim explain, asher diber tov al hamelech. He made it for Mordechai, asher diber tov al hamelech. What's the emphasis of charvona, asher diber tov al hamelech? Hang Mordechai. Everybody knows that Mordechai did you this favor, and then they're going to tell you Achashverosh, and they'll paint you out to be a kafui tov. Haman mitzanclu kayt. You'll hang him in the streets of Shushan, in front of everybody, so everybody will see you're a kafui tov. Haman is the ultimate kafui tov. He's the epitome of a kafui tov, and he's trying to paint Achashverosh, who gave him his whole gadlus, his whole leadership, he's trying to paint Achashverosh as the kafui tov. That's the pshat that Charvona is saying, asher diber tov al hamelech, that Haman is the kafui tov and Mordechai is the makir tov. This is asher diber tov al hamelech around the eitz, because the story of the eitz hadas was a story of kafui tov. Hinei ha'eitz asher asah Haman, asher diber tov al hamelech. What's the charvoynes insight? And could be it's all this based on the Yaaros Dvash. It's a war of Mishalim ra tachas toivah, and the anecdote is Mordechai asher diber toiv al hamelech, and it's revolved around the eitz, which is a connection. It's a symbol for the eitz hadaas, the ultimate of chet, which is based on kfiyas hatov. Rabosai, let me tell you an interesting tidbit, something interesting. In my home, the night of Pesach, we have a little bit of a humorous moment. Ilu nasan lanu es Haman, if the Ribono Shel Olam would give us the mon, dayeinu. When one of my children was younger, he asked me the following question: What does Haman have to do with the Haggadah? I said, Think, a frack. Cute for a little boy. He never lived it down. All his brothers who were older than him, till today, when we come to this juncture of the Haggadah, give out a scream, Ilu nasan lanu es Haman. And of course, it draws chuckles and...

And smiles from everyone on the table. They don't let him live it down. What does Haman have to do with the Haggadah? And of course, it's not Haman, it's mon. Okay. I have come to defend this child. I found in Sefer HaTashbil, Rabbi Yoel Bacher, Haman min haTorah minayin? Not like the Gemara, and he says it's a Chazal, he quotes it as a Chazal. Not like the Gemara that says, Hamin ha'etz, the eitz hadaas, but rather, Hamachilcha mon bamidbar. Haman is connected to the mon in the midbar. What's the shaychus to mon in the midbar? And the teretz, rabosai, is self-clear, evident from the whole shiur. What is Haman? It's the kafi tov. It's Amalek. What is Amalek? When we say, Hayeish Hashem bikirbeinu, on the mon, we said, Rabbeinu Shalom gives us, Rabbeinu Shalom feeds us, He's mefarnes us. We think we go to work, we make money. Das is klipah, hashkafah, hashpaah of Haman. It seeps deep into our psyche that we think we're doing, and we forget. So the mon was a nisayon, ladaas im yesh Hashem. The mon was supposed to be the test: do we understand everything comes from the Rabbeinu Shalom? And Haman is the kfiyas hatov when we say, Hayeish Hashem bikirbeinu. So, ein hachi nami, Haman has a lot to do with the mon. If you notice, Hinei ha'etz asher asah Haman. Has two merches. It's very interesting, those that are baalei kriah note the trop. It's the only one in the Megillah, and it's an interesting—it's two Haman. And maybe, maybe, efshar, efshar k'min zagin, because there's two meanings to the etz asher asah Haman. It's the Haman, it's the etz hadas, and it's the mun. There's two inyanim of hamin ha'etz and mun, ha'etz asher asah Haman. Maybe it has two symbols. There's two symbols. B'derech klalanius daiti, it's an emes pshat, b'ezras Hashem yisbarach. With humility, I thank the Ribono Shel Olam for this pshat. It's emes l'amito, baruch Hashem. The etz asher asah Haman actually is two inyanim in it. It's hamin ha'etz, the etz hadas, which of course later on leads to Haman, hayesh Hashem b'kirbeinu, that we were kafui tov in the mun. Interesting in Even Ezra, I'd like to point out. We learned that in Parshas Bikurim it's connected to Parshas Ki Seitzei. The connection is because Ki Seitzei we read about mechiyas Amalek, and Ki Savo is Bikurim, the anecdote hakaras hatov. The original place where we read about Amalek is in Parshas Beshalach at the end. Connected to that is Parshas Yisro. Is there some connection there? Just like we say clearly for the Rishonim there's a connection Ki Seitzei to Ki Savo. Amalek to Bikurim, is there or not a connection from Beshalach Amalek to Yisro? Says the Even Ezra, there sure is. There's a tremendous connection, and that is the connection of, again, Amalek is a kaf yud, and therefore to Yisro, we need to have hakaras hatov. Ani asdaiti, I think possibly the lesson that he's trying to say is, Moshe Rabbeinu—and it's true—Yisro was a real father-in-law. He came and he criticized, and he comes and Moshe sends him away. He's the real father-in-law. I love my father-in-law; he's a tayere mensch. B'derech klal, father-in-laws, okay? So father-in-laws are father-in-laws, and mother-in-laws are mother-in-laws. So Yisro comes, Moshe is mechuyav in hakaras hatov, and he was supposed to learn that, says Rav Even Ezra, he was supposed to learn that from Beshalach Amalek right into Yisro. And efshar that's the hakdamah to Matan Torah, taka. In order for Moshe to be mekabel the Torah and give the Torah, it had to be with hakaras hatov, which Amalek was supposed to be a lesson to Moshe and Klal Yisroel that they shouldn't be kofui tov. So—

We've pretty much gave a tour around the story of the Megillah and the nes of Purim, how it revolves around hakaras hatov. And if not, you're a kelev, which is azei panim. An azus panim, a ruthless person who's an az panim, he's a kelev. Azei panim heim, pasuk. They're called azei panim. Why? Because they're kafuyei tov, an az panim. Famous Gemara: ein adam meis panav shel nei baal chov. When someone lends you money, you can't be a meis panim to be a kafui tov. Gemara Bava Metzia. So you see the meis is the kafui of the tov, and he's chutzpadik and he's brazen. I'd like to end with the following story. It speaks volumes about zachor Amalek and timcheh es zecher Amalek, how we annihilate Amalek. As we spoke throughout the whole shiur, not so simple that we can be mekayem literally timcheh es zecher Amalek today, to walk out in the street and kill Amalekim. Maybe it's only when Mashiach comes, according to Hagahos Maimoni. You need a melech. Maybe we don't know who they are, ba sacher b'vilbul kol ha'olam. It's a halacha shiur for a different time, for a different night. Either way, we still have the mitzvah of zachor, and that is to annihilate the klipah, the hashkafah, the hashpa'ah, like we started the shiur. And how do you do that? Lo tishkach. Remember, be a makir tov. The following story brings out beautifully the lesson of what it means timcheh es zecher Amalek, how we're supposed to behave to annihilate the hashkafah of Amalek. The Maggid, Reb Shalom Schwadron zicher tzaddik livrachah, the Maggid of Yerushalayim, used to say a story. Ich, I, saw personally Haman reading Parshas Zachor, ich hob gezen, the baal koreh Parshas Zachor, Haman. Where did you see Haman read Parshas Zachor? Said Reb Shalom, I was in a shul, and the baal koreh, the regular baal koreh, didn't show up for whatever reason. They were searching for a solution. What do we do? So there was a bochur who just was bar mitzvah a few weeks before, said, You know, I practiced the leining. I like to lein. I'll do the kriyas haTorah. I'll lein. So he leined the parsha. He leined the parsha. Maybe it was Parshas Pekudei, like this year, and he leined Parshas Pekudei. A few mistakes, but well done. Comes now Parshas Zachor. They take out the second Sefer Torah, put it on the bimah, and all of a sudden there's a tumult. There's a guy in the shul that says, Wait a minute. Parshas Zachor, the kriyah is d'Oraisa. This boy is only 13. He doesn't have the simanim of gadlus yet. He's only 13. Now, halachically, we have a chazakah that probably he's a gadol because he comes to shanim, he reached the years of gadlus. It's a Torah halacha sugya, not for now, al kol panim. He's not a definite gadol. We need a definite gadol. The people in the shul, they had no idea what he's talking about. A gadol? He's a nice boy. What do you want? Leave him alone. Where's your akaras hatov? You want to push him off now? What are you doing? I don't understand. And this guy stands his ground. No, and it's a de'oraisa, and he's a zocher. People are saying, What, you're gonna embarrass this little kid? He's a nice boy. You're gonna push him off and say, What, he's not a ...? He's had his bar mitzvah three, four weeks ago. And this is going back and forth, and Reb Shalom sees the kid is getting embarrassed, and the people in the shul are getting heated. Wait a second, he's a good boy. He leined for us. We have to treat him with hakaras hatov. And this guy's yelling that he has his l'shem shamayim, his mitzvah of Parshas Zachor. He got so heated, this guy runs up to the bimah, he pushes the kid aside, and he begins to read Parshas Zachor. Says Reb Shalom, Ich hob gezen homon hot geleint Parshas Zachor. Haman is an aspanim. Haman is a kafi teiv. The halachic ramifications of the story, not the issue. But the lesson that Reb Shalom was trying to bring out is, Amalek represents an ideology. It's chutzpah. It's kafi teiv. And the way to combat is Mordechai, the makir tov, eser the loy bikshu davar.

Klal Yisroel becoming the quintessential Yehudi, to become the modeh and makir tov, and there's eirah, v'simcha, v'sasson, v'yikar, afreilichin, freilichin, freilichin Purim. You've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.