The Pshat Heard 'Round the World

Usually, the division of the aliyot in a parashah, while driven by a number of factors, is decided by where it ends. There is a fairly iron-clad principle to end an Aliyah on a positive note, and not on a negative note. This week’s parashah gives us plenty of opportunities to do so, since many of the sub-sections end on a positive note. That being the case, one would think that the fifth aliyah would encompass all of the sin-offerings ( Chatat ), covered in Vaykra, chapter 4, while the sixth aliyah would open with the beginning chapter 5, which deals with the guilt-offerings ( Asham ). But, instead, the fifth aliyah ends with 4:26, leaving two last Chattat offerings to be read with the Asham offerings. Why? Here’s an idea: all the animals offered in the fifth aliyah as it stands are males, and all the animals offered in the sixth aliyah are females. On the fifth and sixth days of creation, animals and humans - male and female - were created. When they sinned so egregiously ...

During Havdalah each week, we recite a verse taken from the Megillah: “Layhudim hayta orah v’simchah v’sason vicar ”.  ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששון ויקר   Many, perhaps most, people mispronounce the last word. While it should be “vee-kar”     ויקר -“and honor”, usually people say “v’eekar” ועיקר . It’s a case of substituting a more familiar word for a less familiar one. People know the word עיקר , “root” or “main principle”, and are not familiar with the word יקר , taken here from the Aramaic cognate of the Hebrew כבוד , or “honor”. “Honor” as a meaning of both כבוד  and יקר is derivative of their primary meaning – weight, heaviness, substantiality. Now, in the Megillah, both the word כבוד   and the word יקר are used. But whereas the former is used only in connection with money and material wealth, the latter is reserved for honor emanated upon one by the king. Our honor as Jews is derived from the notion that our very existence points to...

In chapter 9 of the megillah, the violent encounters between those seeking to wipe out the Jews and the Jews seeking to defend themselves and take the battle to their would-be annihilators is described. It seems that while the Jews throughout the realm achieved victory in a single day, on the 13 th of Adar - the day slated by Haman for their destruction - the Jews of Shushan needed an additional day. This is what Esther asked of King Achashverosh and this is what was granted. So, the relief and celebration that is natural and automatic upon such a sudden turn of events came for the Jews throughout the realm on the 14 th , but for the Jews of Shushan, only on the 15 th . Then follows this verse: Esther 9:19 “Therefore, the unwalled Jews (see the kri/ketiv distinction there), dwelling in the unwalled cities, make the 14 th day of the month of Adar [a day of] joy and drinking-feasts, holiday, and sending portions to one’s fellow”. After this, Mordechai sends letters to the Jew...