14 minute read
The Great Light of Megillas Esther by Rabbi Daniel Glatstein
The Great Light of Megillas Esther
BY RABBI DANIEL GLATSTEIN
Because of the importance of the mitzvah of hearing the reading of the Megillah, the Gemara teaches that even if one were engaged in the greatest of all mitzvos — the study of Torah — one would be required to stop learning and go to listen to the Megillah reading.
Likewise, the Gemara states that the mitzvah of reading the Megillah supersedes the Avodah in the Beis HaMikdash. Hence, Megillah has precedence over both talmud Torah and Avodah.
The Baal HaTurim writes that these halachos, this hierarchy of mitzvah observance, is alluded to in the pesukim. Regarding the bells that were placed at the hem of the Me’il of the Kohen Gadol, the pasuk says, “Its sound shall be heard when he enters the Sanctuary.” The Baal HaTurim comments that the Masoretic note records three instances in Tanach where the word “v’nishmah, shall be heard” appears. One occurrence is in the above pasuk; the second in the pasuk regarding Kabbalas HaTorah, “Everything that Hashem has said, we will do and we will obey”; and last, in the pasuk in Megillas Esther: “Then the king’s decree
shall be heard.”
These three mentions of the word v’nishmah articulate the primacy of mikra Megillah. When there is a conflict of v’nishmah pitgam ha’melech (i.e., mikra Megillah) and talmud Torah (na’aseh v’nishmah), mikra Megillah has priority. When there is a conflict between mikra Megillah and v’nishmah kolo b’vo’o el ha’kodesh (Avodah), mikra Megillah takes precedence once more – “it
is greater.”
The Baal HaTurim adds that this remez is uniquely compelling, as “rabba” is the baal ha’meimra, the one who stated in the Gemara the preeminence of mikra Megillah over talmud Torah and Megillah. (However, see our version of the Gemara that reads rava and not rabba.)
The comments of the Baal HaTurim are deeply perplexing. Is it possible that mikra Megillah is greater than talmud Torah and Avodah? Mikra Megillah is Rabbinic in origin, while learning Torah and performing the Avodah are mandated by the Torah. How can a mitzvah mid’Rabbanan be greater than a mid’Oraisa? Granted, we would still stop learning and interrupt the Avodah to perform the mitzvah of mikra Megillah, but that is because we interrupt the study of Torah for the performance of any mitzvah whose time is passing. That doesn’t indicate that the other mitzvah is greater. But the Baal HaTurim says mikra Megillah is greater — rabba — and adif, better. Can that be?
Let us digress slightly to focus on another aspect of this Gemara.
The wording of the Gemara is of interest. The Gemara says “mevatlin,” a reference to the transgression we refer to as bitul Torah. The Gemara seems to reckon the act of stopping one’s learning to go to hear the Megillah as a sin of bitul Torah.
Isn’t reading the Megillah a form of Torah study? Megillas Esther is one of the twenty-four books of Tanach that every talmid chacham must learn and in which he must be proficient. The Megillah is a part of Torah like any other. Why would the Gemara refer to the fulfillment of one of the most beloved mitzvos as “mevatlin Talmud Torah”?
This question has been posed and discussed by many of the Torah luminaries of the generations and debated in the hallowed halls of yeshivos, and each answer yields a great gem of Torah insight.
We will present a number of approaches.
The Approach of the Aruch HaShulchan
The Aruch HaShulchan explains that certainly the reading of the Megillah constitutes Torah study. However, it takes time until everyone reaches the beis haknesses, and until all are gathered there. All that downtime is considered bitul Torah.
Therefore, Chazal must legislate a special dispensation to be “matir” this bitul Torah for the sake of mikra Megillah. Although one may have overlooked that stretch of time and considered it inconsequential, we learn from the Aruch HaShulchan the significance of even a brief period of time. Allowing even a few moments to slip away is considered bitul Torah.
The Approach of Rav Shlomo Kluger
Rav Shlomo Kluger addresses this question in a number of his sefarim. In the Sefer HaChaim, he offers what he considers a simple and obvious answer. Rav Kluger agrees that reading the Megillah is considered Torah, but there are different levels of learning Torah. The ideal form of Torah study is through rigorous analysis and probing scrutiny. The optimal limud haTorah requires ameilus and yegiah, toil and mental exertion. Thus, relative to the study of Torah in the preferred manner, merely “reading” the Megillah is comparatively bitul Torah.
This is the basis for the adage in the yeshiva world, “There is bitul Torah b’kamus, in quantity, and there is bitul Torah b’aichus, in quality.” Reading the Megillah instead of engaging in in-depth Torah study is considered qualitative bitul Torah.
This notion is one that poses a challenge to every individual, as we can never allow our study of Torah to be more superficial than we are capable of, as that would place our learning in the undesirable category of bitul Torah.
An Alternative Approach of Rav Shlomo Kluger
In Chochmas Shlomo, Rav Kluger advances an extremely original chiddush. Certainly, reading the Megillah is a fulfillment of talmud Torah. However, one is not halachically able to fulfill two distinct
mitzvos simultaneously. That is, if one intends to fulfill the mitzvah of talmud Torah by reading the Megillah, while one would be accredited with that mitzvah, one would not be fulfilling the mitzvah of mikra Megillah. Conversely, if one is intent on fulfilling the mitzvah of mikra Megillah, he would not be accredited with the mitzvah of talmud Torah.
While ordinarily reading the Megillah is considered learning, under the circumstances in which one would be attempting to fulfill the mitzvah of reading the Megillah, one would not be accredited with the mitzvah of talmud Torah and it would be correctly deemed by the Gemara to be bitul Torah.
The Approach of Rav Efraim Zalman Margolis
Rav Efraim Zalman Margolis develops an innovative approach to answer this question. Maseches Megillah records that Esther petitioned the Chachamim, “kisvuni l’doros”; that is, allow my book to be reckoned as part of the corpus of the written documents of the Jewish people.
The Chachamim were hesitant to accede to Esther’s request, as they thought that the subject of combating Amalek was already sufficiently addressed in Tanach, and the requisite mentions of the subject had already been met. It is not clear, and it remains a subject of debate among the Amoraim if the Sages ultimately allowed Megillas Esther to be canonized.
Shmuel, in Maseches Megillah, maintains that Esther is not reckoned as one of the twenty-four books of Tanach. Tosafos explain that in the opinion of Shmuel, Megillas Esther is recognized as an acceptable document only mid’Rabbanan.
Rav Efraim Zalman states that while we rule in accordance with R’ Eliezer that, in fact, Megillas Esther was canonized and is incorporated into the Kisvei HaKodesh, it was deemed one of the sifrei Tanach only in respect to the specific mitzvah of reading the Megillah on Purim for pirsumei nisa, publicizing the miracle. However, in any other regard, in terms of personal Torah study and analysis, it was not canonized and it is not part of the Torah.
Hence, if one were to interrupt the study of a recognized portion of the Torah to read the Megillah, it would be considered bona fide bitul Torah, as Megillas Esther is not considered Torah in the view of Rav Efraim Zalman Margolis and is not considered part of Tanach (for anything other than the reading of the Megillah on Purim).1
Understandably, Rav Efraim Zalman’s proposal was met with vehement disapproval. The Avnei Nezer writes that he does not even believe that the tzaddik the Beis Efraim would ever have uttered such an approach. Following the logic of the Beis Efraim, the Amoraim and Baalei HaMidrash who expounded on the Megillah wasted their time, as explicating the words of the Megillah would merely be academic without any Torah or religious value. Who permitted these great rabbis to engage in bitul Torah to elucidate the Megillah? Therefore, the Avnei Nezer emphatically concludes: “But cer-
tainly Megillas Esther is Torah just like the rest of the Prophets and the Scriptures. ... It is part of the Tanach in which every Torah scholar must be
proficient.”
An Approach Based on the Akeidas Yitzchak
I believe an alternative approach can be gleaned from the words of Rav Yitzchak Aramaah in his introduction to his commentary to Megillas Esther, Akeidas Yitzchak.
He advances that the reason Hashem’s Name does not appear in Megillas Esther is because initially the Book of Esther was written as a secular document in the chronicles of Persia and Media. Esther asked the Chachamim to select with their Divine spirit the elements that should be recorded
and entered into our Torah for posterity. Therefore, the Anshei Knesses HaGedolah did, in fact, sift and select out the narrative as we have it today, but they left it as it was, without the Name of Hashem.
According to the Akeidas Yitzchak, we can suggest that there is a special chiddush in stating that we interrupt regular Torah study to read the Megillah. One may have thought that since the Megillah did not originate as a component of the Torah, but began as a secular document, perhaps it would not be considered on par with the study of Torah that was rooted in holiness; that is why the Talmud teaches a special ruling that irrespective of the source of the Megillah, “mevtalin Talmud Torah u’ba’in l’shmo’a mikra Megillah.”
Understanding the Baal HaTurim
Let us now return to the challenging comments of the Baal HaTurim, who articulates “ki rabba hi,” i.e., the reading of the Megillah is actually greater than other Torah portions. Is that, in fact, so?
The Chasam Sofer makes an astounding statement that supports the above assertion: “The
spiritual light latent in Megillas Esther is in reality much greater and more honorable than that of the Torah itself.”
This is such an earthshattering statement that who but the Chasam Sofer could presume to say such a thing. Rav Pinchas Friedman characterizes this as a stupendous chiddush the likes of which we have never encountered.
Yet, such a statement defies all conventional Torah thinking. Can the light of the Megillah be greater than that of Torah itself?
Let us preface the foundational concept behind this teaching with the mysterious words of the Midrash Rabbah. The Midrash teaches that there are items in this world that are semblances of the entity in its full, complete form in all its glory: Sleep is a semblance of death. A dream is a semblance of prophecy. Shabbos is a semblance of the World to Come.
R’ Avin added another two examples. The orb of the sun is a semblance of the supernatural light … and the Midrash mysteriously concludes … the Torah is a semblance of the chochma shel Ma’aleh, the Torah is a mei’ein of the wisdom On High.
This is a revolutionary statement, as common thinking is that the Torah is the highest form of chochmah, and here the Midrash is teaching that it is merely a semblance of a branch of wisdom known as Chochmah HaElyonah.
Although these are mystical concepts that transcend our limited faculties, nevertheless the concept can be simplified as follows. The Torah that we learn has been filtered down so that it can be assimilated by the human mind. But the wisdom of Hashem is even more supreme and sanctified in its original form.
Now, this is the million-dollar question: Is there any way that we, mortals, can access and bring out to some extent the wisdom of Hashem in its original form? Is there any information that we are privy to that is unfiltered, directly from the Chochmah HaElyonah?
There is. Rav Aryeh HaKohen, one of the “lion cubs,” the students of the Arizal, reveals in his sefer Tur Berekes that indeed there is one segment of Divine information that was given to Klal Yisrael that can in fact activate and make manifest the Chochmah HaElyonah: Megillas Esther. The Megillah derives from the Chochmah HaElyonah itself. Thus, it defers talmud Torah and all other mitzvos as it is sourced in an even more sublime and rarified dimension of Chochmas Elokim.
This is the mystical reason why mevtalin Talmud Torah u’ba’in l’shmo’a mikra Megillah.
Thus, the words of the Chasam Sofer are to be taken at face value. The light contained in Megillas Esther is actually greater than that which is contained in the Torah itself.
This would account for the overwhelming reactions I find that people have when exposed to
some of the hidden secrets of history that seem to be revealed and blatantly alluded to in Megillas Esther. (See the essay “Purim Fest 1946 — And the Ancient Origins of the Megillah Codes,” about which someone once commented to me that this historical reference is the most obvious proof of the Divine origin of the Torah.)
This earthshattering chiddush about the nuclear energy and light contained in Megillas Esther is sourced in the astounding teaching of the Ari HaKadosh. The Arizal teaches that the light that the Ribbono shel Olam graciously illuminated for the Jewish people on Purim was unprecedented and unparalleled. It even surpasses the light of Shabbos and Yom Tov. But Hashem wanted that incomparable light to forever shine for the Jewish people on Purim — and therefore, “these days of Purim should never cease from among the Jews,” and every year on Purim this brilliant and unrivaled light shines again for the Jewish people. It is an eternal light that will never dim. As the Arizal concludes, “For it is a light the likes of which had never existed.”
And, just as the light of Purim transcends the light of any other holy day on the Jewish calendar, the light of the Megillah surpasses that of the light of any other segment of Torah. Hence, in a conflict between mikra Megillah and any other mitzvah, mikra Megillah is paramount.
“But I will surely have concealed My face on that day.” Alas, at first the Al-mighty was hidden as the Jews faced national extermination. The Ribbono shel Olam was The Concealed.
Through the miraculous salvation and brilliant light of Divine revelation — v’nahafoch hu, And it was turned about! The Ribbono shel Olam and the secrets of the Torah became The Revealed.
1This approach of Rav Efraim Zalman Margolis would give us insight into the phenomenon we encounter in Maseches Megillah (10b–11a), where we are told that various Amoraim. They initiated their discussion on the Megillah by offering insight into some other place in Tanach from which they would springboard into expounding upon the Megillah. Is the subject of Megillas Esther not rich enough that they had to begin their discussion elsewhere?
Perhaps, if one takes the position of Rav Efraim Zalman, these Amoraim would not give a discourse directly on the Megillah because as such it would not be reckoned as talmud Torah. By expounding upon other areas of Torah and incorporating the discussion on the Megillah into parts of Torah that are recognized parts of the corpus of Moshe kibeil Torah mi’Sinai, they elevated the entire discourse into one of talmud Torah.
Rabbi Daniel Glatstein is the Mara D’asra of Kehilas Tiferes Mordechai in Cedarhurst, NY, and author of numerous seforim in Lashon Hakodesh and in English for ArtScroll. He is an international lecturer and maggid shiur. His thousands of recorded shiurim are available on Torahanytime. com, podcast, his website rabbidg.com, and other venues.
This article is an introduction to Rabbi Glatstein’s newest sefer, The Concealed and The Revealed, published by ArtScroll/Mesorah and reprinted with permission.
