Megillah, Daf Yod Bet, Part 6
ויפקד המלך פקידים.
אמר רב: מאי דכתיב +משלי י"ג+ כל ערום יעשה בדעת וכסיל יפרש אולת, כל ערום יעשה בדעת – זה דוד, דכתיב +מלכים א‘ א‘+ ויאמרו לו עבדיו יבקשו לאדני המלך נערה בתולה, כל מאן דהוה ליה ברתא – אייתה ניהליה.
וכסיל יפרש אולת – זה אחשורוש, דכתיב ויפקד המלך פקידים. כל מאן דהוה ליה ברתא – איטמרה מיניה.
"And let the king appoint officers".
Rav said: What is it that is written, "A clever (arom) man deals with forethought, but a fool exposes his folly" (Proverbs 13:16)? "A clever (arom) man deals with forethought : this refers to David, of whom, it is written, "And his servants said to him, "Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin": Every one who had a daughter brought her to him.
"But a fool exposes his folly : this refers to Ahashverosh, of whom it is written, and "Let the king appoint officers: whoever had a daughter hid her.
The midrash now moves to the second chapter. The verse refers to the king appointing officers to find him a new wife. Rav’s midrash compares David with Ahashverosh and is based on a pun between the word clever (arom) and naked (arom). David when he was old only asked for one girl. Therefore everyone rushed to bring him a girl. Ahashverosh, the fool, appointed officers to find all of the girls. All of the fathers knew that his intent was to try them all out and then pick one. Whoever had a daughter hid her.
איש יהודי היה בשושן הבירה וגו‘… איש ימיני. מאי קאמר? אי ליחוסא קאתי – ליחסיה ואזיל עד בנימין! אלא מאי שנא הני? תנא: כולן על שמו נקראו; בן יאיר – בן שהאיר עיניהם של ישראל בתפלתו, בן שמעי – בן ששמע אל תפלתו, בן קיש – שהקיש על שערי רחמים ונפתחו לו.
"There was a certain Jew in the fortress Shushan. a Benjamite."
What does this say? If it is to give the pedigree of Mordecai, it should trace it right back to Benjamin!
Why then were only these specified?
A Tanna taught: All of them were based on his name.
"The son of Yair" means, the son who enlightened [he’ir] the eyes of Israel by his prayer.
"The son of Shimei", the son to whose prayer God hearkened [shama].
"The son of Kish" that he knocked [hikkish] at the gates of mercy and they were opened to him.
The verse only lists a few generations of Mordecai son of Yair, son of Shimei, son of Kish. And then it says he was from Benjamin. So why give some of his pedigree but not all of it?
A baraita takes each of the names and makes a pun from it. These midrashic puns are something we have seen quite a few of throughout these pages.
קרי ליה יהודי – אלמא מיהודה קאתי, וקרי ליה ימיני – אלמא מבנימין קאתי!
אמר רב נחמן: מרדכי מוכתר בנימוסו היה. אמר רבה בר בר חנה אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: אביו מבנימין ואמו מיהודה. ורבנן אמרי: משפחות מתגרות זו בזו, משפחת יהודה אומרת: אנא גרים דמתיליד מרדכי, דלא קטליה דוד לשמעי בן גרא. ומשפחת בנימין אמרה: מינאי קאתי.
He is called "Judean [Yehudi]" which implies that he came from [the tribe of] Judah, and he is called "a Benjamite", which implies that he came from Benjamin.
R. Nahman said: He was crowned with good names.
Rabbah b. Bar Hanah said in the name of R. Joshua b. Levi: His father was from Benjamin and his mother from Judah.
The Rabbis, however, said: The tribes competed with one another [for him]. The tribe of Judah said: I am responsible for the birth of Mordecai, because David did not kill Shimei the son of Gera.
And the tribe of Benjamin said: He is actually descended from me.
The first half of the verse calls Mordecai a Judean, meaning from the tribe of Judah, whereas the second half calls him a Benjamite, from the tribe of Benjamin. The rabbis give various answers as to how the Megillah can seem to say he is from different tribes.
The first answer is simply that he was given good names. He is not from both of these tribes.
The second answer is that he actually was from both tribes one side was Benjamin, the other Judah.
The third answer is that the tribes fought over who allowed him to be born. Judah said that since David didn’t kill Shimi ben Gera (see II Samuel 19) they allowed Mordecai to be born. This assumes that the same Shimi not killed by David was actually Mordecai’s ancestor. In other words, even if he was from Benjamin, credit for his birth goes to Judah.
The tribe of Benjamin argued that that does not matter who saved Shimi’s life, for Mordecai is actually born from us.
רבא אמר: כנסת ישראל אמרה לאידך גיסא: ראו מה עשה לי יהודי ומה שילם לי ימיני, מה עשה לי יהודי – דלא קטליה דוד לשמעי, דאיתיליד מיניה מרדכי, דמיקני ביה המן. ומה שילם לי ימיני – דלא קטליה שאול לאגג, דאיתיליד מיניה המן, דמצער לישראל.
Rava said: The community of Israel explained [the two designations] in the opposite sense: "See what a Judean did to me and how a Benjamite repaid me!" What a Judean did to me, that David did not kill Shimei from whom was descended Mordecai who provoked Haman.
"And how a Benjamite repaid me", that Saul did not slay Agag from whom was descended Haman who oppressed Israel.
Rava says that the verse is actually a lament from the community of Israel, blaming both Judah and Benjamin for the dangerous situation in Shushan. Haman was provoked by Mordecai, who was a descendent of Shimei, who was not slayed by David. Thus Mordecai brought on the Jews’ punishment. And Haman was allowed to live by Saul, the Benjamite who didn’t slay Agag, the Amalekite king and ancestor of Haman. Thus, ancestry can be the source of blame as well as credit.
רבי יוחנן אמר: לעולם מבנימין קאתי, ואמאי קרי ליה יהודי – על שום שכפר בעבודה זרה. שכל הכופר בעבודה זרה נקרא יהודי, כדכתיב +דניאל ג‘+ איתי גברין יהודאין וגו‘.
R. Yohanan said: He did indeed come from Benjamin.
Why then was he called "a Jew"? Because he denied idolatry. For anyone who denies idolatry is called a Jew , as it is written, "There are certain Jews etc." (Daniel 3:13).
This midrash is connected to a verse from Daniel where a minister refers to Jews as those who do not worship the Babylonian king’s god or bow down to his idols. This is also an apt description of Mordecai who refuses to bow down to Ahashverosh. From here R. Yohanan learns that anyone who denies idolatry is called a Jew. There may be some broader implications of this statement. R. Yohanan may be saying, in a sense, that all those who deny idolatry in his day are actually Jews. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say that he does not require conversion, he may be saying that when it comes to being inside the Jewish people, one way to be "in" is simply to deny idolatry.