Megillah, Daf Yod Gimmel, Part 4
אמר רבי אלעזר: מאי דכתיב +איוב ל"ו+ לא יגרע מצדיק עיניו, בשכר צניעות שהיתה בה ברחל – זכתה ויצא ממנה שאול, ובשכר צניעות שהיה בו בשאול – זכה ויצאת ממנו אסתר.
R. Elazar said: What is the meaning of the verse, "He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous" (Job 36:7)? In reward for the modesty displayed by Rachel, she merited having Saul descend from her; and in reward for the modesty displayed by Saul, he merited having Esther descend from him.
The Talmud now moves to deal with another issue related to Esther and modesty.
Saul comes from the tribe of Benjamin, so he was a descendant of Rachel. The Megillah itself does not state Esther’s ancestry, but according to rabbinic sources, Mordecai descended from Saul, and since Esther was his niece, she too would have descended from Mordecai.
ומאי צניעות היתה בה ברחל – דכתיב +בראשית כ"ט+ ויגד יעקב לרחל כי אחי אביה הוא.
וכי אחי אביה הוא? והלא בן אחות אביה הוא?
אלא אמר לה: מינסבא לי? אמרה ליה: אין. מיהו, אבא רמאה הוא, ולא יכלת ליה.
אמר לה: אחיו אנא ברמאות. – אמרה ליה: ומי שרי לצדיקי לסגויי ברמיותא?
אמר לה: אין, +שמואל ב’ כ"ב+ עם נבר תתבר ועם עקש תתפל.
אמר לה: ומאי רמיותא? – אמרה ליה: אית לי אחתא דקשישא מינאי, ולא מנסיב לי מקמה. מסר לה סימנים. כי מטא ליליא, אמרה: השתא מיכספא אחתאי, מסרתינהו ניהלה. והיינו דכתיב +בראשית כ"ט+ ויהי בבקר והנה היא לאה, מכלל דעד השתא לאו לאה היא? אלא: מתוך סימנין שמסרה רחל ללאה לא הוה ידע עד השתא. לפיכך זכתה ויצא ממנה שאול.
What was the modesty displayed by Rachel? As it is written: "And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother" (Genesis 29:12). Now was he her father’s brother? Was he not the son of her father’s sister?
Rather he said to her, Will you marry me? She replied, Yes, but my father is a trickster, and you cannot outwit him.
He replied: I am his brother in trickery.
She said to him: Is it permitted to the righteous to engage in trickery?
He replied. Yes: "With the pure, act in purity and with the perverse, act wily" (II Samuel 22:27).
He said to her: What is his trickery? She replied : I have a sister older than me, and he will not let me marry before her. So he gave her certain tokens. When night came, she said to herself, Now my sister will be put to shame. So she handed over the tokens to her. So it is written, "And it came to pass in the morning that, behold, it was Leah." Up to now she was not Leah? Rather, what it means is that on account of the tokens which Rachel gave to Leah he did not know until then. Therefore she was rewarded by having Saul among her descendants.
In this remarkable story, Rachel is actually the one who tricks Jacob into marrying Leah, not Laban as the story is usually read. Jacob knows in advance that Laban will try to trick him and takes precautions to ensure that he will not be tricked. But Rachel just cannot tolerate the thought of her sister waking up happy with her new husband, only to discover that she was unwanted. She has mercy on her poor sister, who was not as attractive as she. So she gives the tokens to Jacob, who is fooled by them. I can’t help but read here a critique of Jacob as well. Jacob stole the birthright from his brother. His brother was a fool, and Jacob took full advantage of it. Rachel acts with "modesty" which here means kindness, a willingness to forego what she wants because someone else wants it more. Jacob was not so modest. By her acts, Rachel merits that the first king of Israel should be descended from her. [It doesn’t seem to bother the storyteller that David was not descended from Rachel].
ומה צניעות היתה בשאול – דכתיב +שמואל א’ י’+ ואת דבר המלוכה לא הגיד לו אשר אמר שמואל – זכה ויצאת ממנו אסתר.
What modesty did Saul display? As it is written, "But concerning the matter of the kingdom of which Shmuel spoke he told him not" (I Samuel 10:16).
He merited that Esther should descend from him.
Saul was modest in not telling his uncle that he had been anointed king by the prophet Shmuel, when he returns from his journey to find some lost donkeys. Therefore, he merited that the modest Esther should descend from him.
ואמר רבי אלעזר: כשהקדוש ברוך הוא פוסק גדולה לאדם – פוסק לבניו ולבני בניו עד סוף כל הדורות, שנאמר +איוב ל"ו+ וישיבם לנצח ויגבהו (וגו’), ואם הגיס דעתו – הקדוש ברוך הוא משפילו, שנאמר +איוב ל"ו+ ואם אסורים בזקים וגו’.
R. Elazar further said: When the Holy One, blessed be He, assigns greatness to a man, he assigns it to his sons and his sons sons for all generations, as it says, "[With kings on the throne;] He sets them forever and they are exalted" (Job 36:7).
If, however, he becomes arrogant, God humiliates him, as it says, "And if they be bound in fetters etc" (Job 36:8).
R. Elazar continues to explain the verse from Job. When God sets a king on the throne, his descendants will rule forever. However, if they become arrogant, God will bring them down.