Purim: “Ve’nahafoch Hu” – Turning the Tables

In the first chapter of Megilat Ester, we read that King Ahashverosh become inebriated during the lavish feast he hosted for the people of Shushan, and he invited his queen, Vashti, to appear before his guests. Ahashverosh was incensed, and he consulted with his team of legal advisors. One of these advisors was Memuchan, whom tradition identifies as Haman. Haman told the king that he, as the monarch, enjoyed dictatorial powers, and could respond to Vashti’s disobedience however he saw fit. Ahashverosh, of course, was quite pleased with Haman’s ruling. In essence, then, Haman was the one who empowered Ahashverosh, who granted him absolute, unconditional and unrestrained authority. His advice as a legal counsel paved the way for Ahashverosh to exercise unlimited power over his kingdom. Not surprisingly, sometime later, Ahashverosh promoted Haman to the position of vizier, second only to the king himself. This was the king’s reward to Haman for granting him absolute power. Ironically, this authority which Haman invested in Ahashverosh is what led to his own downfall. Later in the Megilla, Ester hosted a feast for Ahashverosh and Haman, during which she informed the king that her people were condemned to annihilation by Haman’s edict to kill the Jews. Ahashverosh was incensed, and, at the recommendation of one of his servants – Harbona – ordered that Haman be executed. In but an instant, Haman went from being Ahashverosh’s most trusted advisor to being hung on a tree by the king’s order. And what made this possible was the unlimited powers that Haman, as a legal advisor, granted to Ahashverosh. It was only because Haman had established the king’s unlimited authority that Ahashverosh was able to order somebody’s execution on a whim. In this way, Haman brought about his own downfall. This analysis underscores the theme of “Ve’nahafoch Hu” (“It was reversed” – Ester 9:1), which is among the prominent features of the Purim miracle. Not only was the Jews’ condemnation to destruction reversed to triumph and celebration, but the salvation itself unfolded in a manner of “reversal.” Like a boomerang, Haman’s efforts to win Ahashverosh’s favor came back to hurt him, leading to his downfall. Another example of this phenomenon is Pharaoh, who thought he could keep Beneh Yisrael enslaved by decreeing the murder of all newborn boys. The Sages explain that Pharaoh was informed by his astrologers that the person who would rescue Beneh Yisrael from slavery would soon be born. Pharaoh therefore set out to prevent the prospective savior from arising by ordering that all newborn boys be put to death. As we know, when Moshe was born, his mother decided to try to save him from the authorities by placing him in a basket in the Nile River, where he was discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter. The princess brought the infant and raised him as her son. It thus turned out that Pharaoh’s efforts to prevent Beneh Yisrael’s savior from emerging resulted in the savior being raised by Pharaoh himself! One of the more famous passages of the Haggadah text we read at the Seder is “Ve’hi She’ameda.” In this paragraph, we proclaim that in every generation, we have enemies who rise against the Jewish People and try to annihilate us, but “Ha’Kadosh Baruch Hu Masilenu Mi’yadam” – “The Almighty rescues us from their hand.” The term “Mi’yadam” (“from their hand”) could be understood to mean that Hashem saves us through the hand of our enemies. The salvation actually comes “from their hand” – as a result of their efforts to harm us, which then backfire and bring about their downfall. This is what happened to Pharaoh and Haman, and this is what happened to many of our enemies throughout the ages. We hope and pray that today’s enemies, too, will soon meet their downfall, and that their vicious attempts to destroy us will turn around on them and lead to their defeat, Amen.