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Entertainment Hidden

in Plain Sight

Lisa Baratz

ard as it may be for us to be emphasizing how far Haman was will- The Megillah itself is wearing a costume;
believe, since we take our Bible ing to go to achieve his evil goals. it is an entertaining story dressed up as a
very seriously (which is a good Esther instructs Mordechai to command history book. Its authors wanted us to be
Hthing!), there are aspects of all the Jews in Shushan, including Esther entertained and enthralled. It wants to
Megillat Esther that are exaggerated for herself and her maidservants, to fast for 3 make our jaws drop. But all too often, we
comedic or for dramatic purposes. These days. She does not leave room for any loop- are so distant from the ancient past that
details are a deliberate and intentional holes and is specific in the requirements: we miss the point. It is a different genre.
caricature of reality, though that doesn’t “do not eat nor drink for three whole days, This year, don’t just study the Megillah.
mean they did not happen. Here are some day and night” (Esther 4:16). 72 hours with- Don’t be hostage to preconceived notions.
examples: out eating a thing? Could the people really Enjoy it as its authors wished you would;
The Megillah describes Achashverosh’s have kept such a command? they went to great lengths to make it
lavish feast that lasted for 180 days – a Later we learn that Haman built a post entertaining.
full half a year. This isn’t a feasible way to “50 cubits (amot) high” upon which he Based on a conversation with Dr. Leeor Gottlieb
run a kingdom. But because we are used to planned to hang Mordechai (Esther 5:14). of Bar-Ilan University.
the story we do not ask what the real-life In ancient times, building such an edifice
implications of this were. (overnight, in his backyard no less) would
Haman pays Achashverosh 10,000 kikar have been quite an engineering feat.
kesef, bars of silver. Not shekels or coins, Whether you follow the Chazon Ish or Rav
but bars. Nowhere else in Tanach do we Chaim Naeh’s view on the size of an amah,
find kings who possessed such an enor- this post would have been roughly 75 feet
mous amount of silver. None even come tall – taller than an eight-story building.
close to that! When Avraham purchased This is almost certainly an exaggeration Lisa Baratz
the Me’arat HaMachpelah, he paid 400 shek- to show how badly Haman wanted to kill serves as a Vice President of the Religious
els of silver for a cave and a field (Bereishit Mordechai. Zionists of America. A criminal defense
23:15). Later, David paid 50 shekels of silver attorney with a passion for Jewish educa-
to Aravna the Yevusi for a goren (threshing tion, she lives in Hollywood, Florida where
floor) and a pair of oxen (Shmuel II 24:24). she chairs the adult education committee
These amounts are nowhere close to the for the Young Israel of Hollywood and
amount of money Haman pays Achash- teaches a popular weekly Nach shiur.
verosh. It seems to be an exaggera-
tion. Haman is just a government
minister; how could he have
amassed so much wealth?
The Megillah appears to

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