Chasidut for Bava Batra 149:16
כיוצא בדבר אתה אומר (במדבר כז, כ) ונתתה מהודך עליו ולא כל הודך זקנים שבאותו הדור אמרו פני משה כפני חמה פני יהושע כפני לבנה אוי לה לאותה בושה אוי לה לאותה כלימה
[is to be understood] as R. Johanan [explained] when he [once] sat and gave an exposition: The Holy One, blessed be He, will in time to come bring precious stones and pearls which are thirty [cubits] by thirty and will cut out from them [openings]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' To serve as entrances to the city. ');"><sup>31</sup></span> ten [cubits] by twenty, and will set them up in the gates of Jerusalem. A certain student sneered at him: [Jewels] of the size of a dove's egg are not to be found; are [jewels] of such a size to be found? After a time, his ship sailed out to sea [where] he saw ministering angels engaged<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'who sat and cut'. ');"><sup>32</sup></span>
Kedushat Levi
Numbers 13,3. “Moses dispatched them from the desert of Parana at the command of Hashem;” [note that the Torah writes about this both in verse 3 and again in verse 17, so that exegesis for this repetition is forced upon us. Ed.]
Moses and his generation, predominantly part of the generation of the desert, are viewed as comparable to the written Torah, whereas Joshua and the people entering the Holy Land with him, are viewed as comparable to the oral Torah. This is also what the Talmud in Baba batra 75 referred to when the sages said that the face of Moses was comparable to the sun whereas the face of Joshua was comparable to the moon. The oral Torah is viewed as being the vessel which received input from the written Torah, just as the moon receives its light which it then reflects from the sun.
When the Torah writes here that Moses dispatched the 12 men to “tour” the land of Canaan, this is an allusion to the generation of the Israelites that were supposed to make their home in the Holy Land, i.e. it was appropriate for these men to reflect the oral Torah. Actually, seeing that, as we explained repeatedly in connection with the ability of the righteous in each generation being able to change G’d’s decrees, the “oral Torah” is not quite the same in each generation, as the sages in each generation have the power to add or change protective decrees knows as סיג לתורה “a protective fence around Biblical decrees.” This is also the reason why the Israelites who are perceived as symbolic of the oral Torah count their months according to the lunar calendar, the moon being symbolic of the oral Torah. [I believe that the author wished to explain why the name of Moses had to be mentioned again in this verse, seeing that he had been addressed by G’d in the verse before and the subject had not changed. Ed.]
Moses and his generation, predominantly part of the generation of the desert, are viewed as comparable to the written Torah, whereas Joshua and the people entering the Holy Land with him, are viewed as comparable to the oral Torah. This is also what the Talmud in Baba batra 75 referred to when the sages said that the face of Moses was comparable to the sun whereas the face of Joshua was comparable to the moon. The oral Torah is viewed as being the vessel which received input from the written Torah, just as the moon receives its light which it then reflects from the sun.
When the Torah writes here that Moses dispatched the 12 men to “tour” the land of Canaan, this is an allusion to the generation of the Israelites that were supposed to make their home in the Holy Land, i.e. it was appropriate for these men to reflect the oral Torah. Actually, seeing that, as we explained repeatedly in connection with the ability of the righteous in each generation being able to change G’d’s decrees, the “oral Torah” is not quite the same in each generation, as the sages in each generation have the power to add or change protective decrees knows as סיג לתורה “a protective fence around Biblical decrees.” This is also the reason why the Israelites who are perceived as symbolic of the oral Torah count their months according to the lunar calendar, the moon being symbolic of the oral Torah. [I believe that the author wished to explain why the name of Moses had to be mentioned again in this verse, seeing that he had been addressed by G’d in the verse before and the subject had not changed. Ed.]
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Kedushat Levi
Our sages in the Talmud Megillah 13 explain that the reason why Queen Esther was known as Esther (rather than as Hadassah, Esther 2,7) was that her beauty reminded people of the brilliance of the planet (star) Venus. [possibly the Talmud, which also explains her name as a reminder that she was a lady who could keep a secret, sees a dual meaning in her name, both brilliant light, and complete darkness, hiding things. Ed.] Some of G’d’s miracles involve changes in the laws of nature such as the splitting of the sea, turning the waters of the Nile into blood and redeeming the Jewish people from Egypt. Others are the result of a combination and timing of most unlikely circumstances.
Ahasverus’ taking a liking to Haman and trusting him blindly, and subsequently switching his trust to Esther who had never even revealed her nationality or religion to him, is just a minor example of this. Haman’s choosing to request permission from Ahasverus to hang Mordechai in the middle of the night, a night when the king could not sleep and he was reminded that Mordechai had saved his life from assassins, and that Esther at the time had brought this to his attention, and that Haman planned to kill his lifesaver, etc., are just a few of these propitious coincidences that resulted in Haman’s downfall and the salvation of the Jewish people at that time. The former kind of miracle is usually attributed to G’d in His capacity as the tetragram, י-ה-ו-ה, whereas the latter kind of miracle is attributed to G’d in His capacity as א-ד-נ-י. In the former case, G’d is “active, changing the rules of the game,” whereas in the case of the “hidden” miracle, the emphasis is on the recipient, מקבל. The difference can be compared to the difference between the sun and the moon, both of which give forth rays of light, the sun being a source of light, whereas the moon only reflects light that it had already received from the sun. Esther therefore is compared to the moon in the story of Purim.
When G’d performs supernatural miracles even the idolaters are humbled and recognize (temporarily) His mastery as we know from Exodus 18,1 where the Torah records that Yitro had heard about these great miracles and had concluded that Hashem is superior to any other force in the universe that claims the status of being a deity.
Amalek was the only nation among the wicked people denying G’d’s power, who challenged G’d by attacking His people, unprovoked, on ground (Compare Yalkut Shimoni, 938, and quoted by Rashi (Deuteronomy 25,18) that did not belong to any nation. According to Rashi, Amalek’s being the first to challenge the myth of G’d’s invincibility is compared to the first person jumping into boiling hot water of a bath tub, who, while being scalded nevertheless succeeds in cooling the water so that the next person following will hardly be scalded at all and subsequent people will feel comfortable in that tub.
[While both Rashi and Yalkut Shimoni quote this analogy, Rashi could not have taken it from Yalkut Shimoni, as the author of these Midrashim lived approximately 200 years later than Rashi. Ed.]
Seeing that Amalek initiated this rebellion against G’d, the Torah commands such far reaching punishment for that nation. If G’d now commanded the Israelites to wage war against Amalek, the reason was that seeing supernatural means of humbling idolaters had not sufficed, other, better understood means, i.e. warfare on earth, had to be reverted to. It was therefore appropriate that Joshua should conduct this battle as Moses had been instrumental in performing supernatural miracles, whereas Joshua would prove that G’d is able to deal with sinners without having to resort to supernatural means. Our sages alluded to this when they said in the Talmud Baba Batra 75 that if Moses’ face could be compared to the face of the sun, Joshua’s would be comparable to that of the moon.
Allusions found in the written Torah usually refer to the celestial regions or to matters supernatural, metaphysical, whereas allusions in the oral Torah usually refer to matters in the physical universe. The relationship between the written Torah and the oral Torah is that the written Torah is the source, i.e. like the sun, whereas the oral Torah is comparable to the moon, i.e. a recipient, reflecting the origin. Here, where nature was “repaired” by miracles similar to those experienced by Mordechai and Esther, i.e. “hidden miracles,” as described earlier, it was appropriate that we are told for the first time about parts of the written Torah to be committed to writing. [I believe the author draws a parallel between the antagonists of the Jewish people at that time, i.e. a descendant from Amalek, and the first defeat suffered by Amalek at the hands of Joshua, Ed.] The “allusions” referred to are the words זאת and זכרון in this short paragraph, and the written record of the Purim story in Esther as described in Esther 9,29-32. (Compare Talmud Megillah 7). The words זכרון בספר refer to the written record in the Torah, whereas the word זאת refers to the oral record in the halachah.
Ahasverus’ taking a liking to Haman and trusting him blindly, and subsequently switching his trust to Esther who had never even revealed her nationality or religion to him, is just a minor example of this. Haman’s choosing to request permission from Ahasverus to hang Mordechai in the middle of the night, a night when the king could not sleep and he was reminded that Mordechai had saved his life from assassins, and that Esther at the time had brought this to his attention, and that Haman planned to kill his lifesaver, etc., are just a few of these propitious coincidences that resulted in Haman’s downfall and the salvation of the Jewish people at that time. The former kind of miracle is usually attributed to G’d in His capacity as the tetragram, י-ה-ו-ה, whereas the latter kind of miracle is attributed to G’d in His capacity as א-ד-נ-י. In the former case, G’d is “active, changing the rules of the game,” whereas in the case of the “hidden” miracle, the emphasis is on the recipient, מקבל. The difference can be compared to the difference between the sun and the moon, both of which give forth rays of light, the sun being a source of light, whereas the moon only reflects light that it had already received from the sun. Esther therefore is compared to the moon in the story of Purim.
When G’d performs supernatural miracles even the idolaters are humbled and recognize (temporarily) His mastery as we know from Exodus 18,1 where the Torah records that Yitro had heard about these great miracles and had concluded that Hashem is superior to any other force in the universe that claims the status of being a deity.
Amalek was the only nation among the wicked people denying G’d’s power, who challenged G’d by attacking His people, unprovoked, on ground (Compare Yalkut Shimoni, 938, and quoted by Rashi (Deuteronomy 25,18) that did not belong to any nation. According to Rashi, Amalek’s being the first to challenge the myth of G’d’s invincibility is compared to the first person jumping into boiling hot water of a bath tub, who, while being scalded nevertheless succeeds in cooling the water so that the next person following will hardly be scalded at all and subsequent people will feel comfortable in that tub.
[While both Rashi and Yalkut Shimoni quote this analogy, Rashi could not have taken it from Yalkut Shimoni, as the author of these Midrashim lived approximately 200 years later than Rashi. Ed.]
Seeing that Amalek initiated this rebellion against G’d, the Torah commands such far reaching punishment for that nation. If G’d now commanded the Israelites to wage war against Amalek, the reason was that seeing supernatural means of humbling idolaters had not sufficed, other, better understood means, i.e. warfare on earth, had to be reverted to. It was therefore appropriate that Joshua should conduct this battle as Moses had been instrumental in performing supernatural miracles, whereas Joshua would prove that G’d is able to deal with sinners without having to resort to supernatural means. Our sages alluded to this when they said in the Talmud Baba Batra 75 that if Moses’ face could be compared to the face of the sun, Joshua’s would be comparable to that of the moon.
Allusions found in the written Torah usually refer to the celestial regions or to matters supernatural, metaphysical, whereas allusions in the oral Torah usually refer to matters in the physical universe. The relationship between the written Torah and the oral Torah is that the written Torah is the source, i.e. like the sun, whereas the oral Torah is comparable to the moon, i.e. a recipient, reflecting the origin. Here, where nature was “repaired” by miracles similar to those experienced by Mordechai and Esther, i.e. “hidden miracles,” as described earlier, it was appropriate that we are told for the first time about parts of the written Torah to be committed to writing. [I believe the author draws a parallel between the antagonists of the Jewish people at that time, i.e. a descendant from Amalek, and the first defeat suffered by Amalek at the hands of Joshua, Ed.] The “allusions” referred to are the words זאת and זכרון in this short paragraph, and the written record of the Purim story in Esther as described in Esther 9,29-32. (Compare Talmud Megillah 7). The words זכרון בספר refer to the written record in the Torah, whereas the word זאת refers to the oral record in the halachah.
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