Chasidut for Bava Batra 149:18
מאי (יחזקאל כח, יג) מלאכת תופיך ונקביך בך אמר רב יהודה אמר רב אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא לחירם מלך צור בך נסתכלתי ובראתי נקבים נקבים באדם ואיכא דאמרי הכי קאמר בך נסתכלתי
R. Meir says: [it means] two hundred cubits; twice the height of Adam.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Heb. [H] 'Adam the first'. That is, the people will gain in stature to twice the height of Adam. His height, originally from earth to heaven or from one end of the earth to the other, was, after his sin, reduced to a hundred cubits. V. Hag. 22a. ');"><sup>35</sup></span> R. Judah says: A hundred cubits; corresponding to the [height of the] temple<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. supra 3a. cf. Sanh. (Sonc. ed.) 100a. ');"><sup>36</sup></span> and its walls. For it is said: <i>We whose sons are as plants grown up in their youth; whose daughters are as corner-pillars carved after the fashion of the Temple</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ps. CXLIV, 22. How then, in view of their increase to a hundred cubits in height, necessitating correspondingly high gates, can R. Johanan say that the gates were only twenty in height? ');"><sup>37</sup></span> R. Johanan speaks only of the ventilation windows. Rabbah in the name of R. Johanan further stated: The Holy One, blessed be He, will make seven canopies for every righteous man; for it is said: <i>And the Lord will create over the whole habitation of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud of smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory shall be a canopy</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Isa. IV, 5. ');"><sup>38</sup></span> This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, will make for everyone a canopy corresponding to his rank.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'his honour, glory.' ');"><sup>39</sup></span> Why is smoke required in a canopy? — R. Hanina said: Because whosoever is niggardly towards the scholars in this world will have his eyes filled with smoke in the world to come. Why is fire required in a canopy? — R. Hanina said: This teaches that each one will be burned by reason of [his envy of the superior] canopy of his friend. Alas, for such shame! Alas, for such reproach! In a similar category is the following: <i>And thou shalt put of thy honour upon him</i>,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. XXVII, 20. ');"><sup>40</sup></span> but not <i>all</i> thy honour. The elders of that generation said: The countenance of Moses was like that of the sun; the countenance of Joshua was like that of the moon.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Joshua's glory was inferior to that of Moses. ');"><sup>41</sup></span> Alas, for such shame! Alas for such reproach!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That there should be so much deterioration in the course of one generation. ');"><sup>42</sup></span> R. Hama b. Hanina said: The Holy One, blessed be He, made ten canopies for Adam in the garden of Eden; for it is said: <i>Thou wast in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone [was thy covering, the cornelian, the topaz and the emerald, the beryl, the onyx and the jasper, the sapphire, the carbuncle and the emerald and gold</i>]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ezek, XXVIII, 13. The text speaks of Hiram, King of Tyre, who is tauntingly asked whether he could compare himself with Adam who had all these canopies. 'Every precious stone' is not included in the number. ');"><sup>43</sup></span> etc. Mar Zutra says: Eleven; for it is said: <i>Every</i> precious stone.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Mar Zutra obtains the number eleven by including 'Every precious stone' in the list of materials used for making Adam's canopies. ');"><sup>44</sup></span> R. Johanan said: The least of all [these] was gold, since it is mentioned last. What is [implied] by <i>the work of thy timbrels and holes</i>?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. ');"><sup>45</sup></span> — Rab Judah said in the name of Rab: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Hiram, the King of Tyre. '[At the creation] I looked upon thee, [observing thy future arrogance]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Cf. Ezek. XXVIII, 2ff, Because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said: I am a God, etc. ');"><sup>46</sup></span> and created [therefore] the excretory organs of man'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'many holes' or 'orifices', created to curb human pride. ');"><sup>47</sup></span> Others say: Thus said [the Holy One, blessed be He].' I looked upon thee
Kedushat Levi
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.]
Sha'ar HaEmunah VeYesod HaChasidut
Kedushat Levi
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.