Sunday, February 18, 2007

Daf Yomi - Megillah 11 - VAYEHI CONVEYS ANGUISH

The Gemora begins discussing various verses in the Megillah. The Megillah begins: And it was in the days of Achashverosh. Rabbi Levi and according to others Rabbi Yochanan, said: This is a tradition that has been passed down from the men of the Great Assembly, that wherever it is written vayehi, (and it was), this introduces some disaster. Regarding the Megillah, there was Haman who wanted to destroy the Jews. The Gemora cites many other examples from Scriptures proving that vayehi introduces disaster.

The Pnei Yehoshua asks that there is a distinction between here and all the other places. All the places cited have the impending disaster written immediately after the word vayehi, but Haman’s decree against the Jewish people is not written until much later?

He answers that the root cause that brought about Haman’s decree was the fact that Klal Yisroel benefited from Achashverosh’s feast and that is written immediately after vayehi.

The Megillas S’tarim answers: The Gemora Pesachim (87b) states that Hashem does a kindness to Klal Yisroel by scattering them among the nations, so that if some of the nations make decrees against us or wish to destroy us, at least those of us living under other rulers will survive and Klal Yisroel will not be completely destroyed. Here, the anguish is immediate by the fact that Achashverosh ruled over the entire world and there was no safe haven.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Shoresh Of the word ויהי is יהי
Future tense. But when You put the vov in the beginning of the Shoresh it becomes ויהי this makes it past tense.Similarly but in the opposite direction, the word והיה whose Shoresh is is היה which is past tense
when you add the vov at the beginning of the shoresh it also changes tenses
to future and get the word והיה like in the Posuk והיה באחרית הימים"and it will be at the end of days"
On this basis the drasha of ויהי
being a loshon of a צרה and והיה
of joy.This is because in oder to br happiness you want to change your future sadness to a past of sadness and a future of joy.