Amazing Purim Secrets & Life Segulos
- The Opposite-of-Avraham Connection
Rav Chaim Kinievsky published a small monograph-now added to the back of the Mesivta mikroas gedolos -titled, ‘L’michaseh Asik’ (see Yeshayahu 23:18 for the meaning of this title). Going in the order of Tanach, he provides names of siblings/parents, dates of births, deaths and events, as well as any other factual information culled from all over Torah sh’baal peh. This is a great resource for these tidbits and factual questions, and may be useful for one’s Shabbos table.
A fascinating example that relates to Purim is from parshas lech lcha.
“What was the name of Avraham avinu mother? After all his father and siblings are discussed in chumash, is his mother as well?”
In fact, it seems that she is only referenced once in chumash (20:12), and even then, she is not named. Defending his previous words to Avimelech, Avraham said, “And also, indeed, she is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife”
Chazal (Bava Basra 91a) also wonder about her name (see Rashbam there why this information is important), as well as the names of the mothers of others in tanach.
“Rav Chanan bar Rava said in the name of Rav: The mother of Avraham was Amaslei (bas Karnvo). The mother of Haman was (also) named Amaslei (bas Orevati). A tool to remember this is tamei, tamei [for Haman and his mother] and tahor, tahor [for Avraham and his mother]” (See Ben Yehoyada for three approaches as to why their order is reversed by the memory aid).
There are many obvious questions that jump out at one upon reading this gemara.
- Why do we need a memory aid when they have the same name? Who would, anyway, confuse the tzidkus of Avraham and his mother with the rishus of Haman and his?!
- What is the significance of Avraham and Haman sharing a mother with the same name?
- Why do chazal share not only their mothers’ names but also that of their fathers’?
As to the second and third questions, al pi kabala (see Shalsheles Hakabala p. 21b, and Raavad to this gemara) these two names represent two opposing forces. They teach that it is a potent segulah to recite these names in certain ways and at certain times- Amaslei bas Karnvo when meeting with people in power, and Amaslei bas Orevati when dealing with wicked/scheming people. The Chasam Sofer explains that one should use Avraham’s full lineage name when davening in his merit like we would when mentioning any other name (sefer B’Alil Ha’Aretz).
As for Haman’s mother, the sefer Midrash Talpios (entry: ‘imei d’avarham’) explains that, on the flip side, mentioning a rasha’s name may serve to cool the power of another rasha, as we see from chazal who share how gehenom was cooled upon Korach’s wife’s arrival there (see Bamidbar Rabbah 18:15).
As to the first question -the gemara choosing to share that both Haman and Avraham had a mother with the same rare name – in researching this, I ran into a problem. While there are midrashim relating to the tzikus of Amaslei the mother of Avraham, I was unable to locate anything relating to Amaslei the mother of Haman, or her rishus.
Relating to Amsalei the mother of Avraham, in the midrash ‘Maaseh Avraham Avinu’ (see Otzar Midrashim, beginning of volume one; cf. Sefer Hayashar, Noach 8) we are told of her holy sacrifice. She had to hide her pregnancy from Nimrod because was killing all the newborn boys due to his necromancers telling him that a boy will be born who rise-up against him (sound familiar?). She gave birth to Avraham in a cave and left him there, whereupon the malach Gavriel took care of him. Later, thinking he was torn by animals, she began to mourn him (sound familiar?). Avraham was soon returned, alive of course, to his mother.
More, I was able to find those that discuss the meaning of her own parents’ odd name Karnvo, but not for Orevati (see Rabbeinu Gershom, et al.). Karnvo comes from karim, meaning either lamb, a dove-feathered-down pillow, or a messenger (see, respectively, 1 Shmuel 15:9, Bereishis 34:31with Aruch Hashulchan 257:18, Yishayahu 16:1).
The only one other place in all of shas where the word and spelling of Orevati is written is in kiddushin 70b. There too the gemara is speaking of yichus, specifically the questionable pedigree of a certain town. Listen to the words of the gemara:
“…In the name of Shmuel: there are two lines of pedigree in the city of Nahardoi: one is a kosher line that is called bnei yona, and the other is non-kosher and is called bnei orevati(here meaning ravens)”
Then I read the next line, and was shocked:
“A tool to remember this is tamei, tamei, tahor tahor”!
This is not only the one other place in shas where Orevati is used, it also the only other place in shas that this exact tamei/tahor phrase is used (in fact in all of Torah sh’baal peh!)!
This may help explain the mother gemara as well. Throughout midrash bnei Avrahamare compared to the white dove (e.g. Berachos 53), and the black,raven is seen as selfish and dangerous (see parshas Noach). In fact, rishonim point out that the root for raven – eyin, reish, beis –is read as b’rah backword, meaning with evil (intent). Is there a more fitting description of Haman and his ancestry?!
Like most elements connected to Purim, there seems to be abundant secrets hidden in all the above.
- The Similar-to-Korach Connection
The midrash teaches us:
“Two wealthy people rose up -one from yisroel and one from the umos ha’olam -Korach from yisroel and Haman from the umas ha’olam -and both were wiped from this world. Why? Because their wealth wasn’t given from Hashem, rather they grabbed it for themselves”.
(Bamidbar Rabbah 22:7)
More, when Moshe challenges Korach, he says, “You and your assembly will arrive in the morning before Hashem” and then, seemingly redundantly, concludes, “atah, va’hem, v’ahron –you, them and Aron”
Rabbeinu Efraim points out that the last letters of these words spell out HaMaN. The Migaleh Amukos points out that ‘Haman ha’rasha’ is the same gematria of ‘Korach ben Yitzar’.
They have much in common. For example, amazingly, we are taught how, uniquely, both Haman’s wife (Esther 5:14) and Korach’s wife (Sanhedrin 109-110) famously urged their respective husbands toward their evil plans.
Furthermore, it always occurred to me that Korach is such an approprote name. ‘Korach’ literallymeans ‘ice’, just he had taken the Torah that is compared to water (Yishayahu 55:1) and hardening it into an unyielding position. Interestingly as well, ‘Haman’ is gematria ‘hamayim’, meaning ‘the water’. Haman didn’t even have to start with a Torah to then turn it into a sam hamaves, rather he felt was able to invent his own laws. More, amazingly, when one adds together the names of both Korach and Haman, it equals the gematria of ‘achas’, as well as keshura/tied together, in thatthey are one in the same, as the midrash above taught!
- Haman -A Gilgul of Eisav
The Arizal sates (Sefer Hagilgulim, ch. 35) that Haman was a gilgul of Eisav and Mordechai a gilgul of Yaakov. This would explain why Haman had an ingrained hatred toward Mordechai.
But there is also another view.
Rav Yonasan Eibishitz brings (Yaaros Dievash 3:12) and many others bring a mesorah that Mordechai was actually a gilgulof Moshe, and Haman a gilgul of the mitzri that he killed (Shmos, ch. 2).
This may explain why so many -like myself- have the name Moshe Mordechai.
As we once mentioned, the sefer Tenufah Chaim states that megillas esther does not mean the megilla written by Esther. Rather, the word ‘megilla’ holds dual meanings. The root of this word is ‘giluy’, to reveal. In other words, megillas esther means: “The revelation of the hidden”!
This is a most impeccable description of the events of Purim, as well as the deep mysteries of its story’ protagonists and antagonists.
Leave a Reply