Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher, Dean of Students and Senior Lecturer at Diaspora Yeshiva, is not only a popular speaker and teacher, but also a dynamic thinker and writer. A student of Harav Yaakov Kamenetsky and Harav Gedalia Schorr, Rabbi Sprecher was granted smicha (rabbinical ordination) by Torah Vodaath Yeshiva. Prior to his current position, Rabbi Sprecher was a professor of Judaic studies at Touro College in New York. In addition to his duties at Diaspora Yeshiva, Rabbi Sprecher writes a regular column on various Judaic topics in the Jewish Press, and lectures regularly at the OU Israel Center in Jerusalem.
Megilat Esther - Where Is G-D?
Published: Saturday, February 10, 2018 06:41:05 PM
Number of views: 1420

The Rambam states in Hilchos Megilah, Chapter 2, Halacha 18, that all books of the Prophets and all of the Holy Writings will be cancelled in the Messianic Era except for Megilat Esther, which will exist forever like the Torah and the Talmud.

What’s even stranger is that Esther is the only book in TANACH without G-d’s name in it. Why is the only book in Holy Scripture (Ketuvim) so unique that it will be preserved for eternity even though it does not contain G-d’s name?

The answers are found in Megilat Esther 3:9, Haman says to Ahahuerus regarding the Jews: "If it please the king, let it be written that they be destroyed." The Midrash (Esther Rabba 7:13) adds: "Ahashuerus replied: 'You cannot prevail against them, since their G-d will not entirely forsake them. See what He did to the kings who preceded us and who laid hands upon them…Whoever comes against them to destroy them…is wiped out.'"

When Haman persisted, Ahashuerus said to him: "since you are so insistent, let us consult the wise men and the magicians." He thereupon convened all the wise men of the nations and asked them: "Is it your desire that we destroy the Jewish Nation?" They replied that it is too dangerous because G-d protects His children, the people of Israel; look what happened to Pharaoh and Sennacherib.

Haman then told them that G-d is now old and cannot do anything, since Nebuchadnezzar has already destroyed His city and burned His Holy Temple and exiled Israel and scattered them among the nations. They then came around to his opinion and agreed to destroy Israel, and they wrote letters and signed them for the Final Solution.

"There is nothing new under the sun" (Kohelet 1:9). This Midrash could have been written today. All we need to do is substitute Abu Mamzer and Hamas or Ayatola Kahmeni of Iran for Haman, and the UN for "all the wise men of the nations."

It should be noted that "the wise men of the nations" do not tell Ahashuerus not to destroy the Jews because it is immoral, only because it is too dangerous. When Haman tells them that the Jewish G-d is weak and unable to protect the Jews, they immediately agree to kill all of the Jews.

Perhaps the UN as a body does not want to destroy the State of Israel, but there is no question that many of its members want to harm the State of Israel if they think they can get away with it.

Like Haman and Hitler, Arab terrorists have been trying to destroy Israel even before there was a Jewish State in 1948. Who remembers the Hebron pogrom of 1929? An Arab mob, incited by Mufti Haj Amin El-Husseini, massacred Jewish men, women and children by hacking them to death. This was way before any "occupied territories" that Arabs use to justify their terror against us. With the help of G-d, we have built a vibrant and flourishing Jewish State which is a shining beacon of democracy in the turmoil of the murderous civil wars in the Middle East.

Israel is an oasis of goodness and light surrounded by a sea of savages and darkness. We shall persevere despite all of our enemies' intention to destroy us because "the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps" (Tehillim 121:4).

Why will Megilat Esther be read for all eternity? This is because the Megilah, more than any other book of TANACH, describes the miraculous story of the survival of G-d's Eternal People against all odds.

Thus, the Megilah is the only book in TANACH that does not contain G-d's Name. This is because G-d's hand is seen in every twist and turn of the story, demonstrating G-d's Providence in all aspects of life. The entire story of Megilat Esther is in fact all about G-d's Name!

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