Parshas Terumah – Shekalim
The Remedy Is Already Here!
“After these events King Achashverosh promoted Haman.” (Megillas Esther 3:1)
I read a story some time ago, but I do not recall the source.
Moshe & Leah were happily married. However, they were not blessed with children right away. In fact, five years passed, and they still did not yet have children. Imagine their excitement when Leah gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Unfortunately, the baby was born with a serious blood disorder. The doctor told Moshe and Leah not to worry. He said that just a few months earlier, a cure had been discovered for this disorder. The doctor told them that they were lucky that the child had not been born six months earlier. Had the baby been born before the treatment was discovered, most likely the baby would not have survived. Now, Moshe & Leah were thankful to Hashem that they had to wait five long years before having a child.
We are currently living through a very trying time for Klal Yisroel, as a nation. We can take some comfort from the fact that Hashem has already prepared the remedy for our troubles, even before the troubles even began.
We see this idea from Megillas Esther. “After these events King Achashverosh promoted Haman.” (Megillas Esther 3:1). The Talmud (Megillah 13B) asks, “After what events? Rava answers, ‘Only after Hashem created a remedy for the blow and set in place the chain of events that would lead to the miraculous salvation was Haman appointed.” Tze’enah Ure’enah says that the remedy was that first it was inscribed in the royal diary that Mordecai had saved Achashverosh from death. That was important for the ultimate salvation of the Jews. Only afterwards, was Haman raised to a high office, higher than all the other ministers. Raish Lakish says that Hashem does not strike at the Jewish people unless He has already created a remedy beforehand. This rule is significant because it indicates that the objective of the punishment is the cure, to bring us to teshuvah and salvation. The cure is, therefore, always set in place first.
Haman asked Achashverosh for permission to destroy the Jewish People. Haman offered Achashverosh ten thousand talents of silver which were equal to 30 million shekels (valued today at approximately 725 million dollars) for the privilege to enact the decree (Megillas Esther 3:9). Haman gave this sum because it was equal to the monetary value of the entire Jewish nation. Haman knew that 600,000 Jewish men from the ages of 20 to 60 left Egypt. The Torah says that the evaluation of Jewish males in that age range is 50 shekalim (Vayikra 27:2). Multiplying 600,000 by 50 equals ten thousand silver talents (see Torah Temima). Raish Lakish says that Hashem knew in advance that in the future, Haman would use shekels against the Jewish people. Therefore, Hashem arranged for the Jewish people to give their own shekels to the Bais HaMikdash in advance of Haman’s shekels. This is another illustration that Hashem does not strike at the Jewish people unless He has already created a remedy for the Jewish People beforehand.
Maharal (sefer Ohr Chodosh on Megilllah 3:9) explains that the shekels that the Jews gave were used to purchase animals to sacrifice. Bringing a sacrifice is akin to one sacrificing oneself to Hashem. By giving the shekels, it was as if the Jews gave themselves to Hashem. If the Jews already belonged to Hashem, then Achashverosh did not have the authority to sell them to Haman for the 10,000 silver talents (“And the king said to Haman, The silver is given to you, the people also” (Megillas Esther 3:11)).
