Questions tagged [haman]
A minister in the ancient Persian empire of King Ahasuerus who sought to exterminate the Jewish people. He is the primary antagonist in the book of Esther.
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Why was Mordechai Certain of רוח והצלה יעמוד if he Created the Danger?
Mordechai was sitting in the palace gate (Esther 2:21). The King had issued a general command - all servants of the king in the palace gate shall bow to Haman (Esther 3:2). Mordechai refused to bow.
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Why in the megila when we mention Shushan early on its always with a pasach, shuSHAN but at the end it switches to a kumets, shushon [duplicate]
See in the 8th perek it's always a kumets (shuson) but in perek 1 it's always shushan. Any significance in that?
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Do you have any source about the connection between אגג and גוג or גוג ומגוג?
I was listening to a shiur that made a very interesting connection between Agag, Homon and the whole Purim story. The rov didn't go as deep as I hoped he would in relation to Agag, and I was wondering ...
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Did Haman actually try to rape Esther?
In the book of Esther, verse 7:8, most translations translate נָפַל as fallen, subdue, force or violate. A few actually translate it as "rape".
Was this just a euphemism or could Haman have, ...
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What does it mean "Haman only arose to serve as a rememberance"?
In the Midrash Eicha Rabbah 3:23 it says:
רַבִּי נָתָן אָמַר לֹא בָּא הָמָן אֶלָּא לְזֵכֶר יִשְׂרָאֵל
What does this mean? What was Haman serving as a remembrance for?
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Why are Haman's ten sons mentioned in the megillah
The reasons given for the death of Haman's ten sons is their active role in halting the construction of the beis hamikdash (this is one of many midrashic sources)
My question is why was it necessary ...
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Why didn't the Jews of Persia leave after Haman's decree?
After Haman's genocidal edict was sent out to all the people of the Persian kingdom why was there not a mass exodus of Jews to parts of the world not under the dominion of Achashveirosh and his law?
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Haman and God sleeping
Is there a source for Haman claiming that God is "sleeping" during the time he wanted to commit the genocide?
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Haman's gallow came from the kodesh hakodashim
Although there are a number of sources of where Haman had found a beam 50 cubits tall to use as a gallows, some say it was a beam from the teyva, some say it was a thorny tree etc but, there is an ...
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Is Haman actually from Amalek?
From where do we know that Haman is actually descendant from Amalek?
(I am looking for places besides Gemara Megillah https://www.sefaria.org/Megillah.13a.1?lang=bi)
Please be specific with sources ...
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Ten sons of Haman and the Ten Plagues
Are there any connections made between the ten sons of Haman being killed, and the ten plagues that afflicted the Egyptians?
(Also accepting peoples own chidushim on this topic. Please specify if the ...
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The nature of the specific Pharoah when we left Egypt, and his relation to Amalek?
Who was the specific Pharoah of Egypt when the Jews left Egypt? And also, given "Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt, how he met you along the way and ...
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Did King Achashverosh really not know that Haman was planning to kill the Jewish people?
It seems from the flow of the megillah that King Achashverosh had given Haman the authority to do what he wanted.
Haman approached the king with the complaint that there was "a people who were ...
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How can Rashi seemingly say that Mordechai had attended the feast of Achashverosh?
We find in a discussion in the Gemara (Megillah 12a):
״לַעֲשׂוֹת כִּרְצוֹן אִישׁ וָאִישׁ״, אָמַר רָבָא: לַעֲשׂוֹת כִּרְצוֹן
מָרְדֳּכַי וְהָמָן
"That they should do according to every man's [ish, ...
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How could Haman be a gilgul of Eisav?
The Arizal in Sefer HaGilgulim ch. 35 says that Haman was a gilgul (reincarnation) of Eisav. How is that possible being that Eisav had the din (status) of an Yisroel meshumad (apostate Jew Kidushin ...
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Banging by Zeresh in the Megillah
In The Monsey Mevaser (page 100), a six-year-old child child asked the following:
We have the custom to bang when we hear Haman's name in the Megillah. Why don’t bang the two times his evil wife ...
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Haman's gallows originating from Noach's ark
There is an interesting Yalkut Shimoni, remez 256 (on parshas Beshalach) where it details that when Haman was searching for a large enough beam of wood with which to make the gallows - he ended up ...
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How was Daniel in the Great Assembly?
I have heard people say that the Knesses Hagdolah was established in the beginning of Bais Sheni. Is that correct?
As quoted from chabad.org "Anshei Knesses Hagdolah ... among its more prominent ...
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Is Purim recorded in Persian/Medean records?
In the book Let My Nation Live, there are sources brought down that one of the reasons Purim was established even in spite of possible tensions with gentiles was that either way it would be recorded ...
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Did Haman kill Daniel?
Are there sources on the death to Daniel?
Is there any truth in that there is a source that says Haman killed him?
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Why curse Mordechai?
The Gemara Megilla 7b writes
אָמַר רָבָא מִיחַיַּיב אִינִישׁ לְבַסּוֹמֵי בְּפוּרַיָּא עַד דְּלָא
יָדַע בֵּין אָרוּר הָמָן לְבָרוּךְ מָרְדֳּכַי - Rava said: A person is
obligated to become intoxicated ...
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What was Esther’s reaction to Haman’s begging and ambush
In Megillas Esther it says Haman stood to beg for his life...........fell on the couch Esther was reclining on.
Question is:
What was her reaction, and her action in response?
why is there no mention ...
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Was Haman rewarded for supporting Torah learners and building the Beis HaMikdash?
The Midrash Shochar Tov (22:25) writes
לשלשה חלקים נחלק ממונו של המן. שליש למרדכי ואסתר. ושליש לעמלי תורה.
ושליש לבנין בית המקדש - Haman's money was divided into thirds: 1/3 was given to Mordechai ...
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What is the connection between Haman and HaMelech?
Do any Meforshim explain a connection between the equivalent gemtriya of "Haman" and "HaMelech" (95) repeated throughout Megillas Esther?
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What does the Targum have against Tattenai?
In Ezra 5-6 appears the governor of Ever Hanahar (the southern side of the Euphrates in this case), Tattenai. Tattenai, upon seeing that the Jews got back to building the Temple after several years of ...
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Source about a king like Haman if Israel doesn't repent
I'm writing an article about the holocaust and I want to find a source that says if Israel does not repent, Hashem will raise up a king like Haman.
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Why 'They hanged' rather than 'You hanged' in Al Hanissim?
In Al Hanissim on Purim, we praise Hashem directly
וְאַתָּה בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים. הֵפַרְתָּ אֶת עֲצָתו. וְקִלְקַלְתָּ
אֶת מַחֲשַׁבְתּו. וַהֲשֵׁבותָ לּו גְּמוּלו בְּראשׁו. וְתָלוּ אותו
וְאֶת ...
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Were the ten sons of Haman specifically Zeresh's sons?
Megillah 15b records three opinions as to how many children Haman had:
Rava: Ten died in childhood, ten died at the end of the Megillah, and ten were reduced to poverty, totaling 30.
Rabbanan: There ...
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Zeresh and Haman's children
In Megillas Esther it says that Haman told the ones who loved him, and zeresh, about his wealth and his many children. Why did he have to tell zeresh about his many children? Hadn’t she birthed them? ...
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Haman Hanged on Branch of Eitz HaDaas?
Rav Eytan Feiner mentioned in a shiur that the tree used to hang Haman was the Eitz HaDaas, based on a Midrash. Where is this Midrash located? (I found Esther Rabba 9:2 which discusses it, but can't ...
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If Mordechai knew he would endanger the whole nation would he bow to Haman?
If I understand the plot correctly, the story of Haman's hatred to Mordechai and the whole Jewish people started with Mordechai disobeying the king's laws.
First, did Mordechai (as a prophet) know he ...
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Purim fighting in Adar - why wait for 8 months?
According to the Purim timeline:
the 13th of Adar (of the next year) was set as the target day for wiping the Jews.
Mordechai became the vice in Nissan and the new decrees to fight Amolekites ware ...
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Purim in Adar and not Av?
We all presume that Haman was well literate and familiar with our Tanachic sources. It is widely known that since the sin of the Spies (Meraglim) 9th of Av was chosen for all kinds of misfortunes for ...
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Purim in Adar: Haman's choice or a toss?
בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן ... הִפִּיל פּוּר הוּא הַגּוֹרָל לִפְנֵי הָמָן
מִיּוֹם לְיוֹם וּמֵחֹדֶשׁ לְחֹדֶשׁ שְׁנֵים־עָשָׂר הוּא־חֹדֶשׁ אֲדָר׃ (Ester 3.6)
In the first month ... pur—which means “the ...
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Does anyone draw a parallel between Haman selling himself to Mordechai and Esav selling the birthright to Yaakov?
There’s a famous Yalkut Shimoni (Nach 1056:18, referenced by Rashi in explaining Megillah 15a), which reads as follows:
א"ר חסדא זה בא בפרוזבולי וזה בא בפרוזבוטי, פעם אחת נתן המלך ממון ושגרם בראשי ...
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When was the war in which Haman sold himself to Mordechai?
There’s a famous Yalkut Shimoni (Nach 1056:18, referenced by Rashi in explaining Megillah 15a), which reads as follows:
א"ר חסדא זה בא בפרוזבולי וזה בא בפרוזבוטי, פעם אחת נתן המלך ממון ושגרם בראשי ...
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How old was Haman in the Megillah?
I'm on a bit of a quest to contextualize the story of Purim by getting a better sense of the ages of the main characters. So far, with Mi Yodeya's help, I've explored the age of Esther, and I have ...
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Haman going to the second feast dirty
In all story tapes/videos I've seen it always portrays that Haman was taken to Esther's second feast dirty while in the Megillah all it says is just that they took him while "he was still talking" "...
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How did Haman know Moshe Rabeinu's Yahrzeit but not his Birthday?
I remember learning some years ago in Gemarah Megillah 13: that when Haman drew lots he was happy it landed in Adar since it is the month that Moshe Rabeinu died. However, he didn't know that Moshe ...
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Why does Achashveirosh ask who is responsible for the decree against the Jews?
In Esther 7:5 it says
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הַ��ֶּ֣לֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵר֔וֹשׁ וַיֹּ֖אמֶר לְאֶסְתֵּ֣ר הַמַּלְכָּ֑ה מִ֣י ה֥וּא זֶה֙ וְאֵֽי־זֶ֣ה ה֔וּא אֲשֶׁר־מְלָא֥וֹ לִבּ֖וֹ לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת כֵּֽן׃
Thereupon King Ahasuerus ...
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Why does the Targum switch the order when identifying Memuchan and Hasach?
Targum on Esther identifies Memuchan as Haman (in 1:16):
ממוכן הוא המן
Memuchan, who is Haman
Yet on 4:5, when he identifies Hasach as Daniel, he switches the order:
דניאל דמתקרי התך
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Why was Achashverosh so angry about Haman's plot?
In Megilas Esther 7:4, Esther tells Achashveros that someone is planning on wiping out her people:
כִּי נִמְכַּרְנוּ אֲנִי וְעַמִּי, לְהַשְׁמִיד לַהֲרוֹג וּלְאַבֵּד; וְאִלּוּ לַעֲבָדִים וְלִשְׁפָחוֹת ...
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Why did Mordechai not stand before Haman?
I understand that (one of) the reason(s) that Mordechai did not bow before Haman was that Haman wore an idol around his neck and therefore bowing to him would (appear to?) be bowing before an idol. ...
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Was Haman Jewish?
I read the question about whether Achashverosh was Jewish and I was wondering, why isn't Haman Jewish? He was Mordechai's slave (see Megillah bottom of 15a through the top of 15b with Rashi) and as an ...
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Why did Memuchan make the decree on all women?
Memuchan states (Esther 1:16-20) that Achashveirosh should kill Vashti and decree that all women who rebel against their husbands should also be put to death. Achashveirosh (v. 21-22) agrees and does ...
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Haman's daughter's name
Masechet Megilah says that Haman's daughter threw the garbage on him. Does the gemoro mention her name anywhere?
I looked in Gemora Megilla 16a where the story is but it does not mention a name. Does ...
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Did both King Ahasuerus and Haman practise Zoroastrianism?
What, if anything, do Jewish sources say about the religion practiced by King Ahasuerus and Haman? Does Jewish legend support the conjecture that they were Zoroastrian?
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Singing shoshanas yaakov on Pesach
I have seen that some sing Shoshanas Yaakov on Pesach to commemorate the death of Haman. Can someone please direct me to an authoritative source for this custom?
See references to it here: http://...
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How did Haman think he could get away with murdering Mordechai?
Haman persuaded Ahashverosh to sign a decree enabling the genocide of the Jews in the Persian empire. This much is clear from the text. But in between Esther's parties, Haman constructs a gallows 50 ...
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Why would Haman "restrain himself"?
In Esther (5:9), when Haman leaves the king's palace after Queen Esther's first party, all happy and feeling on top of the world, gets very upset when he sees Mordechai sitting there, and not bowing ...
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