What three concepts do all Jewish holy days have in common?
1.  ‘They tried to kill us’; 2. ‘We won’; 3. ‘Let’s eat.’

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 Ki Sisa: The Harlot in the King’s Palace

In this portion, we read about G-d’s thirteen attributes of mercy and how He forgives the Jewish people when they pray these words: “G-d, G-d, compassionate G-d and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in kindness and truth, preserver of kindness for two thousand generations…” In the phrase, “preserver of kindness,” ,[1] the Nun is unusually large. Later in the portion, G-d prohibits the Jews from serving “another god.” The letter Reish in “another,” , is also unusually large.[2] What is the meaning of these large letters?

We read this portion around the time of Purim (on a non-leap year), when we also read Megillas Esther. In the story of the Megillah, Haman considers himself a god, and orders everyone to bow to him. When Mordechai refuses to bow, Haman wants to kill Mordechai along with the rest of the Jews. Ultimately, Haman constructs a gallows fifty cubits high to hang Mordechai.[3] The plot is then reversed in favor of the Jews, and Haman is hanged on the gallows he built.[4]

NUN: THE FIFTIETH LEVEL
Why does Haman make such a tall gallows? Is Mordechai a giant? The Maharal of Prague comments on the Megillah,[5] teaching that Haman is aware that there are fifty levels of wisdom, and that Mordechai reaches only the forty-ninth level, the highest place a human being can reach. In order to eliminate Mordechai, Haman knows he has to tap into a higher level, above nature. To this end, Haman acquires powerful building materials, including a fifty-cubit beam from the remnants of Noah’s Ark.

The Maharal also notes that we can identify Haman’s personal struggle in the letters of his name. Haman is spelled Hei-Mem-Nun. Hei and Mem equal 45, which is the same gematria as adam, ‘man’. This shows that Haman is only a human being. The letter Nun, however, shows that Haman attempts to become ‘divine’: Nun has the gematria of 50, alluding to the fiftieth level of wisdom, a level at which only Divinity exists. A human being cannot ascend to the fiftieth level and remain alive. When Haman reaches for the fiftieth level, his evil plan backfires and he is hanged at the top of his own gallows.

All this hints to the meaning of the large Nun in ‘notzer chesed’, ‘preserver of kindness’. When G-d exercises the attribute of notzer chesed, He eliminates the Nun of Haman and the enemies of the Jewish People. As a result, the Nun of true Divine wisdom expands.

REISH: OVERCOMING UNMITIGATED EVIL
The large Reish in the word “other” occurs in the passage, “Do not bow down to another god.” This hints at Mordechai who won’t bow to Haman. The Mittler Rebbe says the large Reish stands for ‘ra’, unmitigated evil.[6] When a person overcomes ‘ra’, he can become a rosh, a head or leader.[7] This is why, when Mordechai overcomes the forces of Haman, he becomes the viceroy instead of Haman.

THE LIGHT OF SHABBOS
We discussed Haman and Mordechai and how they relate to the large Nun and Reish, but where do we find Esther, the main heroine of the Purim story?

Nun and Reish together spell ner, ‘candle’. This alludes to the candles of Shabbos. When Jewish women and girls [8] usher in Shabbos by lighting candles, they bring spiritual light and tranquility into the world. Esther herself remembered the Seventh Day and kept it holy, even in the palace of King Achashveirosh.[9] On the other hand, the Talmud tells us, the evil Vashti was killed on Shabbos.[10] This was her divine punishment because she deliberately forced her Jewish maidens to work on Shabbos.

When we refrain from prohibited work on Shabbos, we acknowledge G-d and thereby weaken the evil forces of idolatry. In return, as the parsha states, G-d protects us “for two thousand generations”,[11] notzer chesed l’alafim. Through this total kindness, G-d will soon turn all evil on its head, with the coming Redemption, the eternal day of Shabbos.

A PARABLE [12]
A king had an only son and he wanted him to inherit his position. He decided he would test his son’s character, to make sure he had the loyalty required of a leader. He hired a harlot to seduce his son, hoping that the prince would resist her and reveal his level of wisdom. Deep down, the harlot understood the king’s intentions. Even as she adorned herself, she secretly wanted the prince to resist her and bring pride to his father, her king.

This parable teaches us that G-d allows evil to exist in this world only to raise us higher and reveal our traits of leadership.

ACTION: Condition yourself: the next time a temptation comes to challenge you, even if it’s not prohibited, for example the desire to eat ice-cream, resist and do not bow down to it.

FOOTNOTES
[1] Exodus, 34:7
[2] Exodus, 34:14
[3] Megillas Esther, 7:9
[4] Ibid, 7:10
[5] Ohr Chadash, p. 173-175
[6] Toras Chaim, p. 216b. See also Zohar I, p. 204a.
[7] See Letters of Light, Chapter on the letter Reish.
[8] Girls should begin lighting Shabbos and Holy Day candles as soon as they begin speaking.
[9] Tractate Megillah, p. 12
[10] Tractate Megillah, p. 13
[11] Rashi on Exodus 34:7 says that ‘l’alafim’, “thousands” means ‘two thousand generations’.
[12] Adapted from Zohar II, p. 163a. See also Lessons in Tanya, Volume I, p. 392 and preceding pages.