Weekly Dvar Torah: Why Did Haman Need Gallows 50 Cubits High?

When Haman was boasting about his feast with Queen Esther and King Achashverosh, Haman sought the counsel of his wife Zeresh as to how to get rid of the stubborn Jew Mordechai. He was annoying him every time he saw him by the gates of the King’s palace. Zeresh advised him to construct a gallows 50 cubits (75 ft) high, and have Mordechai hung on it.

Was Mordechai really that tall? Would a 10 ft gallows not do the job? Why did Haman construct a 50-cubit tall gallows?

The story of the Megillah with the miracle of Purim, is a fascinating story. We read it every year as if we were reading it for the first time. We are inspired to celebrate the miracles and we feast to the point of Ad Delo Yada (not knowing the difference) between blessed is Mordechai and cursed is Haman.

Chassidus illuminates the entire story so beautifully, that you wonder how we could have celebrated Purim in any other way.

Haman was no psychopath off the street; he was the grandson of Amalek who waged war against G-d until Moshiach would come. And this was part of this war.

Mordechai was a Yehudi, a Jew that has absolute faith in Hashem and one who denies any other G-d. Haman knew that Mordechai is on the right side with G-d. So how can he be defeated?

Haman really thought this through, and he came up with a plan. He knew that Hashem created a system within the world that has a framework within which it functions. There is right and there is wrong, if you do the right thing you are judged favorably, and if you do the wrong things you will be judged unfavorably.

So how can the unfavorable one overcome the favorable one? You rise to a higher level, above the system, where there is no favoritism. A level in which there is no good or evil, both are of equal standing.

An example (though not exactly identical) would be, of parents who love their children, and because they love them so much, they will never see any evil in their children, the good child and the bad child are all the same, they love them equally and unconditionally because they are their children. With that said, the parents still want the children to be all good.

This means that within the system that Hashem created, we judge according to the rules of the system. If you behave properly, then you are good. But if you behave wrongly, then you are bad, and you will be punished.

When rising above the system, beyond the limits of the system, then no matter your behavior, you are still G-d’s creation, and there, there is no preferential treatment, regardless of your behavior.

G-d’s system works within the 49 levels of the attributes which are manifest in our behavior and our service of Hashem with our 49 details of our faculties. Within those 49 levels we must adjust to the system and we are rewarded or punished according to our behavior.

However, the 50th level is beyond our range, we cannot reach that level, this is the level of infinity which is beyond and higher than the reasoning of the system.

Haman thought that he would rise to that level, and there he can accomplish his evil plan of getting rid of Mordechai. He thought that at level 50, Mordechai’s righteousness would not count, and Haman’s evil would not matter. This way he can overpower even Mordechai who within the system is the righteous one, because at level 50 it does not matter. So he built gallows of 50 cubits to rise to the 50th level in order to be able to hang Mordechai.

Hashem said to Haman, you came too late, Avraham, Yaacov and Moshe already beat you to it. Avraham already had his tree (Eshel) in Beer Sheva, and Yaacov planted the cedar trees in Egypt, and Moshe built the Mishkan with these trees that Yaacov instructed the Jews to take with them to the desert. And they reached the 50th level ahead of you.

But the question remains, how did they beat Haman, if at the 50th level everybody is equal, how were they able to beat Haman ultimately?

Chassidus explains that within the 50th level there is an inner intent and an outer intent, and the Tzadikim reached the inner intent a level that Haman could not reach. That’s how they beat him. Haman only reached the exterior level of the 50th, and they reached the inner level.

How were they able to reach deeper than Haman? Because they had the essence of Torah. Just like Hashem when He created the world it was with the inner intent that 2448 years later the Jews would accept the Torah and keep it in the world, and if not, the world would return to naught. The world is the exterior intent, whereas the Torah is the inner intention and purpose of creation.

The tree was appropriated for the inner intent of the world long before Haman came and tried to use the tree for his evil plans. Since Avraham kept the Torah under the tree before it was even given, and Yaacov prepared the Jews for the building of the Mishkan with the trees that he planted in Egypt, and Moshe actually gave the Torah to the Jews, and built the Mishkan with the trees that came from Egypt. Through that they connected with the inner intent of creation, and this reaches the inner intent of the infinite level of 50.

The most important role was played by the Jewish people, who at the time of Haman’s decree had become Yehudim. They all connected with Hashem for an entire year without failing and with absolute Mesiras Nefesh. And this way they connected to the essence of the infinite, the inner intent of level 50.

Nice try Haman, you attempted to climb high, well above the system, but you missed the fact that the infinite has an inner intent, where you cannot enter, because the Jewish people beat you to it, and you remain on the outside. And that’s why you Haman were hanged on the gallows which were 50 cubits tall, because even when you reached the 50th level, you remained hanging on the outside.

Have a climbing Shabbos,
Gut Shabbos and Happy Purim

Rabbi Yosef Katzman