In this section of the chapter, we arrive at the very heart of the plot: Haman approaches the king with his proposal, from which the decree of destruction against the Jewish people unfolds. A straightforward reading of the verses raises question after question, and the Malbim, in his characteristic way, demonstrates that every single word here is exact, and that beneath the surface lies a cunning plot of deceit: Haman did not convince Achashverosh - he deceived him completely.
וַיֹּאמֶר הָמָן לַמֶּלֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ: יֶשְׁנוֹ עַם אֶחָד מְפֻזָּר וּמְפֹרָד בֵּין הָעַמִּים בְּכֹל מְדִינוֹת מַלְכוּתֶךָ, וְדָתֵיהֶם שֹׁנוֹת מִכָּל עָם, וְאֶת דָּתֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ אֵינָם עֹשִׂים, וְלַמֶּלֶךְ אֵין שֹׁוֶה לְהַנִּיחָם. - Haman said to King Achashverosh: "There is a certain people, scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your realm; their laws are different from those of every people, and they do not observe the king's laws; therefore it is not in the king's interest to tolerate them."
אִם עַל הַמֶּלֶךְ טוֹב יִכָּתֵב לְאַבְּדָם, וַעֲשֶׂרֶת אֲלָפִים כִּכַּר כֶּסֶף אֶשְׁקוֹל עַל יְדֵי עֹשֵׂי הַמְּלָאכָה לְהָבִיא אֶל גִּנְזֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ. - "If it pleases the king, let it be recorded that they be destroyed, and I will weigh out ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to bring into the king's treasuries."
וַיָּסַר הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת טַבַּעְתּוֹ מֵעַל יָדוֹ וַיִּתְּנָהּ לְהָמָן בֶּן הַמְּדָתָא הָאֲגָגִי צֹרֵר הַיְּהוּדִים. וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ לְהָמָן: הַכֶּסֶף נָתוּן לָךְ וְהָעָם לַעֲשׂוֹת בּוֹ כַּטּוֹב בְּעֵינֶיךָ. - The king removed his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the persecutor of the Jews. And the king said to Haman: "The silver is given to you, and the people, to do with them as seems good to you."
The Malbim observes: Everything we have just read here is utterly astonishing to any rational mind and defies logic. How could a king decide to slaughter an entire nation through no fault of their own? Someone comes and tells him that they ought to be destroyed, and he responds, "Excellent, bring it over to sign"? How can such a thing be understood?
Even more so - the classic question that everyone asks: You, Achashverosh, agreed, signed, and authorized it; yet when Esther later comes and says, "For we have been sold," you feign innocence and ask, "Who is he, and where is he, who dared presume in his heart to do so?" Why this act of feigned innocence, when you yourself signed the decree? And not only does he display outrage and play innocent, but he pours all his wrath upon Haman and commands that he be executed! You were a full partner in the crime - what is the meaning of this?
Furthermore: If the Megillah portrays Achashverosh in such a dark light - as someone who willingly signed and agreed to sell out an entire nation for monetary gain - how did Achashverosh ever permit such a scroll to be recorded during his reign? Consider this: Esther reigned for many years afterward, and she and Mordechai, her cousin and adoptive father, sit down and compose a Megillah that all Jews are required to read, in which Achashverosh is severely discredited. One might argue that it is simply the truth rather than slander, but this truth was certainly not pleasant to Achashverosh's ears. How could he agree to circulate a scroll in which he is remembered with such everlasting disgrace?
Moreover: When Haman comes to slander them, he does not even specify who they are. "There is a certain people" - what does "a certain people" mean? State clearly who you are talking about! Likewise, he does not say "to destroy, to slay, and to exterminate," but merely "let it be recorded that they be destroyed" (le'abdam) - an ambiguous phrase. Specify in what manner, by what means! Furthermore: What is the significance of the emphasis "scattered and dispersed" (mefuzar umforad)? Scripture does not use redundant terms; if two words are used, they must represent two distinct flaws. And further: "Their laws are different" (vedateihem schonot, in the plural) - how many religions or legal codes do they have? And why does it not say "their law is different from every law," for surely one law differs from another law - what does it mean that they are "different from every people"?
The Malbim explains: Haman sought revenge against Mordechai and his people, and he knew this would never pass the "cabinet" - and the cabinet, as we recall, was Achashverosh alone, him and no one else; no one else made decisions. Haman understood that this would be rejected out of hand, for why on earth would a king wipe out an entire nation from within his own empire? Was he a fool? Therefore, Haman set out to capture Achashverosh's mind - deceiving him on two distinct fronts.
The first point: he did not inform him who the nation was. Had Achashverosh known it was the Jewish people, he would not have agreed to destroy them, for the Jews were renowned as wise and discerning - as we saw in the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, who appointed Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, and Jews were among the king's courtiers. And as the Gemara notes: People will say about you, "malkhuta keti'a", a truncated kingdom - are you going to wipe out such a wise nation from your realm?
Yet even if it were the lowliest nation in the world, the king still would not have consented: Why on earth destroy an entire people? Why annihilate a nation through no fault of their own because of hatred toward one individual? Therefore, Haman in his cunning began: "There is a certain people" - an obscure, unknown nation, one so difficult even to call by name, a band of barbarians, possessing neither name nor standing. And not only that, but they cause harm to all nations on two levels: in terms of their faith, and in terms of their civil conduct - that is, their behavior among the nations.
The Malbim explains: If a nation dwells in a separate country of its own, even if it were the worst of nations - as long as it has its own borders, it manages on its own and bothers no one. If it lives among us, there is a problem; but if it has a land of its own, it lives to itself, and at most they devour one another there. In Iraq, fifty or a hundred people blow up every day - it is terrible, but I do not suffer from the fact that there is turmoil there.
And even if it dwells among other nations, yet has distinct cities of its own - there is still no issue. I am here, and he is in Gaza; let them live with knives and guns according to their ways, and though I might not be very far away, I have no problem with them, because even if they lack an independent state, they have their own city.
Here Haman comes and refutes both possibilities: "Dispersed" - they have no country; had they possessed a land and dwelt in it, they would cause no harm. And should you say perhaps they are scattered among the nations but concentrated in distinct cities of their own - to this he says, "and divided": even in the lands where they dwell, they have no separate cities of their own, but are divided across every neighborhood and every society, in every city, town, and village. Wherever you look you find Jews, even in Alaska; perhaps only on the moon have they not yet been found - the Jewish dispersion is legendary. In such a state, Haman says, their damage is a severe environmental blight: neither a land of their own nor a city of their own, but "dispersed and divided among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom," and from them harm comes to all nations.
Here Haman begins to explain the two harms, the first of which is the harm in matters of belief. The Malbim explains that this expression contains three aspects.
The first aspect: the Jewish faith is different from the religions of all other nations - it resembles neither Christianity nor Islam.
The second aspect: one might ask, is Islam similar to Christianity? Does Hinduism resemble Hare Krishna? Inevitably every religion differs from another, for if they were identical they would not be two separate religions. Rather, the Malbim explains: the typical difference between one religion and another is in their fundamental principles and roots, not in the fine details. Let us illustrate this from the ancient eras of idolatry: they worshiped Baal, Dagon, and Chemosh, and all forms of worship were more or less the same - bowing, pouring libations, burning incense, slaughtering sacrifices. There were minor differences: to this one they sacrificed in this manner because he was the god of fire, and to that one in that manner because he was the god of the sun, but the general manner of worship was identical across all pagan rites; only the fundamental deity changed: this one served Dagon, and that one Chemosh. By contrast, regarding the Jewish religion, the verse says "their laws" (datayhem) in the plural - one faith divided into numerous laws, many commandments unlike anything in any religion in the world.
Is there any religion that interrogates a person from the moment he wakes in the morning about how he got up and what he did immediately upon rising? In their original institution, after all, the Morning Blessings were recited at each distinct step: washing the hands, Modeh Ani, prayer, blessings, tefillin, and tallit. There is no such religion in the world. The Jewish faith is unique in the daily mitzvot it imposes. Nor is there any religion that commands its adherents to perform things that defy human reason: Muhammad prohibited alcohol - because he knew what the combination of an Arab and alcohol produces; he commanded women to cover everything - because they are steeped in lust; he forbade pork - because it wallows in mud and filth. Everything there is rational. But where are their mitzvot of tefillin? Where is their shatnez? Commandments that seemingly cannot be grasped by human intellect and logic - this is a faith that encompasses numerous laws, many commandments and countless distinctions unparalleled in any religion.
The third aspect: not only is the Jewish faith distinct from the religions of other nations, but they themselves are distinct from all peoples, as their religion sets them apart from everyone. This is the meaning of "and their laws are different from every people" - the religion causes them to be distinct from every nation. A Christian has no problem eating in the home of a Muslim, but a Jew can eat neither with the one nor with the other.
Chazal said: There was no one who knew how to speak lashon hara like Haman. He was despicable in his slander. The Gemara relates that he came to Achashverosh and said to him: My lord the king, do you know how much the Jews "cherish" you? If a fly falls into a Jew's cup of wine, he picks the fly out, squeezes it dry, throws it away, and drinks the cup; but if my lord the king touches the cup - merely touches it - he takes it and pours it down the drain. Understand, my lord: in his eyes, you are lowlier than a fly. This is certainly a distorted interpretation of Halachah, but one cannot argue with the facts. And that is precisely the insinuation here: the Jewish religion causes them to be different from every other nation - that is, distant from every nation. A Jew cannot sit down to eat and drink with them; the Sages prohibited gentile bread because of intermarriage, they prohibited gentile wine, and a Jew cannot marry them. Who causes this separation? Their religion, which sets them apart in food, dress, and conduct.
The second area is civic conduct - that is, their conduct toward the authorities and as residents. Set aside his religion: how does he behave as a resident? To this Haman says: "And they do not obey the king's laws." Even in matters that do not contradict their religion at all, such as a royal law to stop at a stop sign, even in financial matters - they do not obey the king's laws. And from them, all the nations learn to rebel against the king. For if the Jew permits himself to disregard the king's law, the gentile thinks: Why can he do so while I cannot? And he, too, permits himself to rebel. Thus, Haman tells the king, this nation is deeply problematic on both counts: both in their religion and in their conduct toward the authorities.
And lest you suggest that there is some benefit in leaving them alone, he adds, "And it is not fitting for the king to tolerate them": no benefit will come to you from leaving them alone, as the harm they cause far outweighs any benefit.
Here we must understand: "Those who do the work" are the ones carrying it out, whereas the money is supposed to go into the king's treasuries. Is money given to the field workers? To the laborer performing the task on the ground? You should have weighed out the money through the king's agent, through his royal treasurer! And there are further questions: How is it conceivable that the king sells off a portion of his own subjects? Why is it emphasized that the king gives his signet ring? And why is Haman's entire lineage repeated here - "to Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite" - when we already know who he is, his identity and his background? Furthermore, Achashverosh says, "The money is given to you" (hakesef natun lach). "Given" implies taking something and handing it over, yet the king never accepted the money in the first place; he should have said, "The money is waived for you"! And another difficulty: the designated date is the thirteenth of Adar of the following year, a full year away. Why rush now to summon the king's scribes? By then, people will have forgotten! Anyone who sends out invitations two months before a wedding cannot expect guests to attend, because the invitation has already landed in the trash; an invitation must be delivered close to the event. Yet here, he sends letters a full year in advance?
The Malbim explains: This is the second point of deception. Haman did not tell the king that he intended to annihilate them physically, but rather "to destroy them" (le'abdam) - to destroy the national identity of this people. And what makes them a unified, cohesive unit? Their religion. "I want to eradicate their religion and force them to observe the religions of the other nations. I will dismantle their faith, and consequently they will cease to be a homogeneous bloc of a problematic people. They will disperse and assimilate among the nations - and thereby the problem is solved." That is why he specifically said "to destroy them" (le'abdam), rather than to kill and exterminate them.
And regarding the money: Haman knows he is speaking to a Persian monarch, so he tells him: Do not think you will incur great expense. True, you will need officials and enforcers to convert them, but do not worry. I have people who will carry out the work of converting them with such great zeal that they will gladly pay for the privilege of turning the Jews away from their faith. This is the meaning of "and I will weigh out silver into the hands of those who do the work" - through those who do this work, money will actually be generated, and I will bring it into the king's treasuries. In other words, not only am I not causing my lord the king any expense, I am even securing revenue for him.
And this is indeed the case: the place where missionaries invest the vast majority of their funds worldwide is Israel. Taking a Jew and converting him to their false faith is regarded by them as a supreme achievement, weighed in their eyes as equal to converting a hundred thousand people from other nations. And according to their vain belief, when we Jews accept faith in that man, their messiah will come. Therefore, Haman said: There are people who will gladly pay for this privilege. In doing so, he also deceived the king, giving him the impression that all the nations would rejoice over this, and that their hearts would be filled with joy if he succeeded in stripping this nation of its religion and turning them into believers in the faith of the surrounding nations.
"And the king removed his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman" - here Scripture informs us that the king was truly led like a sheep to the slaughter and bore no guilt in this matter. First, Haman deceived him and never revealed the identity of the nation; second, he never told him that his true intention was to annihilate them. The Malbim explains that had the king himself signed the letters, everything would have been uncovered, because the dispatches stated the matter explicitly and clearly. Had he signed them, Haman's scheme would have been exposed before him, and he would have objected immediately. But that was not what took place - rather, he removed his signet ring and handed it to Haman. The king therefore never even laid eyes on the letters; it was Haman who signed them, and the king was entirely unaware of what was written there. He simply placed his trust in Haman, and Haman altered the terms and wrote whatever he chose.
By the way, there is an additional explanation offered by way of derash: Haman told the king that we should turn them into slaves, and so it was originally framed as "le'ovdam" (לעובדם) - into slaves. This accounts for Esther's later words: "Had we been sold as slaves and maidservants, I would have remained silent," for to that the king had indeed consented, and so be it. What did Haman do? He substituted the letter ayin with an aleph and wrote "le'abdam" (לאבדם, to destroy them), thereby changing the entire meaning of the letters. This is an alternative homiletical explanation, distinct from the Malbim's approach, according to which "le'abdam" meant eradicating their religious faith.
Thus: the king was not to blame for what occurred, but rather "Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the persecutor of the Jews." And why did he do this? Because he was the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, carrying an eternal grudge dating back to the days of Agag. Who killed Agag? Shmuel. And who struck down Haman's nation? Shaul. This is the reason his lineage is emphasized here. The verse adds "the persecutor of the Jews" - whatever he did, he did because he was a hater of the Jewish people, lest one think that the king consented to this. This resolves the question of how the king could agree to murder a segment of his own populace. It also explains how the king and Haman could sit down to drink afterward - would a person who just ordered the execution of millions say, "Let us have a drink"? Could any human being be so callous? It likewise resolves why the king later exclaimed in astonishment, "Who is he, and where is he?" For in truth, as the Malbim notes, the king knew nothing of this, and the entire plot was executed without his consent.
Lest one think the king was seduced by money, enticed by the sight of a vast sum, Scripture demonstrates just how naive he was. In his mind, he wished only to eradicate the evil of that people and their negative traits. Therefore he said: if the purpose is to rehabilitate one of the nations under my rule, I am even willing to pay for it. That is the meaning of "The money is given to you" - go to the royal treasuries and take funds to carry out this initiative; we maintain special budgets dedicated to guiding nations toward proper belief. This resolves why it does not say "The money is forgiven to you" (waived). The king was saying that this was so important in his eyes - to reform a people whose conduct was corrupt - that he was willing to allocate funds and provide money of his own. "And the people, to do with them as seems good to you" - do whatever seems upright in your eyes to purge their harmful religion; proceed according to your judgment.
וַיִּקָּרְאוּ סֹפְרֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן בִּשְׁלוֹשָׁה עָשָׂר יוֹם בּוֹ, וַיִּכָּתֵב כְּכָל אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה הָמָן אֶל אֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ וְאֶל הַפַּחוֹת אֲשֶׁר עַל מְדִינָה וּמְדִינָה וְאֶל שָׂרֵי עַם וָעָם, מְדִינָה וּמְדִינָה כִּכְתָבָהּ וְעַם וָעָם כִּלְשׁוֹנוֹ, בְּשֵׁם הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרֹשׁ נִכְתָּב וְנֶחְתָּם בְּטַבַּעַת הַמֶּלֶךְ. - Then the king's scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written according to all that Haman commanded, to the king's satraps, to the governors over every province, and to the princes of every people, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language; it was written in the name of King Achashverosh and sealed with the king's signet ring.
Now Scripture depicts Haman's cunning in putting his scheme into action. Having duped the king, he held the winning card - the royal signet ring. With the seal in my hand, I am as the king, and I can write whatever I wish. Yet he was gripped by fear that when the decree was publicized, the king would discover which nation was being targeted, and under no circumstances would he agree to do such a thing to the Jewish people, who were regarded as a wise nation in his realm. He therefore rushed to draft the letters on that very day: "Then the king's scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month."
Notice the precise wording: "and it was written according to all that Haman commanded" - not "according to all that the king commanded." The king had commanded no such thing; what was written was solely Haman's command. For the king had commanded to eradicate their religion, whereas Haman commanded to slaughter them.
Furthermore, since each province contained several distinct peoples, he wrote two dispatches for each province - one to the satraps, who were royal administrators appointed by the king, and one to the governors, who were officials appointed from among the local populace. He sent letters to all of them. And because each province possessed its own script while each nation had its own language - two entirely distinct things: the French and the Americans can both write in the same Latin script, one with French words and the other with English words, using the exact same font - and generally all inhabitants of a province write in a single script even when speaking different languages, the verse states: "to each province in its own script" and then "to each people in its own language." Everyone wrote in the Latin alphabet, for instance, but for the French people in French, for the English in English, and for the Koreans in Korean - yet all within the province's recognized script.
וְנִשְׁלוֹחַ סְפָרִים בְּיַד הָרָצִים אֶל כָּל מְדִינוֹת הַמֶּלֶךְ, לְהַשְׁמִיד לַהֲרֹג וּלְאַבֵּד אֶת כָּל הַיְּהוּדִים מִנַּעַר וְעַד זָקֵן טַף וְנָשִׁים בְּיוֹם אֶחָד, בִּשְׁלוֹשָׁה עָשָׂר לְחֹדֶשׁ שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר הוּא חֹדֶשׁ אֲדָר, וּשְׁלָלָם לָבוֹז. - And letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces, to destroy, to slay, and to annihilate all the Jews, young and old, little children and women, on one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their possessions.
First, he sent the letters immediately, so that even if the king wished to reconsider, he would not be able to revoke the letters, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's signet ring cannot be revoked. Therefore, he sent them out at once, before the king could realize what had happened and regret it.
Second, he chose for the destruction to take place on a single day across all the king's provinces. Had it been carried out gradually, reports would have reached the king in the meantime, and he would have immediately ordered an end to the slaughter. But when everyone kills the Jew next to him at the very same moment, within a few short hours all the Jews would be eliminated, and the king would not have time to learn of it, let alone issue a new order.
Third, he did not specify in the letters that the decree encompassed all the provinces - unlike what was later written in Mordechai's letters. This was to ensure that each governor would think he alone was being commanded. That is why it says "to all the king's provinces" and not "to each and every province": he sent to each province in such a way that it would believe it was the only one addressed. What did he gain by this? That no governor would dare deviate from the decree. For if everyone is killing and he alone refrains, out of one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, a single province that fails to comply might go unnoticed. But if the command was directed to him alone and no one else was addressed, he would certainly be punished for failing to carry it out. If a single student misses a class, it is not always noticed; but if it is a private lesson for that student, his absence is unmistakable.
פַּתְשֶׁגֶן הַכְּתָב לְהִנָּתֵן דָּת בְּכָל מְדִינָה וּמְדִינָה גָּלוּי לְכָל הָעַמִּים לִהְיוֹת עֲתִדִים לַיּוֹם הַזֶּה. - "A copy of the text was to be issued as a decree in each and every province, publicized to all peoples, to be ready for that day."
What is "a copy (patshegen) of the text"? The Malbim explains: the meaning of the first letter was known only by means of the second letter. The patshegen was a sealed, cryptic document, and from the fact that it is followed by "publicized to all peoples," it implies that the first letter was kept sealed. Here you can see the cunning and craftiness Haman possessed - a double cunning.
The letters he sent to the provincial governors were sealed with the king's seal, marked with instructions not to open the missive until the thirteenth of Adar - just as it is customary in many places to send a letter marked to be opened only on a specific date, or as one might deposit a letter with an attorney today with instructions that it be opened only at a designated time. This is the patshegen: a sealed writing whose contents are concealed, saying only: wait until the appointed day, and only then open it.
Along with this sealed letter, he also sent an open missive, which seemingly deciphered the sealed one: Gentlemen, be ready for war on the thirteenth of Adar. With whom? Where? Against whom? Open the sealed letter on the appointed day, and you will know. The open letter announced only, "Prepare for war on the thirteenth of Adar," and all the details would become clear in the second letter.
What did he gain by this? Achashverosh knew nothing, because in truth nobody knew anything. No one knew that they were about to destroy the Jews, so naturally there was no one who could go and whisper in the king's ear, saying: Sire, someone wants to destroy one of the peoples under your rule. And when the secret would finally be revealed, everyone would execute the plan in a single second, and word would reach Achashverosh only after the nation had already been wiped out.
This was a profound scheme, which also ensured that the Jews would not hide. For the Jew too was preparing: "I am part of the kingdom; I too am instructed to be ready with weapons of war on the thirteenth, and on the thirteenth I will open the second letter and find out against whom." And then, suddenly, it becomes clear to everyone around him that he himself is the victim. In a single instant, the Jew has no chance of escape, for he never even imagined that he needed to flee.
הָרָצִים יָצְאוּ דְחוּפִים בִּדְבַר הַמֶּלֶךְ וְהַדָּת נִתְּנָה בְּשׁוּשַׁן הַבִּירָה, וְהַמֶּלֶךְ וְהָמָן יָשְׁבוּ לִשְׁתּוֹת וְהָעִיר שׁוּשָׁן נָבוֹכָה. - "The couriers went out hurried by the king's order, and the decree was issued in Shushan the capital; and the king and Haman sat down to drink, while the city of Shushan was bewildered."
Haman also acted cunningly regarding the couriers, the Malbim explains: they were sent out immediately so that the king would not be able to reconsider - "the couriers went out, hurried." Furthermore, the decree was issued in Shushan the capital only after all the couriers had already departed. That is, he informed all the other nations first, and the last to receive the edict were specifically those in Shushan the capital - lest something be revealed to the king in the meantime, here in the royal seat. Therefore, here they were informed last.
Moreover, the Malbim notes, see clear proof that the king knew nothing: "and the king and Haman sat down to drink." Could it be conceived that a king would sit down to drink if he had just issued a death sentence upon an entire nation?
"And the city of Shushan was bewildered" - they were bewildered, because no one knew what was written in the sealed scrolls; the published copy did not explain what they were to be prepared for. Through this, Haman gained three things: his plot was hidden from the king; the public remained uninformed and the matter stayed secret; and Hashem, blessed be He, foiled his counsel specifically through Mordechai, as we will see in the coming chapters.
All the perplexities in this chapter - the king's consent, his feigned innocence later, his fury at Haman, the recording of the Megillah during his reign, the vague wording of "a certain people" and "to destroy them," the redundancy of "scattered and dispersed," "their laws are different from every other people," "those who carry out the work," the giving of the signet ring, "the silver is given to you," and the haste in writing the letters - are all resolved through one fundamental insight of the Malbim: Haman deceived Achashverosh on two crucial points. He did not reveal to him which nation it was, nor did he reveal that his intention was to kill, but merely "to eliminate their religion." The king, in his naivety, assumed this was about reforming a corrupt people, and even agreed to finance it. Haman, being the son of Hammedatha the Agagite and the persecutor of the Jews from generations past, took the signet ring, wrote in the letters what the king never commanded, dispatched the couriers in haste, concealed the matter with cryptic wording, and designated a single day for all of them. It was a profound and cunning scheme from every angle - yet ultimately, the Holy One, blessed be He, foiled his counsel through Mordechai the Jew.