Today, with the help of Heaven, we begin Sefer Ezra. The book opens not with a prophet nor with a king of Israel, but with a proclamation by the king of Persia who stirs the people to go up and build the Temple. To understand the picture we must first put the chain of kings in order, along with the reckoning of the seventy years, and then we will proceed through the verses one by one.
וּבִשְׁנַת אַחַת לְכוֹרֶשׁ מֶלֶךְ פָּרַס לִכְלוֹת דְּבַר־יְהוָה מִפִּי יִרְמְיָה, הֵעִיר יְהוָה אֶת־רוּחַ כֹּרֶשׁ מֶלֶךְ־פָּרַס וַיַּעֲבֶר־קוֹל בְּכָל־מַלְכוּתוֹ וְגַם־בְּמִכְתָּב לֵאמֹר. - And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, so that the word of Hashem spoken by the mouth of Yirmiyahu might be fulfilled, Hashem stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, and he issued a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also in writing, saying.
We had a king named Nebuchadnezzar, and he is the one who exiled the people of Israel. After him reigned Evil-merodach, his son, and after him Belshazzar, his grandson. There are other views regarding the order of the family, but according to our tradition this one was his son and this one his grandson. These three generations are the very three generations that were promised to Nebuchadnezzar because he took three steps in honor of the Creator of the world. After that Darius the Mede reigned, and after him Cyrus the Persian reigned, and this is the king we are dealing with now. After Cyrus reigned Ahasuerus, familiar to us from Megillat Esther, and after him Darius the Persian, who was the son of Esther from Ahasuerus.
There is a dispute among the commentators as to which book Sefer Ezra follows. According to Rashi, the preceding book is Sefer Daniel, and Sefer Ezra is its continuation. Sefer Daniel concludes with Daniel in doubt, not understanding why the redemption was not arriving, seeing that seventy years had already elapsed since the exile of Yehoyakim, and then he had a revelation in which Hashem explained to him how matters were arranged. And here in our book the matters are set out chronologically.
And here is the explanation: there was the exile of Yehoyakim, which was the exile that preceded the destruction of Jerusalem by eighteen years. At first King Yehoyakim was exiled along with a significant portion of the people, and only the poorest of the land remained here. Afterward, when Nebuchadnezzar came a second time, he exiled the whole of Israel and destroyed the Temple, and this is called the exile of Tzidkiyahu. The first is called "exile," and the second is called "the ruins of Jerusalem," and the difference between them is eighteen years. If I count seventy years from the exile of Yehoyakim, I arrive at our period, Cyrus king of Persia. But if I begin from the ruins of Jerusalem, which is eighteen years later, and count seventy years from there, I arrive at Darius the Persian.
Daniel did not know how the redemption would come about: on the one hand the reckoning of the redemption is according to the exile of Israel, and the exile of Israel began with the exile of Yehoyakim; and on the other hand he heard a prophecy that the reckoning is from the ruins of Jerusalem. What is the truth? In this very error we saw that the kings erred, and Ahasuerus too erred in it, for he thought there would be no further redemption, since he began counting from the exile of Yechonyah and Yehoyakim, and seventy years had already passed, and if they had passed, apparently there would be no more redemption. Therefore he brought out all the vessels of the Temple and used them to serve the people drinks of various kinds.
And how is the contradiction resolved? The redemption did indeed begin seventy years after the exile of Yehoyakim, which is eighteen years before the destruction, and this is our period, the days of Cyrus the Persian. Except that there was a delay in the redemption: as we will see further on, there were adversaries and slanderers who spread a bad report about Israel, and as a result Cyrus, the very same Cyrus who here gives the order to build, decided to delay and cancel the building of the Temple. For eighteen years the building was suspended. Afterward, when Darius the Persian, the son of Esther, arrives, he renews the building, and then the Second Temple was built in full. It emerges that both dates are correct: seventy years from the exile of Yehoyakim, the beginning of the redemption, the ascent of part of the people and the permission to build; and seventy years from the ruins of Jerusalem, the return of the permission and the renewal of the building in the days of Darius, and then came the complete redemption for that period.
All of this is according to Rashi's view. But according to the Malbim, our book is a continuation of Sefer Divrei HaYamim. Ezra composed his book and also composed Divrei HaYamim, and at the end of Divrei HaYamim it is written: "And he exiled the remnant to Babylon, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of Hashem by the mouth of Yirmiyahu, until the land had made up for its sabbaths; all the days of its desolation it kept sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, so that the word of Hashem by the mouth of Yirmiyahu might be fulfilled, Hashem stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, and he issued a proclamation throughout all his kingdom." That is to say, what is written here is a direct continuation of Ezra's words in Divrei HaYamim, and not as Rashi says, that it is the continuation of Sefer Daniel.
And from here, says the Malbim, you will understand a wondrous thing: how is it possible that a book begins with the letter vav? Vav is a letter of connection, and what is there to connect? It should have been written "In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia," like "And it was in the days of Ahasuerus." Rather, since it is a continuation: he concluded Sefer Divrei HaYamim, and the next verse in its continuation is "And in the first year of Cyrus."
The Malbim explains, based on Sefer Yosippon, that when Daniel interpreted the writing on the palace wall for Belshazzar - "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin" - Belshazzar was slain that very night, and Darius the Mede assumed the throne. Cyrus, and Darius the Persian after him, knew this history and understood what had occurred, which led them to vow to rebuild the Beis HaMikdash. For otherwise, why would a gentile monarch suddenly be invested in building the Beis HaMikdash? What did he have to do with the Beis HaMikdash, that he should declare, "All the kingdoms of the earth has Hashem given me, and He has charged me to build Him a house"? Rather, from that fateful event, Cyrus grasped that Hashem was intensely exacting over their desecration of the sacred vessels of the Beis HaMikdash when they drank from them. He deduced from this that Hashem wanted him to rebuild the Beis HaMikdash, and he took a vow to build it.
Beyond this, there are explicit verses in the prophecies of Yeshayahu concerning Cyrus himself: "He shall build My city, and he shall let My exiles go free." From these words, Cyrus understood that the prophet was addressing him directly - that Hashem was foretelling that he would rebuild Jerusalem and release His exiles, taking them out of the diaspora and sending them to the Land of Israel. He recognized this as a personal Divine mandate, and he therefore considered it his sacred duty to assist in rebuilding the Beis HaMikdash.
There is another subtle nuance in the verse: "He issued a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying." If he had already issued an oral proclamation, why was a written edict necessary? The Malbim explains that anyone familiar with Megillat Esther readily understands this, for "an edict written in the king's name and sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked" - meaning that an oral royal decree may be rescinded, but a document sealed with the royal signet ring cannot be overturned. The king therefore wanted the directive to be irrevocable: he issued an oral proclamation to publicize the matter immediately, and followed it with a written decree so that it could never be repealed. And if one asks: Did we not ultimately see that Cyrus halted the work, resulting in an eighteen-year hiatus? We will address this further on and see that this was not a repeal of the original decree, but merely an interpretive clarification of it.
כֹּה אָמַר כֹּרֶשׁ מֶלֶךְ פָּרַס: כֹּל מַמְלְכוֹת הָאָרֶץ נָתַן לִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי הַשָּׁמָיִם, וְהוּא־פָקַד עָלַי לִבְנוֹת־לוֹ בַיִת בִּירוּשָׁלִַם אֲשֶׁר בִּיהוּדָה. - Thus said Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth has Hashem, the God of heaven, given me; and He has charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Where was he charged to do this? Rashi cites the verses in Yeshayahu chapter 44: "Who says of Cyrus: 'He is My shepherd'" - Hashem's shepherd - "'and he shall fulfill all My desire; even saying of Jerusalem: She shall be built, and of the Temple: Your foundation shall be laid.'" And in chapter 45: "Thus says Hashem to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him" - so that nations would yield to him and he could govern them - "and I will loose the loins of kings, to open doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut." Here Hashem explicitly declares that Cyrus will carry out Hashem's will, Jerusalem will be rebuilt, the Temple will be founded, and doors and gates will swing open before him. From this, Cyrus recognized a direct Divine command directed to him by the Creator of the universe, and it was concerning this that he said, "and He has charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem."
The Malbim adds: Note his precise phrasing. Where does he believe Hashem exercises direct rule? "The God of heaven." And what of the earth? "All the kingdoms of the earth has He given me" - on earth He acts through appointed emissaries, and that is why I am here. In other words: Hashem is the God of heaven, while I have been entrusted with His mission on earth, and He has charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, in the place He chose as His habitation, in the province of the land of Judah.
מִי־בָכֶם מִכָּל־עַמּוֹ, יְהִי אֱלֹהָיו עִמּוֹ וְיַעַל לִירוּשָׁלִַם אֲשֶׁר בִּיהוּדָה וְיִבֶן אֶת־בֵּית יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר בִּירוּשָׁלִָם. - Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of Hashem, the God of Israel; He is the God Who is in Jerusalem.
To whom is he addressing this call? To the surrounding nations. "Whoever there is among you of all His people" - whichever of you nations harbors members of Hashem's people in your midst, whichever nation hosts Jews within its borders. For the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash can be carried out only by the Jewish people themselves; therefore, you, the nations, must release them from your domain and permit them to ascend to Jerusalem. And I confer my blessing upon them: "May his God be with him" - that he be granted Divine assistance and a spiritual awakening to go up and build. This blessing applies not only to the journey, but to the construction itself: "and build the house of Hashem, the God of Israel" - that Hashem be with them in the very act of building.
Why did Cyrus employ the specific terms "the God of Israel" and "the God Who is in Jerusalem"? Scripture foretells that in the ultimate future, "For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations," but that applies to the era to come. At this present juncture, that time has not yet arrived. Therefore, Cyrus acknowledges that Hashem is currently known as the God of Israel, and His presence is manifested for now in Jerusalem alone - for it is there that His sovereignty is recognized, unlike the rest of the world. In the future, however, "Hashem shall be King over all the earth," and then His house will indeed be a house of prayer for all nations.
וְכָל־הַנִּשְׁאָר מִכָּל־הַמְּקֹמוֹת אֲשֶׁר הוּא גָר־שָׁם, יְנַשְּׂאוּהוּ אַנְשֵׁי מְקֹמוֹ בְּכֶסֶף וּבְזָהָב וּבִרְכוּשׁ וּבִבְהֵמָה, עִם־הַנְּדָבָה לְבֵית הָאֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר בִּירוּשָׁלִָם. - "And whoever is left in any of the places where he sojourns, let the men of his place support him with silver and with gold, with goods and with cattle, along with the freewill offering for the House of God that is in Jerusalem."
Until now, he spoke about one who is awakened on his own and says, "I want to go up to Jerusalem," regarding whom he said, "May his God be with him." Here, he moves on to address those who were not awakened. Why does a person remain in his place? Either because he feels lowly and thinks, "Who am I and what am I? What can I achieve and what am I capable of?"; or because he lacks money; or because he does not wish to come to the House of Hashem without bringing an offering with him.
Therefore, Cyrus commands three things. First, "with silver and with gold, with goods and with cattle" - that they provide him with money and gold so that he can sustain himself, for during the journey of aliyah he cannot work and must eat; and cattle so that he can ride and reach Jerusalem, since in those days not everyone owned transportation. Second, the expression "let them support him" (yenase'uhu) - to lift up and elevate. There are people who feel inadequate, and building the Beit HaMikdash is no simple task, requiring merits; therefore, elevate him and encourage him so that he recognizes what an immense privilege has fallen to his lot. And third, "along with the freewill offering for the House of God" - for one who has no money to donate and thinks to himself, "None shall appear before Me empty-handed, so how can I arrive empty-handed?", let them also provide him with an offering that he can present at the site of the Beit HaMikdash.
וַיָּקוּמוּ רָאשֵׁי הָאָבוֹת לִיהוּדָה וּבִנְיָמִן וְהַכֹּהֲנִים וְהַלְוִיִּם, לְכֹל הֵעִיר הָאֱלֹהִים אֶת־רוּחוֹ לַעֲלוֹת לִבְנוֹת אֶת־בֵּית יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר בִּירוּשָׁלִָם. - "Then rose up the heads of the ancestral houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, all whose spirit God had awakened to go up to build the House of Hashem which is in Jerusalem."
"Then rose up" - these are the ones who arose on their own: the heads of the ancestral houses of Judah and Benjamin, the priests, and the Levites; all of them awakened on their own. Whenever spiritual arousal is needed, before the it'aruta d'le'eila (awakening from Above) can arrive, it must be preceded by an it'aruta d'letata (awakening from below). This is the concept of "Open for Me an opening like the eye of a needle, and I will open for you an opening like the entrance of a hall." But first and foremost, there must be "Open for Me an opening," even if only the size of a needle's eye.
And why specifically a needle? Why not the tip of a piece of straw, which is also slender? Because a needle is sharp yet strong. The opening you make can be small, but it must be as firm as a needle and not flimsy like a splinter - small, but strong.
Incidentally, where did Hashem not demand this opening, acting even without us opening an aperture the size of a needle's point? In the redemption from Egypt. That was the only time when everything occurred through an awakening from Above; had He waited for an awakening from below, God forbid, the Jewish people would never have been redeemed. Where is this hinted at? "And Hashem will pass over the doorway [u-fasach Hashem al ha-petach]" - on that one occasion, Hashem skipped over the requirement of "Open for Me an opening [petach] like the eye of a needle," granting us an awakening from Above without our having opened first. But under normal circumstances, the initiative must always come from man himself.
Beyond those who arose on their own, the verse continues: "all whose spirit God had awakened" - there were those whom Hashem, so to speak, had to stir, and He awakened their spirit to go and build the House of Hashem.
וְכָל־סְבִיבֹתֵיהֶם חִזְּקוּ בִידֵיהֶם בִּכְלֵי־כֶסֶף בַּזָּהָב בָּרְכוּשׁ וּבַבְּהֵמָה וּבַמִּגְדָּנוֹת, לְבַד עַל־כָּל־הִתְנַדֵּב. - "And all those around them strengthened their hands with silver vessels, with gold, with goods, with cattle, and with precious things, besides all that was voluntarily donated."
Those around them strengthened the hands of those who lacked an inner awakening, those for whom the awakening from below did not come naturally. They provided them with provisions for the journey - silver vessels, gold, goods, cattle, and precious delicacies - "besides all that was voluntarily donated," over and above the additional offerings sent with them for the House to be built in Jerusalem.
וְהַמֶּלֶךְ כּוֹרֶשׁ הוֹצִיא אֶת־כְּלֵי בֵית־יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר הוֹצִיא נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר מִירוּשָׁלִַם וַיִּתְּנֵם בְּבֵית אֱלֹהָיו. - King Cyrus brought out the vessels of the House of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought out of Jerusalem and placed in the house of his god.
As recalled, when Nebuchadnezzar exiled Jerusalem and destroyed the Beis HaMikdash, he took the vessels with him. These are the very vessels from which Belshazzar drank, and the very vessels that Ahasuerus brought out to serve various types of drinks. Not the Aron HaBris - the Aron HaBris had already been hidden away in its place before the Destruction. We are speaking of the vessels of the Beis HaMikdash, the silver and gold vessels, which we will soon see mentioned by name.
And where did Nebuchadnezzar place them? "In the house of his god" - this was a tribute and an offering to his deity: "You assisted me in waging war against the God of Israel, and in turn I bring you the vessels that were in the House of the God of Israel, in the Beis HaMikdash." Now Cyrus wants to take them and return them to the House of the God of Israel. However, since they were put to use for idolatry (avodah zarah), how could they now be used in the Beis HaMikdash?
וַיּוֹצִיאֵם כּוֹרֶשׁ מֶלֶךְ פָּרַס עַל־יַד מִתְרְדָת הַגִּזְבָּר, וַיִּסְפְּרֵם לְשֵׁשְׁבַּצַּר הַנָּשִׂיא לִיהוּדָה. - Cyrus, king of Persia, brought them out through the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.
Therefore, the Malbim explains, Scripture first relates how he brought them out of the house of idolatry and gave them to the treasurer. This is the first stage - the nullification of idolatry (bitul avodah zarah): a gentile comes and removes them from there, transferring them into the hands of the treasurer. Once they have left the domain of idolatry into the domain of the king's treasurer, they now belong to the king. The king then says to Mithredath the treasurer: Count and tally them into the hands of Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.
Chazal state that Sheshbazzar was Daniel, and one of his names was Sheshbazzar because he withstood six tribulations. As the Pesikta puts it: Why was his name called Sheshbazzar? Because six troubles befell his days - his ordeal in the lions' den, the ordeal of Chananiah and his companions in the fiery furnace, when the decree went forth and the wise men went out to be slain and Daniel and his companions were sought to be slain, the exile of Yehoyachin, the exile of Yehoyakim, and the exile of Tzidkiyahu. Six troubles passed over Daniel, and therefore he was called Sheshbazzar. The Ibn Ezra says that Sheshbazzar is Zerubbabel - whom we will encounter later - and that this was his name in the Chaldean tongue. However, we generally follow what Chazal tell us, so when Chazal state that this was Daniel, that is the tradition we accept.
וְאֵלֶּה מִסְפָּרָם: אֲגַרְטְלֵי זָהָב שְׁלֹשִׁים, אֲגַרְטְלֵי־כֶסֶף אָלֶף, מַחֲלָפִים תִּשְׁעָה וְעֶשְׂרִים. - And this is their number: thirty gold basins, one thousand silver basins, twenty-nine slaughter knives.
Agartalim were vessels used to receive the sacrificial blood and sprinkle it upon the Altar, also known as a mizrak, though distinct from the mizrakim mentioned in the following verses. And why was it called an agartal? Because it collects the blood of the lamb - oger taleh. Thirty gold basins and one thousand silver basins - the very same vessel, except that these were of gold and those of silver.
Here one must recognize an important principle: these explanations given for Aramaic words are not necessarily the etymological origin of the word. It was the way of Chazal to take Aramaic words and expound upon them so that they would carry clear meaning in our language as well, but one should not mistakenly think that the linguistic origin of the word is Lashon HaKodesh. Many times the origin is from Aramaic, and Chazal are simply investing it with symbolic homiletic meaning. So too in the Gemara: Why is a veil called a hinuma? Hei ne'ima ("she dozes") - since the veil rests over the bride's head, she can doze a little because she is weary. Was it really called hinuma for that reason? No. The explanation comes to symbolize the fact that she dozes, but hinuma is actually a Latin loanword, not an original Lashon HaKodesh term. Likewise with almanah (a widow) - why is she called an almanah? Because "she has only a maneh" (the standard rabbinic sum of her ketubah). Yet the entire institution of the ketubah is rabbinic; how could the Torah write almanah based on something that was not yet instituted in the Torah's time? Rather, it is the way of Chazal to expound verses and names in a manner that illustrates them for us according to the concepts and language familiar in that place and time.
And what are "machalafim"? Knives. This is also what the place where they stored the knives in the Beit HaMikdash was called: Beit HaChalifot. Some mistakenly think this refers to a "cloakroom", a place with hangers for coats and suits; but Beit HaMachalifot actually means the chamber of knives, and the knives themselves are called machalafim. Why were they given this name? The commentators explain that it stems from the concept of exchange or passing (hachlafah). Ibn Ezra connects it to the expressions "it shall utterly pass away" (kalil yachalof) and "children of mortality" (bnei chalof) - a person is considered mortal because he dies, and death is seen as passing away. The Metzudat Tzion explains that it signifies transitioning from life to death: until that moment the animal was alive, and the knife changes its status from living to dead. In any case, twenty-nine slaughter knives - these were the knives of the Beit HaMikdash.
We study with the Malbim, and this is our guiding approach. Anyone who has studied Tanach with the classical commentaries knows that once he reaches the Malbim, he sets everything else aside to study him - something evident from experience. Heaven forbid that this diminishes the honor of the other commentaries; every commentary has its rightful place according to its greatness and stature. Yet the Malbim provides a truly wondrous elucidation that probes the deepest layers of the text, and the Gedolei Yisrael have remarked that such a commentary could only have been composed with Ruach HaKodesh. One could easily cite many other commentaries - anyone who wishes can open Me'am Lo'ez and find a whole forest of interpretations, yet one can easily get lost in it, which is not recommended. When studying Tanach, the best approach is to follow a single commentary. If one chooses the Metzudot, one should study the Metzudot and stick with it; if Rashi, one should stick with Rashi. Consulting too many commentaries at once usually causes confusion and contradictions: one commentator explains a point in one way, and as you continue you find yourself baffled because another commentary takes the opposite view. One needs to maintain consistency with the same commentator throughout. Occasionally we also bring other explanations, but the core of our study is guided by the Malbim.
כְּפוֹרֵי זָהָב שְׁלֹשִׁים, כְּפוֹרֵי כֶסֶף מִשְׁנִים אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת וַעֲשָׂרָה, כֵּלִים אֲחֵרִים אָלֶף. - Thirty gold basins, four hundred and ten second-tier silver basins, and one thousand other vessels.
The keforim were a type of basin (mizrak). Why were they called keforim? Because in Lashon HaKodesh, the root l'chaper also means to wipe. As we find in the Midrash regarding Hadrian, who came here and declared that the Holy One, blessed be He, destroyed His own House and then wished l'chaporei yadeih b'hahu gavra - Hashem wished to destroy His House and then wipe His hands on that man, meaning that the one who executed the destruction would ultimately suffer and be punished. Thus, l'chaper means to wipe clean: "For on this day He shall atone (yechaper) for you" - an expression of wiping, cleansing, and atonement. Similarly, the Gemara speaks of someone who "wiped his hands on his friend's garment" (kefar yadeih beglima d'chavreih).
And how were these vessels used? When the Kohen received the sacrificial blood in the basin, some blood would occasionally splatter onto his hand, yet that blood needed to remain inside the basin. He would therefore wipe his hand along the rim or side of the vessel. For this reason they were called keforim - from the concept of wiping - because the Kohanim would wipe their hands on them so that all the blood would enter the vessels.
"Four hundred and ten second-tier silver basins" (keforei chesef mishnim) - meaning additional ones of a secondary type or different variety, numbering four hundred and ten. In addition, there were "one thousand other vessels," which the verse does not name specifically. The Malbim explains that mishnim here denotes a secondary rank, which makes good sense: the first group was of gold and the second was of silver, making the silver basins secondary (mishnim). An example of this usage appears regarding King Shaul: "And Shaul had pity on the best of the sheep... and the second-best" (ha-mishnim) - the best of the flock were the choice ones, while the mishnim were secondary to them, much like a viceroy (mishneh la-melech) is second to the king.
כָּל־כֵּלִים לַזָּהָב וְלַכֶּסֶף חֲמֵשֶׁת אֲלָפִים וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת, הַכֹּל הֶעֱלָה שֵׁשְׁבַּצַּר עִם הֵעָלוֹת הַגּוֹלָה מִבָּבֶל לִירוּשָׁלִָם. - All the vessels of gold and silver were five thousand four hundred; Sheshbatzar brought everything up when the exile went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
At first glance, if we sum up the individual items enumerated earlier, they do not equal five thousand four hundred. How could the total sum be greater than the sum of its parts? The Malbim explains that Cyrus contributed additional vessels of his own, over and above what Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the Beit HaMikdash. According to this, we can understand the phrasing "all the vessels of gold and silver" - it encompasses what Cyrus added and brought forward, additional vessels beyond those itemized earlier, bringing the grand total to five thousand four hundred.
Here, the Ya'arot Devash offers a wondrous insight. Megillat Esther states: "When he displayed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the precious splendor of his greatness for many days, one hundred and eighty days." Why did Achashverosh need such a lengthy period - one hundred and eighty days? Chazal explain that Achashverosh displayed the sacred vessels of the Beit HaMikdash, and each day he exhibited six storehouses (otzarot) - continuing this way for one hundred and eighty days. And what constitutes an "otzar"? The Gemara in Masechet Shabbat, commenting on the Mishnah "One may clear out a storehouse" (mefanin et ha-otzar), states that an otzar consists of five vessels. Thus, each day he showed six storehouses, totaling thirty vessels a day. Thirty vessels multiplied by one hundred and eighty days equals exactly five thousand four hundred vessels! This corresponds precisely to our verse: "All the vessels of gold and silver were five thousand four hundred." Conversely, displaying five thousand four hundred vessels at the rate of six storehouses per day (thirty vessels) requires exactly one hundred and eighty days. This is the remarkable calculation brought by the Ya'arot Devash.
Chapter 1 of Ezra opens the redemption from an unexpected direction: the king of Persia issues a proclamation and a written decree throughout all his kingdom, announcing that Hashem has charged him to build a House in Jerusalem. We learned the order of the kings and the calculation of the seventy years - seventy years from the exile of Yehoyakim in the days of Cyrus, and seventy years for the ruins of Jerusalem in the days of Darius - and how both calculations are true, with the beginning of the redemption occurring under Cyrus and its completion under Darius. We saw that Cyrus's awakening did not arise on its own, but from the message of "Mene, Mene, Tekel u-Farsin" and from Yeshayahu's prophecy concerning him; that he called upon the nations to send forth the Jews among them, and commanded them to uplift, assist, and provide silver, gold, livestock, and freewill offerings to those whose hands were weak; that the heads of the fathers' houses, the Kohanim, and the Levi'im arose on their own - an aspect of "Open for Me an opening like the eye of a needle" - while others needed Hashem to arouse their spirit and their neighbors to strengthen their hands; and finally, that the vessels were removed from the domain of idolatry into the custody of the treasurer, and from there counted out to Sheshbazzar, who is Daniel who withstood six troubles, totaling 5,400 gold and silver vessels that were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.