‫איי הים‬ 1 ‫בס"ד‬

The pasuk says: ‫תהרסנו‬ ‫חכמות נשים בנתה ביתה ואולת בידיה‬:
And we know the famous gemara in Sanhedrin (110a):

‫חכמות נשים בנתה ביתה זו אשתו של און בן פלת ואולת‬

‫בידה תהרסנה זו אשתו של קרח‬
What many people don't know that in the geniza in the attic of the Altneuschul (under
a big pile of dust) they found an old ksav yad from before the censorship that says:
‫אחרים אומרים חכמות נשים בנתה ביתה זו אסתר ואולת‬
‫בידה תהרסנה זו ושתי‬.
We don't have this girsah so ‫!ועל כרחך אינו אומר אלא דרשני‬

The sefer Atzas Zeresh brings down this girsah and she taanas that it wouldn't make
sense because Mishlei was written by Shlomo HaMelech and he was way before
Esther and Vashti. But the Eitz Govoha wants to be mekayem the girsah and say that
just like the gemara in Chulin says ‫ אסתר מן התורה מנין‬and answers
‫הסתיר אסתיר‬ and ‫מנין‬ ‫ המן מן התורה‬and answers ‫ המן העץ‬,
Shlomo HaMelech also understood ‫ ושתי מן התורה מנין‬and the answer
would be that we all know that Vashti got ‫ צרעת‬and by ‫ צרעת‬it says ‫בשתי‬
‫ ובערב‬.
He goes on to explain the girsah that the Acheirim were bothered by what kind of a
‫ ראיה‬is it on what 2 different wives do to two different husbands? As long as it is 2
different husbands, maybe it's not really the din in the wife, maybe it has more to do
with the husband? (Like we say: It takes 2…) So the Acheirim learn that the real
limud comes from what 2 different wives do to the same husband. We need a mekor
of one man with 2 wives, where while he was married to one wife, his life was being
ruined, and with the other wife he was very matzliach.
And by who do we see this? By Achashverosh! He had two wives – Vashti and Esther
– and you can see that by each wife he was a totally different person. Vashti who all
but ruined Achashverosh was mikayem ‫ ואולת בידה תהרסנה‬and Esther who
was metaken Achashverosh was mekayem ‫חכמות נשים בנתה ביתה‬ .

What's the ‫? ראיה‬, says the Eitz Govoha - Pashut! As we know, one of the main
tests of a man's character is his temperament. This is what the gemara in Eruvin calls
‫ בכעסו‬. So what was Achashverosh's temperament when he was married to Vashti?
It says: ‫בו‬‫ וחמתו בערה‬. He was very short-tempered. But what happened after
he married Esther? It says: ‫ וחמת המלך שככה‬. The king's anger subsided.
So we see clearly that Achashverosh had a serious fault while he was married to
Vashti that totally destroyed his marriage. And when Esther came around, she was
metaken it, so she is certainly mekayem ‫ חכמות נשים בנתה ביתה‬.
‫איי הים‬ 2 ‫בס"ד‬

Comes the Imrei Memuchan and points that it's not so pashut. After all, ‫ כעסו‬is
only one out of 3 midos that we have to evaluate. The gemara actually says:
‫ בכוסו ובכיסו ובכעסו‬. Are we sure that Esther was metaken him in all 3?

Unfortunately we see by the very first one, ‫ כוסו‬, that not only was Esther not
metaken, she may have made things worse. How do we know? Because by Vashti it
says: ‫ כטוב לב המלך ביין‬. Evidently, when the king drank he could hold his
liquor and he was in a jolly mood. What happened after he married Esther?
‫ והמלך קם בחמתו ממשתה היין‬. It doesn't say ‫ במשתה היין‬but
‫ממשתה היין‬. The king arose in anger because of the wine party. It looks like
after he married Esther, he was even a worse shikkur so we cannot actually say
‫חכמות נשים בנתה ביתה‬.
Ellah mai, what do we have to say?
‫ עד שיבוא הכתוב‬.‫וכן שני כתובים המכחישים זה את זה‬
:‫השלישי ויכריע ביניהם‬
Let's see how Esther did with the 3 midda: ‫בכיסו‬. How did Achashverosh handle
rd

his money?

Well, what we know from his first marriage is that he was a greedy slob and a crazy
spendthrift. Can you imagine such a wild party for 180 days? Looks a bit like
Obama's inauguration which cost about $20M just to clean up the Washington DC
pedestrian mall. And who do you think pays for all these State parties? That's right –
John Q. Taxpayer, that's who!
You can bet that Achashverosh piled on the taxes and didn't offer any tax breaks for
years to come! And, sure enough, the only time we ever see that Achashverosh
lightened up and gave a tax break was 4 years later right after he married Esther. The
megilla tells us this: ‫ והנחה למדינות עשה‬. So it seems that Esther was
metaken Achashverosh both ‫ובכעסו‬ ‫בכיסו‬ so even though she was not
matzliach ‫ בכוסו‬she was still metaken him in 2 midos out of 3 and we can truly say
‫חכמות נשים בנתה ביתה‬ .

Comes the Pnei Haman and asks that there is only one problem. It looks like the
tikkun of ‫ בכיסו‬didn't last because we see at the end of the megillah, while he is
still married to Esther it says:‫ואיי‬ ‫וישם המלך (אחשרש) מס על הארץ‬
‫הים‬
And he put a new tax on the land and the "Iyei HaYam". So how can we say that
Esther was metaken Achashverosh when it comes to money?

The Megaleh Panim on the Pnei Haman has a gevaldiga pilpul. First he wants to
answer that this tax was a unique mandatory tax. This is because Esther made up with
Achashverosh that: ‫ואלו לעבדים ולשפחות נמכרנו החרשתי‬
‫איי הים‬ 3 ‫בס"ד‬

Esther was saying that if we would only be sold ‫ למס עובד‬she would stop
nudging him. Thus, Achashverosh had to put on this tax as a pidyon nefesh for Esther
and the Jewish people per Esther's request.

But this is okay if it's just a nominal tax, but if it is an excessively burdensome tax,
then we still see that Achashverosh is a money hungry villain. So which was it? Let's
look. It seems like this tax was a very cruel tax because it was not only levied on the
land ‫ על הארץ‬but it was also levied on the ‫ איי הים‬. What are the Iyei
Hayam? They are the islands that are offshore like Isle of Man. This says that
Achashverosh was even taxing everybody who had offshore accounts. Nobody does
that ‫ בזמן הזה‬so that tax was an unreasonable tax. If so, Esther was not metaken
him ‫ בכיסו‬and she does not deserve to be called ‫בנתה‬ ‫חכמות נשים‬
‫ביתה‬.
Says the Megaleh Panim that to answer this we have to say as follows. Why does it
say ‫ ?איי הים‬It should just say ‫ על הארץ‬which means on land and ‫ובים‬
which means offshore. That covers everything so why do we need ‫הים‬ ‫ ?איי‬So we
have to say that ‫ הים‬and ‫הים‬ ‫איי‬ are not the same thing. ‫ הים‬by itself is
"Offshore" and ‫ איי הים‬is Iyei Offshore. Achashverosh only put the tax on what
was Iyei-Offshore but he didn't tax what was only Offshore. If you had an offshore
account, you weren't taxed.

But, asks the Chafui Rosh, isn't it a kal v'chomer? If even what was Iyei-offshore was
taxed, won't we say that kol sheken what was merely Offshore was vadai taxed?

So he answers that it depends on whether we say ‫אפשר‬ ‫דנין אפשר מאיי‬

(Danin Offshore from Iyei-Offshore) or ‫ אין דנין אפשר מאיי אפשר‬. If we
say ‫ דנין אפשר מאיי אפשר‬then the tax was even levied on regular offshore
accounts and we have to admit that Esther was not metaken Achashverosh but if we
say ‫ אין דנין אפשר מאיי אפשר‬then we know that he did not tax the regular
offshore accounts and the tax was a necessary tax and Esther's tikkun wasn't lost.

So everything is OK if we pasken ‫ אין דנין אפשר מאיי אפשר‬but if not we

have a problem. This is actually a machlokes in a number of places in Shas. One place
is Yevamos 61b which says as follows:
‫ לא יבטל אדם מפריה ורביה אלא א"כ יש לו בנים ב"ש‬:'‫מתני‬
‫אומרים שני זכרים וב"ה אומרים זכר ונקבה שנאמר זכר‬
:‫ונקבה בראם‬
The gemara explains the machlokes:
‫מאי טעמייהו דבית שמאי ילפינן ממשה דכתיב בני משה‬
‫גרשום ואליעזר ובית הלל ילפינן מברייתו של עולם ובית‬
‫שמאי לילפי מברייתו של עולם אין דנין אפשר משאיי אפשר‬
‫איי הים‬ 4 ‫בס"ד‬

So we see that Beit Shammai holds ‫אפשר‬ ‫אין דנין אפשר מאיי‬. But this
would mean the Beit Hillel holds ‫ ! דנין אפשר מאיי אפשר‬Now, since we
always pasken ‫ הלל ושמאי הלכה כבית הלל‬, then we must pasken that he
taxed the regular offshore accounts as well and Esther was not metaken
Achashverosh. So how can the Acheirim say that Esther is mekayem ‫חכמות‬
‫?נשים בנתה ביתה‬

So I want to bring a ‫ ראיה‬that in this case, ‫ חזרו ב"ש להורות כב"ה‬and,

even so, the Halacha is not like either one. In Menachos 82a we have the machlokes
again and the gemara says:
‫ופסח גופיה מנא לן דתניא ר' אליעזר אומר נאמר פסח‬
‫במצרים ונאמר פסח לדורות מה פסח האמור במצרים לא בא‬
‫אלא מן החולין אף פסח האמור לדורות לא בא אלא מן החולין‬
‫אמר לו רבי עקיבא וכי דנין אפשר משאיי אפשר א"ל אע"פ‬
‫שאי אפשר ראייה גדולה היא ונלמד הימנה חזר ר"ע ודנו דין‬
‫אחר‬
So we see clearly that there is a machlokes between Rabi Eliezer and Rabi Akiva.
Rabi Eliezer holds ‫ דנין אפשר מאיי אפשר‬and Rabi Akiva holds ‫אין דנין‬
‫אפשר מאיי אפשר‬. So at first glance it looks like Rabi Eliezer is going in
shitas Beit Hillel and Rabi Akiva is going in shitas Beit Shammai.

But this doesn't make sense because the reason that we never pasken like Rabi Eliezer
is because he is a ‫ שמותי‬which, many explain, menas that he is a follower of Beit
Shammai. But, if so, how can he now hold ‫אפשר‬ ‫ דנין אפשר מאיי‬which is
shitas Beit Hillel? So we are forced to say that ‫חזרו ב"ש להורות כב"ה‬
which is why Rabi Eliezer can hold that way. But we see that Rabi Akiva holds ‫אין‬
‫ דנין אפשר מאיי אפשר‬and since we pasken‫ הלכה כר"ע מחבירו‬,
we can say Halacha lmaaseh ‫ אין דנין אפשר מאיי אפשר‬and that
Achashveroch did not put the tax on regular offshore accounts and Esther's tikuun of
Achashverosh stayed in place. And this is how the Pri Me'allilim wants to pasken in
‫ סימן המ"ן‬and this is also the psak of the Ohr Tzaruah (‫)עור צרוע‬, the Sefer
Agudah, Rabenu Mizrachi, the Knesset HaKofer and the Zol Poh.

‫א"ר אילעאי‬
Hayotzei m'dvarenu is that Rabi Eloyai says in Eruvin:
‫בשלשה דברים אדם ניכר בכוסו ובכיסו ובכעסו ואמרי ליה‬
‫אף בשחקו‬: and l'gabei the chosson, Chananel, I very much wanted to take the
advice of Rabi Iloyai to find out how he measures up. So I thought I would ask
people. I only had one problem with Rabi Iloyai. And that is that in the gemara in
Yevamos 65b it says:
‫וא"ר אילעא משום רבי אלעזר בר' שמעון מותר לו לאדם‬
‫לשנות בדבר השלום שנאמר אביך צוה וגו' כה תאמרו ליוסף‬
‫איי הים‬ 5 ‫בס"ד‬

‫אנא שא נא וגו' ר' נתן אומר מצוה שנאמר ויאמר שמואל איך‬
‫אלך ושמע שאול והרגני וגו' דבי רבי ישמעאל תנא גדול‬
‫השלום שאף הקדוש ברוך הוא שינה בו דמעיקרא כתיב‬
:‫ואדוני זקן ולבסוף כתיב ואני זקנתי‬
So we see that the same Rabi Iloyai says that it is muttar to lie openly for the sake of
Shalom, then I didn't know if anybody I asked would tell me the truth. I realized there
was no alternative to seeing everything for myself. The problem is that until the
l'chaim I couldn't see him drink, he doesn't have a lot of money and so far he hasn't
gotten angry. But I notice that the gemara in Eruvin concludes ‫ואמרי ליה אף‬
‫בשחקו‬: that you can also tell by how he laughs, it was immediately clear that we
could not go wrong.

Now as a bracha to the chosson and kallah, I just want to say that I do not advocate
making a big tzimmes out of manipulating gematrias of the chosson's and kallah's
names and nicknames and ages and birthdays and coming up with mystical signs from
Above. And it's a good thing because here is what applies to my own marriage. My
name is ‫ צבי‬and the gematria is 102. Now, my wife's name is Bina. You would
assume that she would spell it ‫ בינה‬but that is not the case. She actually spells it
‫בינא‬ and it makes a big difference. This is because the gematria of ‫ בינא‬is 63. So
when we add my gematria of 102 to her gematria of 63 what do we get? Anybody?
That's right – we get 165. and what does that amount to? Anybody?
It's a ‫ !! קללה‬Boy am I glad that nobody caught this at my Sheva Brachos!

Now let's talk about Chananel. We all know all the chazals and Midrashim that say
that a man who is not yet married is only half a man, a‫ פלגא גופא‬. A person
needs to be an Adam Shalem. What does one need for ‫הגוף‬ ‫שלימות‬ ? He needs
248 for there are 248 ‫ איברים‬in a guf and it is his job to be mekayem 248 mitzvos
aseh. But what do we have with Chananel? Ches- nun- nun- alef – lamid? What does
that amount to?
We get 139. That's barely more than half a man. He needs 248 to be a shalem. So what
is he missing?
That's right. He is missing 109. And what is Menucha? Mem-nun-vav-ches-heh?
There you go – it's 109.

So ‫הבנין‬‫בורא עולם בקנין השלם זה‬.

‫יהי רצון שתזכו להתקין בנין עדי עד‬.