Purim 5785

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Past mistakes, future salvation[1]

כי פור המן נהפך לפורנו, צדיק נחלץ מיד רשע, אויב נתן תחת נפשו
For Haman’s lot was flipped to our Purim, a righteous one was saved from the hand of the wicked, and an enemy was substituted for him[2]

It’s clear from the book of Shmuel that the primary sin of king Shaul was that he didn’t listen to the mitzvos of Hashem with temimus, innocent and pure loyalty. Rather, he made all kinds of calculations. He was commanded to annihilate every member of the wicked nation of Amalek, including their animals. Instead, he kept the fatty animals for offerings to Hashem, and he spared the king of Amalek, Agag, to execute him later[3]. The intent seemingly was to publicly disgrace him, to create a great Kiddush Hashem. It would demonstrate the tremendous victory of the Jews over their arch enemy.

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Mattos/Masei 5783

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Division reunification[1]

ויתן להם משה לבני-גד ולבני ראובן ולחצי שבט מנשה בן-יוסף את-ממלכת סיחן מלך האמרי ואת-ממלכת עוג מלך הבשן וגו’‏
Moshe gave to the children of Gad, the children of Reuven, and to half the tribe of Menashe the son of Yosef the kingdom of Sichon, the King of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan…[2]

After the defeat of Sichon and Og, the Jewish people had conquered a large amount of land to the east of the Jordan River. The tribes of Reuven and Gad requested that instead of acquiring a portion of the land of Israel proper, they wanted this conquered land to be divided amongst them. After swearing that they’d help their brethren conquer the land of Israel, Moshe agreed to their request. The Torah tells us that Moshe gave them the land, as well as some[3] of the tribe of Menashe. Why did Moshe give part of Menashe as well, when we aren’t told that they requested this land?

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