| |
Secret of Queen Esther
Translation by R. Carmel Kehati from "Manot HaLevi", p. 263
"And thus I [Esther] will approach the king."
[Esther 4:16]
Rabbi Yosef Gackon writes, concerning Esther's three-day fast, that
Esther [in fasting for exactly three days] had the
following kabbalistic intention. Namely, that three days and nights contain seventy-two hours, and "B'chen"
["thus", in 4:16] equals seventy-two numerically [in letter-gematria], corresponding to the [exalted 72-letter] Name of G-d hinted in the three verses [that begin], "Vayisa", "Vayavo","Vayet" [Exodus 14:19, 20, 21, each of which contain seventy-two
letters precisely]. It was with the power of this Name that G-d split the [Red] sea and had the Israelites cross over, and He guided them in His protection and they had no fear [of the enemy]. | | " Wisdom from our sages across the ages" | | |
From that Name, [the flow of] the Divine life-force comes to Esther's supernal [corresponding] sefira; for Esther [as our Sages say] was greenish in complexion [green is a color associated with the sefira Chesed, Divine kindness, as the life-flow descends through the upper worlds]. Esther, with the power of these seventy-two hours, approached[G-d], King of the world, in her prayers; for she was sure of His help [that He would answer her and save the Jews]. Then, in this [lowly physical] world, she approached King Ahasuerus.
For biographical information on R. Shlomo Alkabetz at this site, see also
Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz
Visitor Comments: 3
Svitlana Kravtsova, from Ukraine, 7/15/2008
But really it is Divine kindness to live all life with greenish skin? And why did only Esther deserve such Divine mercy?webmaster ,11/5/2008
Because of or despite her skin color, she was chosen as Miss World beauty queen, so it couldn't be that bad, right?
As for your second question: Because she was a special soul and because in her position she certainly needed extra mercy.
jaim baruj chelger, from argentina, 3/26/2005
ani rotze ladaat im iesh site<
|
|
|
|
