B"H
Apologies for the lateness/shortness etc. - the week hasn't quite gone
as planned and I also didn't have much in terms of material to work
with. Thankfully next week we move on to sefer Bamidbar, which should have more in terms of narrative etc. for the midrash to work with!
Midrash Tanchuma Behar, Chapter 4
וכי ימוך אחיך, אלו ישראל, שנאמר, וימכו בעונם (תהל' קו מג). ומכר מאחוזתו, שנמכרו במדי בימי המן, שלקחן אותו רשע מאחשורוש. ובא גואלו, זה מרדכי. וגאל את ממכר אחיו, שכסה את עונותיהם, שכולם היו ראוים להריגה. למה. שאכלו מתבשילי המלך. מניין. שכך כתיב, ובמלאת הימים האלה וגו' (אסתר א ה). ונתגרה בהן המן, שנאמר, הפיל פור הוא הגורל (שם ג ז). ובזכות מרדכי נצולו, ונהפוך הוא אשר ישלטו היהודים המה בשנאיהם (שם ט א). הוי, וגאל את ממכר אחיו. דבר אחר, ובא גואלו, זה הקדוש ברוך הוא, שנאמר, גואלם חזק ה' צבאות שמו (ירמ' נ לד). הקרוב אליו, זה הקדוש ברוך הוא, שכתוב בו, וירם קרן לעמו תהלה לכל חסידיו לבני ישראל עם קרובו (תהלים קמח יד):
The Midrash Tanchuma has relatively little to say about parshat Behar, and the few midrashim it does contain mostly focuses on the following verse introducing the halacha regarding sale of one's ancestral land due to poverty:
'Ki yamuch achicha u'mchar me'achuzato u'va go'alo hakarov elaiv v'ga'al et mimkar achiv' (Vayikra 25:25)
'If your brother is impoverished and has to sell part of his ancestral holding, his redeemer who is closest to him shall come and redeem what his brother has sold'
The midrash from Midrash Tanchuma shown above takes this source-text and applies it to the story of Purim as told in Megillat Esther. As the midrash explains, the 'impoverished' brother represents Israel/the Jews in Persia, the 'sale' refers to the sale of the Jews' fate to Haman by King Achashverosh, and the 'redeemer' is represented by either Mordecai or G-d Himself.
What is interesting here is how the source-text, which is rooted in our presence in Eretz Yisrael itself and the land portions granted to each Jew as an eternal 'freeholding' which can never be fully sold away, is transmogrified to represent the quintessentially 'Diaspora narrative' of Megillat Esther. Instead of describing apparently mundane property transactions, the halacha of the 'redeemer' therefore comes to describe the relationship between Israel and G-d/His agents e.g. Mordecai in terms of unprecedented intimacy, whereby all parties are connected as if through a family bond through the term 'achicha/achaiv' (your/his brother).
If we bear in mind that this midrash most likely arose following at least the first exile from Eretz Yisrael, we can perhaps understand why this shift was made. As made abundantly clear throughout the Torah - including in the preceding passage of parshat Behar dealing with the shemitta cycle - it is G-d rather than the Jews who ultimately retains possession of Eretz Yisrael, and the Jews are only given the right to live on it by G-d on condition that they in turn keep the mitzvot (including observance of the shemitta years). As living in Eretz Yisrael is both central to the brit between Israel and G-d as envisioned in the Torah and conditional upon observance of the mitzvot, following the first Churban (destruction of the Temple) and exile from Eretz Yisrael the Jews may have been forgiven for assuming the brit and G-d's 'special relationship' with them as a people was at an end.
By interpreting the events of Megillat Esther in terms of the halacha of the 'redeemer', this midrash therefore counters such feelings by showing that - despite exile from Eretz Yisrael - G-d has still maintained His brit with the Jewish people, so much so that He can still be considered a 'redeemer' to them and to have the closeness of relationship to allow us to be considered like G-d's 'brothers' who have fallen on hard times. Through its re-interpretation of the original source-text, this midrash becomes a sign of hope running through the centuries of exile we have endured before seeing the beginnings of redemption in our own days in our return to Eretz Yisrael.
Shavua tov
RPT
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