"He made darkness His screen; dark Thunderheads,
dense clouds of the sky, were His pavilion round about Him"
Psalms 18.12 [JPS Tanakh 1985]
In the first part of our mystical interpretation of The Book of Esther we pointed out that Esther represents the soul, that Mordechai is the Yetzer HaTov, the good inclination which guides us; and that Ahasuersus is the Melech HaOlam.
But what about Haman?
What role does Haman play? Who is he? What does he want?
Let's explore the aggadah about Haman. His name means "noise; tumult" and from his role in the story it seems that chaos follows him. One could assume from the meaning of his name that he symbolizes raw chaos but there is more to Haman. It is curious that the sound of the grogger, the noise maker that tradition tells to use to "blot out Haman's name" during the reading of the Megillah scroll, is in fact just another way of saying his name but louder.
In Esther 3.1 we are told the King, the Melech HaOlam, promoted and "seated him higher than any of his fellow officials". The King even ordered that all should bow down to Haman. An aggadah tells us [Esth. R. vii.] that the image of a pagan idol was embroidered on Haman's robe. If a man bowed to Haman he would also bow to the image of the idol and this was the reason that Mordechai would not bow to Haman.
Another Aggadah tells us that Haman for 22 years was a barber. While still another aggadah tells us that Haman was an astrologer who had 365 couselors and that when he decided to eliminate the Jews he cast a divination [Purim] to determine the best time to kill them.
So this raises a question.
If the King in our story is G-d, and Haman is the highest official beside the king, *and* Mordechai [the Yetzer HaTov] will not bow down before Haman, and to make matters worse Haman is desires to commit genocide for the personal affront given by one man, then who or what does Haman really represent?
Haman having been a barber may indicate he was also a physician for "leechcraft" had a long tradition in the profession of the barbers but the fact that he did this for 22 years may indicate something else as well. For 22 is the number of letters in the Hebrew alephbeit. As the Sefer Yetzirah tells us:
"Twenty-two letters: Engrave them, carve them, weigh them, permute them, and transform them, and with them depict the soul of all that was formed and all that will be formed in the future."
Sefer Yetzirah 2.2
[R. Aryeh Kaplan translation]
Through the power of the ten numbers and the twenty two letters of the alephbeit, G-d created all that exists. The 365 counselors that Haman is said to have had are obviously the days of the year. For each day has its own wisdom.
So Haman was a man of learning yet all of his actions indicate he did not possess wisdom or understanding! Haman is concerned only with his own desires. Haman sees every one that bows down to him as servants to his desires. All that is except Mordechai, the Yetzer HaTov.
What then can we understand about of Haman? What is his relationship to the Melech HaOlam?
"And God said 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...'" Bereshit 1.26 ...And God gave man dominion over the world.
Haman is in the image and after the likeness of G-d and he has claimed dominion, standing first beside the King. Yet for all of his learning in the world, for all the things he thinks he knows, he is nothing but an empty shell.
The Jewish mystical teachers described long ago the Kelipot [or Qelipot]. These are the shells in which the divine sparks of creation became ensnared and trapped. It has become the custom and belief of most modern Jews that it is our duty to repair the world [Tikkun Olam] and free the divine sparks from these shells.
Haman is the shell of the human ego. The self centered shell of "I", "me", "my", and "mine". It is the shell too wrapped up in itself and its own self importance to truly serve G-d.
Look around. You see can Haman today: blindly following his [or her] own lusts and desires, unaware or disregarding the price to be paid to fulfill its wishes.
He sits in legislatures, in executive mansions, and speaks from corporate boardrooms. He leads terrorist forces and also acts as head of "civilized" nations. He buys and sells drugs on the corner and teaches his own version of truth in his Sunday School. He lies and he steals. He rejects the needy and harms the widow. He cheats on his [or her] mate. He speaks untruthful words about his neighbor and swears by the Holy One that his lies are the truth. He knows and sees only his version of truth and the things he desires.
It is the blind obssession with one's own desires that leads into darkness. In a word the Kelipot of Haman's ego is evil personified.
You might ask: Why then would the Melech HaOlam give honor and position to this awful human shell? Isn't he the source of evil in this story [and the world]?
Let's digress for a moment.
"Friction is what makes things work as well as they do." - Hagedi's Book of Reminders
Get in a car or bus and you can go almost anywhere. But what if the tires of the vehicle is sitting on an icy road? The wheels will spin and go no where until the ice melts or someone sprinkles something in front of the tires so they can get traction.
Friction is what gives us traction and the world its evolutionary movement.
Evolutionary friction gives us birds and cats, and dogs and horses and the whole living world. Geological friction gives us mountains and valleys and also earthquakes and volcanoes. Each and everything in the world serves a purpose.
But, as we have asked the question in a previous post: what about evil? Why would there be such a thing as Evil?
G-d created Man and gave him dominion and the power to create in this world. Evil is a thing created by Man. For some Evil is their "good and very good". Yet for all the pain and terror of Mankind's Evil, inside it the Holy One of Blessing offers us a gift:
"See, I set before you this day life and prosperity, death and adversity... I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life that you may live..." Devarim 31.15,19 [JPS Tanakh 1985]
Evil is part of the world we, humankind, have created. It need not be so but it is man that has chosen it to be so. We can ask why should not G-d blot out evil's name? I would ask you in turn: Why should the Holy One of Blessing do so, when humankind is not inclinded to do so?
Look at the story we are examining! We've told the story of Esther for almost two thousand years and every year we've attempted to blot out Haman's name but we never do. Why? If we really wanted to blot out the name we would not have written it in the Megillah in the first place or use a noise maker that is the very name we are supposed to blot out!
And yet...
Evil points the way to good if we are willing to see it. It points to the ways and commandments and laws which lead to Life. It points us to knowing it is not G-d's duty to blot out evil. It is humankind's duty.
Haman is the shell of the human ego that thinks it knows what is best: to fulfill its desires first, no matter what the cost.
...And that my friend is the road to destruction.
So we've shown what Haman's archetype is in the story, next time we'll put it all together and tell the mystical tale of Esther.
HaGedi
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