Megillah 11A

״כי עבדים אנחנו ובעבדותנו לא עזבנו אלהינו ויט עלינו חסד לפני מלכי פרס״, אימתי ⁠— בזמן המן.

“For we are bondmen; yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia” (Ezra 9:9). When did this occur? In the time of Haman.

רבי חנינא בר פפא פתח לה פתחא להא פרשתא מהכא: ״הרכבת אנוש לראשנו באנו באש ובמים״, ״באש״⁠ — בימי נבוכדנצר הרשע. ״ובמים״⁠ — בימי פרעה, ״ותוציאנו לרויה״⁠ — בימי המן.

R' Ḥanina bar Pappa introduced this passage with an introduction from here: The verse states: “You have caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; but You brought us out into abundance” (Psalms 66:12). “Through fire”; this was in the days of the wicked Nebuchadnezzar, who cast the righteous into the furnace. “And through water”; this was in the days of Pharaoh, who decreed that all newborn males be cast into the water. “But You brought us out into abundance”; this was in the days of Haman, where abundant feasts played a pivotal role in their peril and salvation.

רבי יוחנן פתח לה פתחא להא פרשתא מהכא: ״זכר חסדו ואמונתו לבית ישראל ראו כל אפסי ארץ את ישועת אלהינו״, אימתי ״ראו כל אפסי ארץ את ישועת אלהינו״⁠ — בימי מרדכי ואסתר.

R' Yoḥanan introduced this passage with an introduction from here: The verse states: “He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness toward the house of Israel: All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God” (Psalms 98:3). When did all the ends of the earth see the salvation of our God? In the days of Mordecai and Esther, for their peril and salvation became known through the letters sent throughout the empire.

ריש לקיש פתח לה פתחא להא פרשתא מהכא: ״ארי נוהם ודוב שוקק מושל רשע על עם דל״, ״ארי נוהם״⁠ — זה נבוכדנצר הרשע, דכתיב ביה: ״עלה אריה מסובכו״. ״דוב שוקק״⁠ — זה אחשורוש, דכתיב ביה: ״וארו חיוה אחרי תניינה דמיה לדוב״, ותני רב יוסף: אלו פרסיים, שאוכלין ושותין כדוב, ומסורבלין בשר כדוב, ומגדלין שער כדוב, ואין להם מנוחה כדוב.

Reish Lakish introduced this passage with an introduction from here: “As a roaring lion, and a ravenous bear, so is a wicked ruler over a poor people” (Proverbs 28:15). “A roaring lion”; this is the wicked Nebuchadnezzar, as it is written about him: “The lion has come up from his thicket” (Jeremiah 4:7). “A hungry bear”; this is Ahasuerus, as it is written about him: “And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear” (Daniel 7:5). And Rav Yosef taught that these who are referred to as a bear in the verse are the Persians. They are compared to a bear, as they eat and drink in large quantities like a bear; and they are coated with flesh like a bear; and they grow their hair long like a bear; and they never rest like a bear, whose manner it is to move about from place to place.