17 Feb “DON’T STIR THE POT” LOOKING FORWARD TO PURIM!

With great excitement,
Purim is rapidly
approaching! So, as
we take out our copies
of Megilas Esther and
the many amazing
commentaries, I’d like
to share with you a powerful observation
I once noticed with the help of Hashem.
After Achashverosh elevates Haman
above all the nobles of the land, he issued
a royal edict proclaiming that all men
must bow down to Haman. Courageously,
Mordechai, at his post by the king’s gate,
does not bow down to this wicked man
who wears an idol around his neck. The
other noblemen noticed this defiance,
“Vayomru avdei hamelech asher b’shaar
hamelech l’Mordechai, ‘Madua atah
oveir eis mitzvas hamelech’ – And thus,
the king’s servants at the king’s gate said
to Mordechai, ‘Why do you disobey the
king’s command?’ ” Their amazement
at Mordechai’s refusal to obey the king’s
command continued day after day, as the
next verse testifies, “Vayehi bamram eilav
yom yom – And they said this to him day
after day.”
Finally, they couldn’t bear Mordechai’s

being an exception to the rule so they
informed Haman directly of Mordechai’s
obstinacies and effrontery. As the posuk
tells us, “Vayagidu l’Haman – And they
told Haman about it.” It is only then
that the posuk tells us, “V’yar Haman ki
ein Mordechai koreiah umishtachave lo
vatimalei Haman cheimah – And Haman
himself saw that Mordechai did not bow
down and prostrate himself before him,
then Haman was filled with rage.”
Isn’t this an amazing sequence? On his
own, Haman never noticed that Mordechai
didn’t bow down to him! We can picture
the scene. Hundreds of noblemen standing
in a line, dressed in their court finery, all
prostrating themselves and Haman strutting
with his head up high in the clouds. He
never would have noticed Mordechai’s
omission if not for the slander of the other
courtiers. So, we can make the startling
conclusion that the entire event of Purim,
the intended genocide of the Jewish people
and the miraculous s reversal that led to
the downfall of Haman and the Amalekis,
all hinged on the slander and the snitching
of the noblemen at the king’s gate.
We see from here how terrible it is to
be, what the Yiddish expression refers

to as a kuchleffel, one who stirs the pot.
Unfortunately, this kind of awful behavior
is found all too often in our daily lives.
When a woman says to her friend, ‘Have
you noticed that your husband is getting
a little thick around the middle?’ she is
stirring the pot and planting the seeds
of dissent between husband and wife.
Similarly, when one points out to his
friend, ‘How come your wife never waits
for you after shul?’ he is being a dangerous
kuchleffel.
When I shared this observation with my
chosheve good friend, Rabbi Dr. Yitzchok
Kurtzer, Shlit”a, he commented that it
reminded him of the Gemora [Sanhedrin
82a] wherein someone found the skull of
king Y’hoyakim. The finder attempted to
bury the skull to no avail for, as soon as he
placed it in the ground, it popped right out.
He deduced then that it must be the skull
of the king who was cursed that he would
never be buried successfully. The finder
thought, however, that because of koved
malchus, honor to the office of a king,
it would not be proper to leave it lying
around. So, he brought it home, wrapped
it in silk, and put it on a shelf.
One day, his wife was cleaning and noticed
something wrapped in the silk. Upon
opening it, she was shocked and aghast
at her find. She mentioned this macabre
discovery to her neighbor who told her,
‘It must be the skull of your husband’s
first wife with whom he’s still in love and
from whom he can’t bear to part.’ Upon
hearing this, the wife quickly fired-up
the oven and cremated the skull. When
the husband came home and discovered
what happened, he concluded that it was
yet a further fulfillment of another curse
against Y’hoyakim: “Zos v’od acheres –
This and yet another thing will happen,”
which now was discovered to mean that
the skull was unable to be buried and
would eventually be cremated.
In regard to our subject, the neighbor’s
unsavory and meddling suggestion –
that the skull was that of the first wife
– was a ghastly example of a kuchleffel
at its worst. It behooves us to take a
close look our pattern or conversation
and make sure that we purge any such
behavior from our own interaction with
others.
I’d like to point out one further caveat.
There is a magnificent exhibition of
midah k’neged midah that is revealed
at this juncture in the Megillah. We
concluded that Haman’s ultimate
downfall hinged upon the pivotal act
that the courtiers slandered Mordechai
to him. It is fitting that Haman’s

downfall was started through slander since
the Medrash tells us, “Lesa mon d’yoda
lishna bisha k’Haman – There was no
man who knew how to successfully and
skillfully slander like Haman.” Thus,
when Achashverosh protested to Haman
that he was afraid to start up with the
Jews, Haman assured him not to worry
since the Jews we are “Y’sheinim min
hamitzvos – Sleeping while performing

the mitzvos,” and doing them in a robot-
like, habitual way. Furthermore, Haman

said, the Jews were m’fuzar, divisive, and
thus the Shechina would not protect them.
How fitting that this legendary slanderer
should get his just desserts through a cycle
of events initiated with words of slander
by the Persian noblemen!
May Hashem help that we guard our
tongues from speaking evil and in that
merit earn the rewards of long life, good
health and everything wonderful.