רְַב יֵנ בְִבּ מְַּל מָָה נָ י ו שֶׁ לָב יֵנ בְִּמ
SOME OF THE DESCENDANTS OF HAMAN Rabbi Rob Scheinberg
One of the most provocative statements in the entire Talmud relates to the Purim story :
ן ד וּ תּ וֹ רָ ה ק “ Some of the descendants of Haman studied Torah in Bnei Brak .” 1
Why is this line remarkable ? Haman is described in the Book of Esther as an Agagite , 2 suggesting that he was a descendant of Agag , the Amalekite king spared by Saul in defiance of Samuel ’ s instruction . 3 As a result , one of the major themes of the Purim season is the struggle against Amalek , the Torah ’ s symbol of abject evil . The Shabbat before Purim is called Shabbat Zakhor , the Shabbat of Remembrance , because we read the passage that implores us to “ remember what Amalek did to you as you left Egypt .” 4 The Torah reading prescribed for Purim morning tells the story of that tragic first encounter with the Amalekites . 5 Each Purim , we draw a direct line between the Amalekites in the Torah , to the Amalekites in the Book of Samuel , to Haman -- often leading us to lament about the Amalekites and Hamans of our own day .
But remarkably , the Talmud defies the suggestion that the people of Israel and the people of Amalek are locked in eternal conflict . “ Some of the descendants of Haman ,” who of course are also descendants of Amalek , “ studied Torah in Bnei Brak ” and sought to build up the tradition that their ancestors tried to
1
GiXn 57b
2
Esther 3:1
3
I Samuel 15
4
Deuteronomy 27:15
5
Exodus 17:8
15