Rav Wolfson: Parshas Tetzaveh

In honor of Moshe Rabbeinu's yartzeit I am posting this excerpt from a shiur Rav Wolfson gave Parshas Tetzaveh 5764.

Haman was happy when the lottery fell out on 13th of Adar since this was the month Moshe died. The way mazalos work is that the constellations move one degree every 70 years. For example, during Yetzias Mitzrayim, the mazal during Nissan was the teleh (sheep). However, nowadays, this mazal is toward the end of Iyar since the mazal has moved in the last 3000 years.

There were 916 years between the year that Moshe died and the story of Purim. There were also 850 years in between the time B’nei Yisroel entered Eretz Yisroel until the destruction of the first Bais Hamikdash. (based on the possuk “v’noshantem”=850). The story of Purim occurred in the 66th year of golus, and 850+66=916. Based on the calculation that the mazal moves one degree every 70 years, it comes out that the mazal that existed on 13th Adar during the days of Haman, was equivilant to the mazal on Rosh Chodesh Adar in the year that Moshe died (916 years earlier). Haman thought that this mazal was bad for the Jews and therefore 13 Adar was the right time to destroy them.

However, Moshe was born 1036 years before Purim ( 916+120=1036) and given the calculation that the mazal moves one degree every 70 years, it turns out that the mazal of 13 Adar during Haman's time came out in Shevat of the year that Moshe was born. Esther took Haman’s goral and said it referred to Moshe’s birthday and not his death. M’meilah it comes out that in the year Moshe was born, the mazal that Haman was referring to came out in the month of Shevat and not in Adar. Therefore, Haman did not have the mazal of Adar to use against the Jews. Esther then made the Yom Tov on 14 and 15 Adar so that the mazal would coincide with whatever the mazal of Adar was in the year Moshe was born.