February 26, 2026
The Gemara poses the question of where in the Torah we find an allusion to Haman. It then proceeds to give a surprising answer – citing a pasuk from the story of Adam and Havah's sin in Gan Eden . Hashem said to Adam after the sin, המן העץ אשר ציויתיך לבלתי אכל ממנו אכלת – "Did you eat from the tree which I commanded you not to eat from?" (Bereshit 3:11). The word המן (" Ha'min ") is spelled the same as "Haman," and thus it is here where the Torah makes a subtle reference to the villain of the Purim story. This seems very peculiar. What connection is there between the story of Adam in Gan Eden and the story of Purim? I once saw a very powerful answer. The snake succeeded in luring Adam and Havah to sin by drawing their attention toward the one tree that was off-limits. They had a perfect life in Gan Eden – except that there was this one tree which they could not enjoy. Adam and Havah focused on this one thing that was missing, that wasn't exactly right, and this is how they were led to sin. The same happened to the Jews during Haman's time. The Gemara says that one of the reasons why Hashem brought Haman's decree is that the Jews participated in Ahashverosh's party. The Jews of Persia lived very comfortably. They had plenty of food and plenty of wine. But they couldn't stay away from Ahashverosh's feast. Instead of focusing on all that they had, and all that was good in their lives, they were lured by what was off-limits, by what they should not have been getting involved wit