סוכה-ד

We see in the מגילה that המן made the עץ for the gallows fifty אמה. Why fifty? One jester surmised that it was because of עין הרע. Since he and his ten sons would be on display together, he tried to distance it from the eye. But this raises the following question: If it was because of עין הרע, twenty אמה would have been sufficient. מסכת סוכה states that we don’t make the סוכה higher than twenty אמה because the eye doesn’t notice things above that height. Therefore, it appears that המן made the עץ fifty אמה because he was יועץ למלכות and we learned in פרקי אבות, בן חמישים לעצה. Finally, this also resolves the question of why זרש אשתו wasn’t also hung on the עץ. The answer is that it was to avoid being עובר on בל תוסיף, because then the number would have been fifty and זרת.

05/07/2020