Tzaddik holds blessing, rasha holds curse

והנה תקנו לומר ארור המן ברוך מרדכי.

Now, they instituted to say, "Cursed is Haman, blessed is Mordechai."

The Sefas Emes opens from the Purim custom of declaring Haman cursed and Mordechai blessed.

כי הנה הרשע הוא היפוך הצדיק שנק' שלום כלי מחזיק ברכה.

For the rasha is the opposite of the tzaddik, who is called shalom — the vessel that holds blessing.

The tzaddik is associated with shalom, the vessel that contains blessing; the wicked man is his exact inverse.

פי' מחזיק כמו אבר מחזיק אבר.

The meaning of "holds" (machzik) is like one limb supporting another limb.

"Machzik" here connotes active support, the way one limb braces and strengthens another.

שהצדיק ממשיך הברכה מלמעלה בכח השלום שהוא מדת הצדיק.

For the tzaddik draws down blessing from above through the power of shalom, which is the trait of the tzaddik.

By embodying shalom, the tzaddik becomes a conduit that draws Divine blessing down into the world.

ועוד פי' מחזיק שנדבק בו הברכה בעצם.

And another meaning of "holds": that the blessing cleaves to him in essence.

Beyond merely transmitting blessing, the tzaddik holds onto it — blessing becomes intrinsically bound up with his very being.

ולא עוד אלא כל מה שניתן לצדיק מתברך כמ"ש מעשה ידיו ברכת.

And not only that, but whatever is given to the tzaddik becomes blessed, as it is written, "the work of his hands You have blessed."

Everything that comes into the tzaddik's possession is itself blessed through him, as Hashem blessed the work of Iyov's hands.

וזהו פי' הפסוק ואברכהו גם ברוך יהי'.

And this is the meaning of the verse, "and I have blessed him; indeed, he shall be blessed."

Yitzchak's words about Yaakov — "he shall be blessed" — express this idea that the recipient becomes a source of blessing himself.

פי' שיצחק אמר לעשו שראה כי הוא מוכן לקבל הברכה ונעשה עצם הברכה כענין שנאמר באברהם והי' ברכה וכתיב ויהפוך ה' אלקיך לך כו' הקללה לברכה.

The meaning is that Yitzchak told Esav that he saw [Yaakov] was prepared to receive the blessing and had become the very essence of blessing — as was said of Avraham, "and you shall be a blessing," and as it is written, "and Hashem your God turned… the curse into a blessing for you."

Yitzchak realized Yaakov was so fit to receive blessing that he had himself become "the blessing," like Avraham; the tzaddik's power is such that even a curse aimed at him is transformed into blessing.

הרי שבני ישראל מהפכין אפילו הקללה לברכה.

Thus we see that Bnei Yisrael transform even a curse into a blessing.

So great is the blessing-power of Bnei Yisrael that curses directed at them turn into berachah, as with Bilam.

ואותו הרשע הוא ממש להיפך עצם הקללה.

And that rasha is precisely the opposite — the very essence of curse.

Haman, the archetypal rasha, is the inverse: he is curse itself, in its essence.

והברכה א"א להתדבק בו כמ"ש ז"ל אין ארור מתדבק בברוך.

And blessing cannot cleave to him, as Chazal said, "the accursed cannot cleave to the blessed."

Just as blessing is intrinsic to the tzaddik, blessing simply cannot adhere to the rasha — the cursed and the blessed are fundamentally incompatible.

ולכן ניטלו ממנו הברכות וניתנו ליעקב.

Therefore the blessings were taken from him [Esav] and given to Yaakov.

Because blessing cannot rest on the rasha, the berachos were removed from Esav and bestowed upon Yaakov, in whom they could endure.

וכמ"ש ויאהב קללה כו' ותבוא כמים בקרבו כו'.

And as it is written, "he loved the curse… and it came like water into his innards…"

The rasha actually loves curse, so it enters and saturates his very being, like water absorbed into the body.

שבו נדבקת הקללה בעצם.

For in him the curse cleaves in essence.

Curse is intrinsically bound to the rasha, mirroring how blessing is intrinsic to the tzaddik.

ולא חפץ בברכה ותרחק ממנו.

"And he did not desire blessing, so it stayed far from him."

Because the rasha has no desire for blessing, it withdraws and remains distant from him.

והנה מות וחיים ביד לשון כמ"ש מזה בפרשת זכור.

Now, "death and life are in the hand of the tongue," as we discussed regarding Parshas Zachor.

He invokes the principle that speech carries the power of both life and death, a theme he developed for Zachor.

ולשון החיים קיבל יעקב וכמו כן במרדכי ודובר שלום.

And Yaakov received the tongue of life, and so too Mordechai, "who speaks peace."

Yaakov, and likewise Mordechai, embody the life-giving power of speech — Mordechai is described as one who "speaks shalom."

ובהמן אמרו ליכא דידע לישנא בישא כהמן.

And of Haman they said, "there was none who knew lashon hara (evil speech) like Haman."

Haman, by contrast, was the master of the destructive tongue, the unmatched expert in slander.

שהוא המות שביד לשון.

For he is the death that is in the hand of the tongue.

Haman represents the deadly side of speech, the tongue's power to destroy.

והרשע היפוך הצדיק.

And the rasha is the opposite of the tzaddik.

Once again the theme: Haman and Mordechai stand as perfect opposites in every respect.

וביום זה לקח כל אחד שלו.

And on this day each one took what was his.

On Purim the two were finally sorted out, each receiving the destiny that truly belonged to him.

ארור המן ברוך מרדכי.

"Cursed is Haman, blessed is Mordechai."

The curse settled fully upon Haman and the blessing upon Mordechai, each cleaving to his own essence.

ונתברר התערובות.

And the admixture was clarified.

The intermingling of good and evil was sifted out, so that blessing and curse each found their rightful place.

וכתיב וחמת המלך שככה ודרשו חז"ל חמת המלך מלכי המלכים.

And it is written, "and the king's wrath subsided," which Chazal expounded: "the king" — the King of kings.

The verse's "king's wrath" is read on a deeper level as referring to Hashem's wrath, which subsided when Haman fell.

דכל זמן שהרשעים בעולם חרון אף בעולם.

For as long as the wicked are in the world, there is charon af (fierce wrath) in the world.

The presence of the resha'im itself draws Divine anger into the world.

כמ"ש לעיל כמו שהצדיק כלי מחזיק ברכה.

As stated above, just as the tzaddik is the vessel that holds blessing.

He returns to the opening contrast between tzaddik and rasha.

כן הרשע כל מגמתו להמשיך דינין וקללות בעולם.

So too the rasha — his entire aim is to draw judgments and curses into the world.

The wicked man is a vessel for the opposite of blessing: his whole purpose is to pull down strict judgment and curse.

וכשנתהפך הקללה עליו אז חמת המלך שככה:

And when the curse was turned back upon him, then the king's wrath subsided.

Once Haman's own curse recoiled upon him and he was removed, the Divine wrath he had drawn into the world was stilled.

Summary: The tzaddik is "shalom," the vessel that holds and draws down blessing, so that blessing cleaves to his very essence — even a curse aimed at Bnei Yisrael turns into berachah. The rasha is his exact opposite, the essence of curse, to whom blessing cannot adhere. Yaakov and Mordechai received the life-giving tongue of shalom; Esav and Haman were masters of the death-dealing tongue of lashon hara. On Purim "each took what was his," the mixture of good and evil was finally clarified — "cursed is Haman, blessed is Mordechai" — and when Haman's curse recoiled upon him, the wrath of the King of kings subsided.