In full disclosure, R' Mansour did not say this vort this week, it actually was his shiur on Parshas Terumah which I listened to in late February and then again on Sunday while cleaning my wife's car for Pesach. The shiur had some wonderful insights on the Hagaddah and it addressed a "joke" that I have been making for years at the Seder. Same rules as usual apply, although I have not attempted to summarize the entire shiur, I have tried to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Mansour.
In the Dayenu song which is sung as part of Maggid, there are references to the Manna which the Jews ate while travelling in the desert. Specifically, the Dayenu song states "Ilu Heachilanu es Haman" which can be translated as - "if Hashem had only given us the Manna to eat" this would have been enough for us.
So the joke that I have been making for years is to "boo" the word Haman as if it were the villain in the Esther story as opposed to the Manna that the Jews were fed in the desert.
From listening to this shiur, it appears that R' Mansour has been making the same "joke" at his seder. Although he does not "boo" Haman, he said that he always asks his guests - why is Haman being mentioned in the Hagaddah? He said that he often gets a response from guests who try to link Haman and Pharaoh based on both being evil, but he tells them its just the way that he is pronouncing the word and its not Haman.
But this year he actually found a link, which is why I am blogging the vort as it validates my "minhag taos."
By way of introduction, the gemara asks - where is Haman found in the Torah? The gemara answers based on the pasuk in Bereishis 3:11 "הֲמִן־הָעֵ֗ץ אֲשֶׁ֧ר צִוִּיתִ֛יךָ לְבִלְתִּ֥י אֲכָל־מִמֶּ֖נּוּ אָכָֽלְתָּ" - Hashem asks whether Adam and Chava ate from the Etz HaDa'as.
However R' Mansour found a different version of the gemara in a vort in the Sefer L'Horot Natan. He quotes the Sefer HaTishbi which writes where is Haman in the Torah? It is from the pasuk in Devarim 8:3 "וַיַּֽאֲכִֽלְךָ֤ אֶת־הַמָּן֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֔עְתָּ" - Hashem fed you the Manna which you did not know. So here we have it - Haman is linked to the Manna!
This is also seen in Yehosua where it states that they began to eat from the food of the Land of Israel, the following day (the 16th of Nissan) and it says "Vayishbot Haman" - the Manna stopped. R' Mansour remarked that this is also the date that Haman died and this is why the Ashkenazim have a seudat Esther HaMalkah on the 16th (my mother serves nonte - a purim candy on the 2nd day of Pesach). So Vayishbot (from the language of Tashbitu - get rid of) Haman on the 16th of Nissan.
R' Mansour then quoted the Sefer Manot HaLevi which was written by R' Shlomo Alkebetz and delivered as Shalach Manos. He quoted in the sefer from the Ba'al HaRokeach who counted 166 pesukim in Megillas Esther. Similarly the number of words in the Vayavo Amalek read on Purim are 119 and the number of words in Parshas Zachor are 47 - also 166 in total. Finally he states that there are 166 words in Hallel HaGadol (Tehillim 136).
R' Mansour then theorized - there must be an overt Purim reference. But where is it? The words Vayifrikeinu Mitzareinu and then Nosen Lechem L'Kol Basar - we were saved from our enemies and then Hashem gave food to all. But what is this connection?
R' Mansour spoke about a gemara in Pesachim 118 which discusses why it is called Hallel HaGadol? Because Hashem sits up high, but he supports all creatures. This pasuk reminds us that Hashem is not only Ram - he is also Gadol - he supports all. And in Parnasah there are always stories about it coming from unplanned or previously unknown sources.
R' Mansour then told a personal story - 28 years ago he was in the Kollel and getting a small stipend. He said to his wife, maybe we should go into a side business to support ourselves. They read about a small business expo at the Javits Center and they decided to go. He started to drive and then started falling asleep at the wheel. He said - OK we're going home. They got to the house and his father in law was sitting outside. He said - I knew you were not going to do this - but I know someone in beds - you can start a business selling beds...and 28 years later his wife is still in the business.
R' Mansour also quoted the Abudraham who said that its called Hallel HaGadol because there are 26 verses - for the gematria of Hashem's name.
Looking back at the Hallel HaGadol and the final lines - we see the connection. Our enemy Amalek says that Hashem is in the heavens, but is not involved in the day to day life. We however see Hashem's hand in giving parnasah (Nosain Lechem L'Kol Basar). Upon being aware of this - we can say Hodo L'Keil HaShamayim.
So now we can go back to the language of the Sefer HaTishbi - where is Haman in the Torah? Haman says that Hashem is in the heavens, but not supporting the world - but then how does a nation of 3,000,000 travelling in a desert live? They receive the Manna from the heavens, proving that Hashem is involved in the world.
But the connection is greater than the 166 words in Hallel HaGadol and the 166 in the Amalek readings. The Gemara in Megillah asks - why don't we read the Hallel on Purim? Because the reading of the Megilla is the Hallel. But if he has no megillah what does he read? The Chiddah says that he should read the Hallel. But the sefer Minchat Yitzchak quotes the Meiri who says that if a person has no Megillah he should read Hallel HaGadol. Why? Because this teaches us the lesson that Haman was trying to uproot. So if Hashem would have given us the Manna it would have been enough, because we would have seen that Hashem was in charge and supporting us.
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