The stone that the builders rejected: I have heard the following in the name of Rabbi Moshe Hayun. He explained what is stated in the first chapter of Megillah 15a, “The Sages taught: There were four women of extraordinary beauty in the world: Sarah, and Abigail, Rahab, and Esther. Tosafot wrote that this is difficult. Why wasn’t Eve considered one of the most beautiful women in the world? It is written in the third chapter of Baba Batra,134 58a Sarah, when compared with Eve, was like a monkey compared with a human being. The answer (in Tosafot) is that the sages only considered those women who were born of a woman. That which is written, “The stones that the builders rejected,” refers to the sages. When they counted the four most beautiful women they rejected Eve though she was the cornerstone; “stone” is a nickname for a woman. This is difficult because Eve was the cornerstone, the finest wheat in her beauty. Yet Sarah was the cornerstone for the four beautiful women even though Eve was more beautiful. Tosafot answered that the sages only considered women who were born of another woman. That is why the verse says, “From the Lord was this one, it/she is wondrous in our eyes.” Eve came from God, she is the work of the creator. Therefore, she was not counted among the beautiful women because she was actually a creation of heaven and not born of another woman. This is what I heard.

There is another answer to the question raised by Tosafot which I saw in the book Drush Shmuel on Parshat Vayera. He writes, “I have heard that there is in the Midrash the statement that Sarah was even more beautiful than Eve. At first this seems difficult since there was no one in the world like Eve. The sages explain that Adam was more beautiful than Eve so that in the days of Sarah it was said there was no one more beautiful in her generation. Also Eve caused Adam to become impaired. Because of this they said that Sarah was more beautiful than Eve since Sarah’s beauty in her generation was considered greater than Eve….” This is the end of his statement. From this we may conclude that *Tosafot’*s question about why Eve was not given consideration while Sarah was, is not a difficulty. Still, there was no one more beautiful than each in her generation…. We can now explain the verses accordingly based on this answer. “The stones that the builders rejected,” refers to Eve whose beauty was not as beautiful. This is a difficulty since she was the first cornerstone of malchut, sovereignty. We can give two answers to the question. First, “From the Lord was this one,” since she was not born from a woman. And the second is, “ It/she is wondrous in our eyes.” That is, there was no one in her generation like her - that is the meaning of “It/She” and not another, “Was wondrous in our eyes. But Eve could not be compared to Adam.

This is the day that Adonai has made - let us exult and rejoice on it. (Ps. 118:24) This means that the day of joy is not because of us but rather because of what God did. That is why the verse uses the tetragrammaton, the name of mercy. Therefore it is not fitting for us to rejoice for ourselves for we are not worthy but rather because of God’s compassion. If so, we will rejoice and be happy on it - “it” specifically. Furthermore, when there is a time of grace above, the divine abundance increases and it draws down joy from above. That is why we say, “This is the day of rejoicing that Adonai has made,” the attribute of mercy; therefore we will rejoice and be happy that there is joy above and we don’t have to rejoice in our own happiness.

It is also possible to raise questions based on earlier analysis. Some said that King Achashveros reigned over 127 provinces (medinot) while there were 252 provinces (efarchiot) in the world. If so, some Israelites were beyond the reign of Achashveros because they lived in Sefarad and Africa, as Joseph de Trani135 writes in his homilies. If that is so, then why should they be obligated to observe Purim? There are several answers to this question according to the law, logic and mystical interpretation. We could answer this question based on the mystical interpretation as follows: On Purim there was a great light in heaven that spread out from Mordechai and Esther and enlightened the world on Purim day throughout the year. Since this luminous and great light enlightens and illumines everyone who has a portion in Esther. An obligation, therefore, falls on all Israel who received this light that illuminated the heavens to rejoice on Purim, as it is written, “This is the day that Adonai has made.” God sees and illuminates the great light because of the great miracle that happened to Israel who were saved from the evil decree. If one does,, “We will rejoice and be happy on it.” Even though that decree was not made against some, they do so in honor of the light that was revealed in heaven above, as it is said, “Please, Lord, save us now; please, Lord, give us success now!” Thus. Israel succeeded and in Your light we saw light!