Esther 9:23, Question 1. Why does the verse use the singular v’kibel (“and accepted”) for what should be a plural verb?

כג וְקִבֵּל הַיְּהוּדִים אֵת אֲשֶׁר–הֵחֵלּוּ לַֽעֲשׂוֹת וְאֵת אֲשֶׁר–כָּתַב מָרְדֳּכַי אֲלֵיהֶם

23. And the Yehudim accepted that which they began to do and that which Mordechai wrote about them.

• In a simple explanation, the Ibn Ezra writes that the verse uses the singular “v’kibel” (“and accepted”) in order to mirror Aramaic grammar.
• However, the Vilna Gaon, Lekach Tov, M’nos HaLevi, Beis Aharon, R’ Moshe Dovid Valle, and the Maharal all write that the verb is in singular because all of the Jews were united.
• The Zohar (II:113b) explains that the Jews trusted Moshe and accepted the Torah, and reaffirmed it at this point. Although Moshe was one man, the Jews’ re-acceptance of the Torah he taught became attached to him, thus necessitating a singular verb.

Esther 7:9, Question 4. Why does Charvona mention that the gallows are in Haman’s home?

• According to the Ben Ish Chai, Charvona provides the seemingly unnecessary location of the gallows the king presumably already sees in order to imply that Haman was usurping Achashverosh’s power by executing people in his own property.
• R’ Chaim Kanievsky points out that, grammatically, the adjective describing the gallows should have preceded the preposition describing the gallows’ location. Charvona mentions the gallows’ height of 50 amos after mentioning Haman’s house. Furthermore, Charvona seems to say that the gallows are inside Haman’s house. In explanation, he quotes the Yalkut that suggests that the beam Haman used for the gallows was made from the crossbeam of his own house. In his hatred for Mordechai, he destroyed his own house. Throughout history, people have behaved in a self-destructive manner in attempt to fulfill their own temptations.