Happy Purim!! We say this after both Megilla readings. Think about the words this year!!
שׁוֹשׁנַת יַעֲקֺב צָהֲלָה וְשָׂמֵחָ, בִּרְאוֹתָם יַחַד תְּכֵלֶת מָרְדְּכָי. תְּשׁוּעָתָם הָיִיתָ לָנֶצַח, וְתִקְוָתָם בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר. לְהוֹדִיעַ, שֶׁכָּל קֺוֶיךָ לֺא יֵבֺשׁוּ, וְלֺא יִכָּלְמוּ לָנֶצַח כָּל הַחוֹסִים בָּךְ. אָרוּר הָמָן, אֲשֶׁר בִּקֵּשׁ לְאַבְּדִי, בָּרוּךְ מָרְדְּכַי הַיְּהוּדִי. אַרוּרָה זֶרֶשׁ, אֵשֶׁת מַפְחִידִי, בְּרוּכָה אֶסְתֵּר בַּעַדִי, וְגַם חַרְבוֹנָה זָכוּר לַטּוֹב
"The rose [that is] Yaakov was cheerful and glad, when they saw together the royal blue [robes] of Mordechai. You have been their salvation eternally, and their hope throughout generation after generation-to make known that all those who put their hope in You will not be shamed; and they will never be humiliated-all those who take refuge in You. Accursed be Haman, who sought to destroy me; blessed be Mordechai the Jew. Accursed be Zeresh, the wife of my terrorizer; blessed be Esther, who shielded me. And also may Charvona be remembered for good." (End of brachos after the Megilla reading)
Who is this Charvona who should be "remembered for good?" The pasuk tells us that Charvona was the one who volunteered the news of the large tree, 50 amos tall, which was standing in Haman's house. Rashi there adds that Charvona was actually stressing how bad Haman was, that he had the audacity to build a gallows on which to hang Mordechai, the very man who had saved the king's life. So Charvona seems like a pretty good guy right? Well if we take a closer look we see quite the opposite. The Gemara in Megilla (16a) tells us that Charvona was actually involved in Haman's plans to kill Mordechai! How else would he have known the exact height of the gallows(Torah Temima)?! Or even known about the plan to kill Mordechai altogether?! So the Gemara concludes that Charvona was a rasha.
So again- why remember him for good? We see in a Gemarah in Avoda-Zara that there are a number of people who achieved Teshuva in one moment; changing from Resha'im to Tzadikim.
Charvona is a case of someone who, when he realized the truth, made a total turnaround, changing form a "bad guy" to a "good guy." Purim is a day where Shamayim is completely open and Hashem is just waiting for us to bring ourselves closer to him. Take advantage of it!! It's never too late to do complete Teshuva, never.
So again- why remember him for good? We see in a Gemarah in Avoda-Zara that there are a number of people who achieved Teshuva in one moment; changing from Resha'im to Tzadikim.
Charvona is a case of someone who, when he realized the truth, made a total turnaround, changing form a "bad guy" to a "good guy." Purim is a day where Shamayim is completely open and Hashem is just waiting for us to bring ourselves closer to him. Take advantage of it!! It's never too late to do complete Teshuva, never.
