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Modesty and Myrrh
Where is Esther alluded to in the Torah?
"I [G-d] will conceal [in Hebrew, 'astir', related to the name 'Esther'] My Face.'
(Deut. 31:18)
Where is Mordecai alluded to in the Torah?
As it says, '...pure myrrh' (Ex. 30:23), which translates [in Aramaic to] 'mara dachia' [the
consonants of which together spell 'Mordecai']. (Sefer
HaKana - "Sod Sheloach HaKan")  | | " 'Esther' and 'Mordecai' are Persian names, reflective of the times they lived in...." | | |
"Esther" and "Mordecai" are Persian names, reflective of the
times they lived in. She was both motherless and fatherless, descended from King
Saul and alone in the Persian exile. He was her cousin, the head of the
Sanhedrin, the Torah leader of the generation, who took responsibility to raise
her from infancy; he continued to advise her even after she was crowned Persia's
queen.
The Midrash says that the Jews merited their first redemption,
from Egypt, despite the fact that they didn't keep the commandments of the Torah
and practiced idol-worship just like their Egyptian neighbors - all in the merit
of their distinctive Jewish names, mode of dress, and language.
Why then are our Purim heroes known to all expressly by their
Persian names? Esther's Hebrew name, "Hadassah", is mentioned in the Megilla
only once and Mordecai's not at all. The classic commentator the Maharsha
asks if so, how it is that they merited salvation, especially in a time of
Divine concealment, outside of the Land of Israel, and in the period of time
when the Holy Temple - the seat of Divine Presence in this world - was not even
standing?
Therefore, Sefer HaKana
found sources for these names in the Torah to show the names' integral
holiness, as well as what they teach us about each person's main characteristic.
Esther's was her secretiveness, as well as the hidden hand directing the events
of her life, as described in the verse hinting at her name in the Book of
Deuteronomy, indicating that after the destruction of the First Temple G-d will
conceal His involvement with existence and interact with the world in a
hidden manner. Mordecai's was his righteousness and leadership qualities as
indicated by "mara dachya", which means the scent of musk, as Rashi
explains: "The pure myrrh is referred to in this verse as 'the head of all
spices'; the righteous Men of the Great Assembly are compared to fragrant
spices, and their leader at that time was Mordecai."
The virtue of secrecy
Once ensconced in the palace, Esther continued to remain silent
about her familial origins, as her humble forebear Saul had (originally) kept
silent about being crowned as the first Jewish king. She is compared by the
Sages to the morning star (called "ayelet hashachar", see Psalms 22),
which rises ever so slowly in the darkest of the night, before the dawn's first
light. So, too, the Purim miracle was slow to manifest and took place in the
depths of exile.
However, Esther was not silent in prayer:
"My G-d, my G-d, why have you forsaken me? My Lord [capable
of such miracles such as] at the [splitting of] the sea, my Lord at Sinai, why
have you forsaken me? Why has the order of the world changed concerning me? The
order of the mothers? With regard to our mother Sarah, she was held captive by
Pharaoh one night and he and his whole household were struck with a plague ...
but I have been placed in the bosom of this wicked man all these years, for me
you do no miracles. My Lord, my Lord, why have you forsaken me?"
(Midrash Tehilim Buber, 22:16)
Although Esther couldn't see G-d at all, He obviously was with her the whole time, as indeed hinted at in her very name.
Appealing to the King
Mordecai convinced her that her mission was to appeal to the
king to overturn the evil decree, and she requests a 3-day fast:
"[Esther said,] 'And fast for me for three days, the 13th,
14th and 15th of Nissan.' Mordecai said to her, 'But the third day is Passover!'
She said to him, 'Holy man of Israel, if there is no Israel, why do we need
Passover?' ... And Mordecai went and abolished [for that year] the first day of
Passover and made it into a fast." (Otzar Midrashim
Eisenstein, page 51)
Esther then enclothed herself with a spirit of prophecy,
preparing to approaching the king. However, the sole passageway leading to the
throne room was lined end to end with idols and therefore she felt this holy
spirit leave her as she reached it. She then cried out: "My G-d! My G-d! Why have You
forsaken me?" | | " By virtue of her selflessness and thorough devotion to G-d, she found favor in the Almighty's eyes...." | | |
When she apparently appealed to King Ahasuerus, in reality she
directed her prayers to G-d - "nochach hamelech" - literally meaning
"opposite the king", but also indicating opposite the [place of the] Holy
Temple. ( Zohar)
[The Tikunei Zohar, explaining that the term for "Yom
Hakipur", the Day of Atonement, literally means "a day like Purim", and
point out striking parallels between Esther's approach to Ahasuerus and the High
Priest's service in the Temple on Yom Kippur: the fasting Queen Esther, dressed
in special garments, entered the King's inner chamber at the risk of her life in
order to bring salvation to the Jewish people - with the fasting High Priest,
dressed in special white vestments, entering the normally off-limits inner
sanctum of the Temple also at the risk of his life to pray for the people's
forgiveness. ( Tikun 21) ]
Salvation
By virtue of her selflessness and thorough devotion to G-d, she
found favor in the Almighty's eyes and was granted salvation for herself and the
entire Jewish nation, even in the darkness of exile and with no other merit for
the people than their very clinging to the Jewish faith. The miracle of Purim
was a miracle cloaked in nature, where G-d's involvement was not obvious, and
this seems to be the theme threaded through much of Esther's personal life as
well, as evidenced by her very name.
King Cyrus had allowed the rebuilding of the Holy Temple years
before the Purim story, but the edict was rescinded due to the complaints of the
Samarians.
According to some sources, although Esther dreaded having a son
with Ahasuerus and did everything in her power to prevent it, by divine
providence she had a son named Darius, who was the king who eventually allowed
the Jews to resume the building of the Second Temple in Jerusalem after being crowned years later.
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