The secret of Purim and Megilat Esther – opinion

Historical events are composed of thousands of moments, occurrences and actions that form one event. But at the heart of that event there is always one moment which is special; a decisive point.

By RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ
‘BECAUSE IT’S a megillah written in Safed, we chose the writing style of the Ari as our font.’ (photo credit: DAVID BRIAN BENDER/COMPELLING PHOTOGRAPHY)
‘BECAUSE IT’S a megillah written in Safed, we chose the writing style of the Ari as our font.’
(photo credit: DAVID BRIAN BENDER/COMPELLING PHOTOGRAPHY)
Historical events are composed of thousands of moments, occurrences and actions that form one event. But at the heart of that event there is always one moment which is special; a decisive point when everything turned around. So too in Megilat Esther, which we read every year in Israel and around the world. There is a single moment which, although hidden, reveals a profound and essential truth that relates to each and every one of us.
It is not by chance that the Megillah begins with a detailed and colorful description of the debauchery in the feasts held by Ahasuerus for his ministers and slaves. The strength of Ahasuerus’s kingdom is shown in all its glory over many verses. Imagine the fear of a young, Jewish girl who is taken against her will to this fancy palace.
“Esther did not reveal her nationality or her lineage, for Mordechai had ordered her not to reveal it.” Can you imagine her fear? No one knew who she was as she kept this huge secret in the king’s palace, a place filled with cunning plots and evil schemes. Her predecessor had been unhesitatingly executed, and she knew full well that she herself could be replaced at any moment with one of the hundreds of girls who had gathered in Shushan.
One event follows and leads to another. Did Vashti realize that her refusal to appear before the king would lead to Esther entering the palace? Did Bigtan and Teresh know that the revelation of their scheme would provide Mordechai the Jew a place of respect in the king’s court? Was Mordechai aware of the fact that his proud stance would lead Haman to request the extinction of all Jews from young to old, children and women? There’s a Jewish saying: “Man plans and God laughs.”
But all the trajectories end up meeting at one point in time, and everything changes for the good. After Ahasuerus and Haman publicize their plan for the “final solution” to the problem of the Jews of Persia and Media, Mordechai tears his clothes and goes to Esther, that same young woman whose reversal of fate made her the closest woman to the king at the most crucial moment for her nation, and demands that she implore the king to reverse his decree.
The frightened girl who walks the king’s court trying to preserve her own life now stands before a decision more difficult than any other. The first words heard from her in the Megillah that is named for her are a repetition of the palace rules, since her life depended on following them. “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who comes to the king, into the inner court, who is not summoned, there is but one law for him, to be put to death.”
Mordechai responds with a sentence that resonates until today; a sentence that poses before her, and before all its readers for the past 25 generations, a question that everyone should ask in his lifetime: “Who knows whether for a time like this you attained the kingdom?”
Here is where the Megillah story turns around. This is the moment when the collection of obscure events is revealed as a Divine plan. This is the moment when Esther returns to herself and to her nation, reconnects with the source of her strength and her mission. She tells Mordechai: “Go, assemble all the Jews.” Now, when she is connected to her nation and their destiny, this young woman who was taken to the king’s palace can become Queen Esther, turning her own bitter fate into a noble destiny on behalf of her nation and the generations to come.
Since then, Jews from around the world have had to ask Mordechai’s profound question. Who knows whether for a time like this we have attained the kingdom? We must ask ourselves and dedicate every moment in our lives, every accomplishment, every stance and every talent for the benefit of our nation and homeland.
This is the secret of Megilat Esther and of Purim. Each and every one of us has the power to change and shape the destiny of the entire Jewish nation and contribute toward its unity. There is no way to know why God has directed our lives as He has, but at any given moment, we must stop and ask ourselves: Who knows whether for a time like this I attained the kingdom?
The author is rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites.