How Do Mordecai and Esther Speak to Us?

Purim is around the corner, and, in the footsteps of our tradition, we literally make merry. The rabbis of the Talmud taught: “when the month of Adar begins, we increase our joy.” I’d like to reflect a bit upon the audacity of this rabbinic teaching.

The story of Esther gives us a glimpse of a vulnerable Jewish population. Mordecai is called a Yehudi, a Jew. His great grandfather was part of the Jewish community exiled from Jerusalem. Esther’s secret identity points to a time when being “too Jewish “ was a bad idea. Haman employed the rhetoric of the untrustworthy, disloyal foreigner in his bid to “solve the Jewish problem.” And the King bought into his dark plans.

And now for bit of a deeper dive: The name Esther, the tradition teaches, hints at the Hebrew word “nistar” which means “hidden.” Not only is Esther’s identity concealed — so is God. There are no explicit references to God in the scroll of Esther. It is true that Esther and her maidens, backed by the Kehillah of Shushan, fast and pray in response to the terrifying edict. We as readers need to connect the dots to sense God’s protective presence behind Mordecai and Esther’s courageous actions, and the perfect timing of the king’s insomnia, the reading of the royal chronicles, Haman’s late-night visit to the sleepless king. God indeed rides to the rescue, the tables are turned. We feast, we give each other gifts, we give charity. Our ancestors escaped certain doom… And if in the midst
of this time upheaval — with a not-so-subtle backdrop of anti-Jewish hatred, we’re sensitive to the powerful resonance of this story.….we’ll also ponder the fragility of it all. Here, in Israel, everywhere. Tyrants roll the dice, and the fate of so many hangs in the balance.

As Adar opens, we chase joy with everything we’ve got. There is no other choice.