It is well known the fact that G-d’s name is not mentioned once in the entire Megillah of Esther, which we will read on the festival of Purim this week. Where is the first time a direct hint of G-d’s Providence is seen in the Purim story? Says the Ari, of sainted memory, when Esther says to the king of Persia, Xerxes (also called Xerxes the Great and Ahasuerus) “The king and Haman will come today,” (Esther 5:4); when she is inviting the king and Haman to a wine party with her. In Hebrew this verse reads “Yavo Hamelech V’Haman Hayom.” The first letters of these four words spell out the Tetragrammon, the four letter name of G-d, hinting to G-d’s Providence here. But this does not seem like the beginning of G-d’s Providence. First, Xerxes had his wife Vashti killed, then he picked Esther out of any girl in the world to be his queen. Furthermore, here it specifically appears that G-d is NOT playing a role-Esther is inviting the king to drink with her and the self-proclaimed enemy of the Jewish people, Haman!
Rav Chizkiyahu Neventzal relates that this is exactly the whole point. Only at this stage of the Purim story did the Jewish people really turn to G-d. Up until here, they said “We have a friend in the Royal House; Esther will save us.” However, once they saw that Esther was wining and dining with their enemy, it occurred to them they may be in trouble. Then they wholeheartedly repented and returned to G-d and were miraculously saved.
I would like to take this a step further. The reason why we are required to read the Megillah twice a year is not because it is a nice fairy tale. Rather, it has practical instruction for us each and every year. This year, I see one directive as this: Who would have thought that one day we would invite our enemies to dine with us? That we would recognize he PLO and Fatah, known terrorist organizations and sworn enemies of the Jewish people, and invite them to the negotiating table? More than that, it says in the Megillah that Xerxes said to Esther, “What is it you request? Up until half of my kingdom I will give to you.” (Esther 5:3) What was he referring to when he said “Up to half of my kingdom”? Rashi, of sainted memory cites the Talmud (Megillah 15b) as saying “Up until something that is in the middle and halfway through the kingdom, this is the Temple.” Israel was in the center of the known world at that time. Jerusalem is in the center of Israel, and the Temple was in the center of Jerusalem. Xerxes was telling her that she could half the kingdom, but there is no way he would allow the Temple to be rebuilt. Today we are in a seemingly worse situation. Today we are told that we must give up to half of our kingdom, half of the Land of Israel. Where is the exact dividing point that is proposed today? The Old City of Jerusalem, exactly where the Temple once stood. Does the Megillah’s practical application for today still seemed far fetched?
But now as then, we must put all of our faith in G-d, who will then bring about a liberation for us, and retroactively we will that specifically now is when G-d’s hand is first seen in the picture. May we merit to have the final redemption come speedily in our days.
With Love from the Holy Land,
Elisha
(To be continued)
