Post date: Mar 03, 2011 4:23:8 AM
גַּם אֲנִי וְנַעֲרֹתַי אָצוּם כֵּן
Gam ani v’na’arosai utzum kein
(4:16)
Most daytime Yontif meals start around the middle of the day (since that’s when Musaf ends). Ironically, on Purim (a day when there is no Musaf), most people eat their Seudah much later in the day—typically starting a couple of hours before the end of the day.
The fast that Mordechai declared (on behalf of Esther) was a three day fast—72 hours. As the fast neared its conclusion, Esther invited Achashveirosh and Haman to her quarters for a banquet. By the time the feast began, it was still a couple of hours before the conclusion of the 72 hour fast. However, once the king was served food, it was impossible for Esther and her maidens to withhold from partaking of food as well. At that point, to abstain from eating would have caused suspicion (of a possible poisoning attempt) and, as such, would have been very dangerous to their wellbeing.
We see this from the seemingly superfluous word “כֵּן” which has a Gematriah of 70 (20+50)—an allusion to the total number of hours that Esther and her maidens would actually fast.
(Artscroll Purim)