Post date: Mar 10, 2017 5:1:31 AM
Back to work
“Vayashav Mordechai el sha’ar Hamelech”
And Mordechai returned to the King’s gate
(6:12)
Haman led Mordechai through the streets of Shushan on the king’s horse, a truly royal experience. Why did Mordechai immediately resume sitting at the king’s gate in sackcloth just as he had been doing before the procession?
R. Shmuel di Uzida points out that Mordechai did not go around recounting the experience to all of his friends. He did not boast to others about his most unique of experiences. Instead he returned to his fasting and wearing sackcloth as he davened to Hashem for the salvation of the Jews while sitting outside the king’s gate. (This is in stark contrast to Haman who gathered his friends and family after being invited to Esther’s second party in order to recount his exuberance at being the only minister included in her festivities.)
Originally, Mordechai was included in the decree of Jewish annihilation along with all of the other Jews. But once he had been honored by Achashveirosh, he was officially excluded from the decree as it would be incongruous to execute an individual honored by the king based solely on a communal sentence. R. Yonasan Eibeshitz tells us that now that Mordechai was spared from the fatal decree, his tefilos could be more effective at saving Klal Yisrael, and he jumped at the opportunity immediately. (This is based on the Gemara in Brachos (5b) that “a prisoner cannot free himself from prison.” But now that Mordechai wasn’t facing the sentence, he had the power to free others.)
The Chasam Sofer explains that one of the strategies employed by the Satan is to lull a person into complacency by tricking him into thinking that things are better than they actually are, since doing so would likely cause the person to stop davening about his situation. In this case, Mordechai suspected that the Satan was responsible for his having been rewarded in a way that gave the impression that the plight of the Jews was starting to improve. Mordechai feared that in reality, they still needed additional merit to continue in their quest for Hashem’s salvation. So, immediately upon completion of his being paraded through the streets of Shushan, he resumed davening to Hashem just as he had been prior to the parade.
[Megillas Esther: The Answer Is..., p. 185]
#WorstDayEver
“V’Haman nidchaf el beiso”
And Haman hurried home
(6:12)
Once Haman finished parading Mordechai through the streets of Shushan, he couldn’t get home fast enough. The Maharal tells us that there were many people waiting at Haman’s home to greet him upon his return. They had heard that he was participating in the royal parade, and they presumed that he was the honoree. So even though they did not attend the parade personally, they waited to receive him upon his return in order to congratulate him on the presumed honor. (The gathering of these people could be likened to the gathering of fans of a sports team at an airport. Though they couldn’t personally participate in the special event, they gather to greet and congratulate the team upon their return home.) However, Haman hurried home not because he was looking forward to the attention from his adoring fans, but rather because of the humiliation of the day’s events.
[Megillas Esther: The Answer Is..., p. 186]
Let’s dig in
“Vayavo Hamelech v’Haman lishtos im Esther Hamalka”
And the king and Haman came to feast with Esther the queen
(7:1)
By the second party, our pasuk says that Achashveirosh and Haman came to feast with Esther, while by the first party, the pasuk (5:5) simply says that Achashveirosh and Haman came to the party. Why the difference in terminology for the two parties?
The Vilna Gaon explains that the first party was held at the tail end of the Jews’ three day fast, so Esther didn’t actually dine with them. However, by the time the second party rolled around, the fast was long over, and she was able to feast with them.
[Megillas Esther: The Answer Is..., p. 194]