5784/2024

Mordechai Knew All

Megilat Esther (4:1) that Mordechai “Yada Et Kol Asher Na’asah, knew all that transpired” with Haman’s decree. The word Kol-all shows that Mordechai knew more than meets the eye. Megillah 15a records a debate between Rav and Shmuel about whether all the information refers to political or spiritual matters.

Rav

Rav believes that Kol refers to Mordechai's understanding of the politics behind the decree. Although the letters sent throughout the Persian Empire were issued in the king’s name, Mordechai knew that Haman was behind it. From his years of “sitting in the king’s chamber,” Mordechai knew that Achashverosh did not have the nerve to issue such a bold and risky ordinance. Rather, he accurately attributed the malicious death sentence to the evil Haman. Mordechai knew that Haman had the personality and motivation to order the slaughter of an entire people.  

Mordechai’s insight was crucial to neutralizing the decree. He knew that he was fighting Haman and not Achashverosh. The key to victory was driving a wedge between Achashverosh and Haman, which Esther successfully executed.

Although Perek 4 does not record Mordechai communicating this insight to Esther, it does not imply that he did not. We need not assume that Perek 4 records every detail of the messages Esther and Mordechai sent each other. Recognizing and identifying one’s target is critical to success in battle, and it is unimaginable that Mordechai did not share this information with Esther.  

Shmuel

Shmuel understands Kol as referring to the celestial realm. Shmuel boldly states, “Gavar Malca Ila’ah MiMalca Teta’ah, the upper realms have overcome the lower realm.” Rashi and Maharsha debate this phrase’s meaning.  

Rashi

Rashi explains that Shmuel speaks euphemistically. He means that the kingdom below has overpowered the realm above. In other words, Hashem has withdrawn from active involvement in the situation (Hester Panim). Unfortunately, his withdrawal allows evil forces below to unleash villainous plans.

Mordechai recognizes that our sins distanced us from Hashem, and He has distanced Himself from us, leaving us in grave danger. Therefore, he realized he needed to drastically improve our spiritual state to enlist heavenly support for our efforts to neutralize Haman.  

Maharsha

Maharsha understands Shmuel literally. He says a Tefillah or possibly a Nevu’ah that the upper realms will overcome the lower realms, meaning Hashem will neutralize Haman and his evil decree.  

A problem with Maharsha’s approach is that it does not explain what additional information Mordechai knew. Perhaps Maharsha means that Mordechai’s diagnosis of the situation demands we pray to Hashem to eliminate Haman and his evil decree.  

A New Suggestion

I suggest, like Maharsha, that we understand Shmuel literally. However, in a variation to Maharsha, I suggest that Mordechai recognized that Hashem already began to defang Haman.  

Mordechai recognized the lot falling on the last possible month of the year as Hashem’s intervening hand giving us the first step to rescue – time. Hashem extended eleven months to organize ourselves to overcome Haman and mount an effective defense against our enemies.  

Both Rav and Shmuel are Correct

I further suggest that both Rav and Shmuel are correct. Mordechai is both spiritually and politically savvy. He knew he had to wage a spiritual and political battle to emerge victorious. The three-day fast won the spiritual battle, enabling Esther and Mordechai to win on the political and military front.  

Conclusion

In his Kol Dodi Dofeik, Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik displays an uncanny spiritual and political savvy in identifying Hashem’s hand in establishing the State of Israel. He notes that the United Nations, for the most part, is a do-nothing organization and that establishing a Jewish state in part of Eretz Yisrael is one of its few concrete accomplishments. 

Rav Soloveitchik recognizes that United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 establishing Israel was one of the few issues on which the United States and the Soviet Union agreed. 

Rav Soloveitchik’s spiritual insight led him to attribute this and other events surrounding Israel’s creation as the one of the Beloved, the Dod, knocking on the Jewish people’s door after years of silence during the Sho’ah. The Rav (Destiny and Fate pages 26-27) compared the chairman of the General Assembly to Achashverosh:  

I do not know whom the journalists, with their eyes of flesh and blood, saw sitting in the chairman’s seat during that fateful session when the General Assembly decided in favor of the establishment of the state. However, someone at the time who observed matters with his spiritual eye could have sensed the presence of the true chairman Who presided over the session, i.e. the Beloved (Hashem)! It was He who knocked with His gavel on the podium. Do we not interpret the verse “That night sleep from the king fled” (Esther 6:1) as referring to the sleep of the King of the Universe (Megillah 15b). Were it Achashveirosh alone who could not sleep, it would have been of no consequence, and the salvation of Israel would not have blossomed forth on that night. However, if it is the King of the Universe Who, as it were, does not slumber, then the redemption will be born. If it had been John Doe who called the session of the United Nations to order, then the State of Israel would not have come into being – but if the Beloved knocked on the chairman’s podium, then the miracle occurred.  

As Mordechai of old, Rav Soloveitchik used his spiritual and political savvy to analyze a momentous situation correctly. Similarly, understanding how politics and Hashem operate is indispensable to extracting Megillat Esther’s manifold messages and lessons. May Hashem grant us the wisdom and aptitude to keep our Torah mind and heart open and ears alert to political developments to similarly accurately discern whatever challenges are sent our way.