Aviva,
That was great!
I have always loved Megillat Esther. After all, it has the first recorded beauty contest, and a Jew wins! And then there’s the fight against Haman, the bad guy, and it is QUITE the rout! Combine that with incredibly descriptive language and you have a great story, and you, Aviva, LOVE stories.
Did you know though, that there’s another view of the story?
When we first meet Esther, we meet her as a young girl, in the care of Mordechai:
וַיְהִי אֹמֵן אֶת-הֲדַסָּה, הִיא אֶסְתֵּר בַּת-דֹּדוֹ—
וְהַנַּעֲרָה יְפַת-תֹּאַר, וְטוֹבַת מַרְאֶה
and he brought up Hadassa, who is Esther, his cousin … and the girl was quite beautiful.
The young girl follows Mordechai’s advice:
אֵין אֶסְתֵּר, מַגֶּדֶת מוֹלַדְתָּהּ וְאֶת-עַמָּהּ, כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה עָלֶיהָ, מָרְדֳּכָי; וְאֶת-מַאֲמַר מָרְדֳּכַי אֶסְתֵּר עֹשָׂה, כַּאֲשֶׁר הָיְתָה בְאָמְנָה אִתּוֹ.
Esther didn’t tell of her birthplace or nation since Mordechai told her not to and what Mordechai told her to do, Esther did, just as she did when she was living with him.
Aviva – do you always do as your parents tell you?
But then trouble comes, in the form of Haman, and Mordechai puts on sackcloth and ashes. This disturbs Esther and, via Hatach, she tries to get him to dress normally. But what is the message Mordechai sends back with Hatach? He tells her what happened and orders her to go to the King to get Haman’s new law rescinded.
Esther argues that she can’t – it’s too dangerous. And Mordechai responds:
אַל-תְּדַמִּי בְנַפְשֵׁךְ, לְהִמָּלֵט בֵּית-הַמֶּלֶךְ מִכָּל-הַיְּהוּדִים
כִּי אִם-הַחֲרֵשׁ תַּחֲרִישִׁי, בָּעֵת הַזֹּאת--רֶוַח וְהַצָּלָה יַעֲמוֹד לַיְּהוּדִים מִמָּקוֹם אַחֵר, וְאַתְּ וּבֵית-אָבִיךְ תֹּאבֵדוּ; וּמִי יוֹדֵעַ--אִם-לְעֵת כָּזֹאת, הִגַּעַתְּ לַמַּלְכוּת
Mordechai says: Don’t imagine that you can escape in the palace from the fate of the Jews. Because if you miss this opportunity, help will come to the Jews from another source and you and your family will be lost. Who knows, maybe this is why you won and became queen.
I like that line – Who knows, maybe this is why you won and became queen. Mordechai uses it to tell Esther that this is important; that it is the time for her to step up to the plate, to take charge.
And how does Esther respond? For the first time in the story, she commands Mordechai, without hesitation and without Hatach being the messenger.
לֵךְ כְּנוֹס אֶת-כָּל-הַיְּהוּדִים הַנִּמְצְאִים בְּשׁוּשָׁן, וְצוּמוּ עָלַי וְאַל-תֹּאכְלוּ וְאַל-תִּשְׁתּוּ שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים לַיְלָה וָיוֹם--גַּם-אֲנִי וְנַעֲרֹתַי, אָצוּם כֵּן
Go and gather all of the Jews of Shushan and fast for me, don’t drink and don’t eat for 3 days, night and day and I and my girls will fast.
Esther is clearly nervous. She turns to Hashem for help. And the result is that she does the difficult act, and, in the process, truly becomes a queen, capable of arguing with the King, of instructing the Jews to fight back and of commanding the Jews to keep Purim.
וַתִּכְתֹּב אֶסְתֵּר הַמַּלְכָּה בַת-אֲבִיחַיִל, וּמָרְדֳּכַי הַיְּהוּדִי--אֶת-כָּל-תֹּקֶף: לְקַיֵּם, אֵת אִגֶּרֶת הַפֻּרִים הַזֹּאת--הַשֵּׁנִית.
And Esther the queen, daughter of Avichail wrote, with Mordechai the Jew, to keep the second Purim letter.
Note that here, at the end of the story, it says that Esther wrote וַתִּכְתֹּב אֶסְתֵּר . She has grown up; she no longer blindly follows Mordechai’s advice.
The story of Esther, then, is the story of a girl growing into adulthood, of a naara learning to become a leader, a true queen. Like her, Aviva, you will stop doing only what your parents tell you and begin to think for yourself. It is our wish for you, Aviva, that you also will learn to become a leader.
Who knows, maybe this is why you became Bat Mitzvah.