Walking the walk: Actualising Your Mission

Purim 5782 

By: Netanel Siegelman

Walking the Walk: Actualising Your Mission

Much of what I am going to write, you perhaps already know. Still, I believe it is relevant both to Purim and to our lives. 

Esther / אסתר as we understand from the Megillah was an attractive, yet modest woman. Not only that, but for quite some time, she was, in a way, 'hidden' from the outside world. We can infer this from the fact that

1. Her name, אסתר, is a form of the Hebrew word מוּסתָר which means 'hidden'. In one way, you might be able to look at her name and separate the letter א and סתר, and form the words אני סתר 'I am hidden.' It seemed like for a while אסתר had this mentality, and that in part held her back. 

2. For her to perform most of her actions that involved King Achashverosh, she had to be convinced by Mordechai.

For much of her life, including during the time in which King Achashverosh wished to find a new wife from all the unmarried women of Shushan, אסתר seemingly was reluctant to involve herself in matters that - unbeknownst to her - would change the course of Jewish history. It seems she was afraid - of Achashverosh himself, of her being revealed to a king notorious for his tyrannical and licentious behavior; or perhaps afraid of change. Whatever the justification, she seemingly remained hidden and did not change. Only once Mordechai - he himself was unsure if or how the Jewish people could be saved from Achashverosh and Haman - persuaded אסתר to appear to the king did she agree. 

A similar instance happened, after אסתר had become queen, in which Mordechai strongly encouraged אסתר to appear without permission before King Achashverosh in his private chamber, in order to start requesting from Achashverosh to lean towards assisting the Jewish people in their survival. Mordechai famously said 'Perhaps this was the reason you were chosen to be queen.' An interpretation of what Mordecai said was, 'Certainly this must have been the reason you were chosen to be queen. Stop hiding from doing what you need to do. You are no longer hidden; you are in the most revealed position alongside this king. Haman has publicly defamed and declared destruction against the Jewish people. Therefore, you must do what must be done on behalf of the Jewish people, in a public way, since you are the best person for that mission.' 

After Mordechai spoke with her, אסתר enacted three important deeds: 

1. She declared that the Jews should fast and pray

2. She entered the king's sector and uttered her plea (the first part of it) on behalf of the Jewish people. 

3. She established two feasts that involved Achashverosh and Haman: the first at which she was able to gain more of Achashverosh's trust; the second at which she courageously and truthfully declared that Haman planned to execute the Jewish people, at which Haman attempted to sleep with her, and Achashverosh subsequently got angry with ordered the execution of Haman (and his sons). 

[Mordechai also acted on behalf of the Jews in public - not bowing down in front of Haman, praying and fasting for and with the Jews, riding on the kings horse (with Haman leading the horse), fighting for the Jews' survival, helping write the Megillah, and so on. He ultimately demonstrated the quality of public courage, on the inside and outside. Mordechai, on the outside, was another Jew, who did not have any position of authority, but who expressed openly his defense of and sacrifice for the Jewish people towards those who were in authoritative positions. That is what he wished to impart to אסתר - who, while in the highest authoritative position in which a woman could be, a queen, had felt inadequate and supposed to be hidden from the big moment.]

Many of us, including myself, are uncertain about which areas of our lives we can and should be courageous and bold. We are afraid of big battles and life-changing moments, even objectively positive experiences. We would rather stay in our room, hidden from the world, involved in our own business. So many times, we do nothing. That decision to do nothing might feel 'comfortable' at first - we might think no person or thing seems to be a threat to us or actively in need, no goal or task needs to be completed at this moment. However, this path ultimately harms us and others. Why? Because we may easily fall into a pattern of irresponsibility, having an uncaring attitude, depression, anxiety, and confusion. The other choice we have in front of us is to act, even a little bit, sometimes publicly, in hopes of a better outcome. Let's attempt to choose the latter as much as we can.

I hope you had a celebratory and life-changing Purim. Let's continue to change our lives and the lives of others, in the hopes of Moshiach coming now and helping us return to HaShem and to His holy city, Yerushalayim, with the Ultimate Redemption. 

(If you wish to contact me or write a comment, please email me at siegelmann22400@thejec.org)