Welcome back to another episode of NachDaily, with the 2^nd chapter in Megilas Esther. Three important things occur in this perek. Achashverosh searches for a new queen, Esther is chosen, and Mordechai saves the King’s life. Verse 1 opens with, “Sometime after this, King Achashverosh’s anger abated; he thought of Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her. Rashi and the Ibn Ezra explain that after the effects of the wine wore off he remembered her beauty. The Malbim maintains that he wasn’t remorseful. He remembered what he did to Vashti and now he would be able to advance his ambition to become an absolute ruler. The Ramad Walli notes that Hashem had put into his heart to remember Vashti as part of His way of setting the stage for the Jews to be saved. If not for this, the beauty contest wouldn’t have happened, and Esther would not have been queen. The king’s advisors suggested that he gather all the beautiful young virgins to choose who should be the new queen. Hegai, who was a eunuch, was the guardian over the women in the royal harem. In verses 5 through 7 the Megila interrupts itself to introduce Mordechai and Esther. “Ish Yehudi hayah b’Shushan habirah u’shmo Mordechai ben Yair ben Shimi ben Kish Ish Yemini – In the capital of Shushan there lived a Jew by the name of Mordechai, son of Yair, son of Shimi, son of Kish, a Benjaminite.” Although Mordechai was from the tribe of Binyamin, he was still called ish Yehudi, a man from Yehudah. All of us are called Jews even though we may have been from other tribes. The well-known Gemara in Megilah 12: B says that “son of Yair” refers to the fact that he illuminated the eyes of Yisrael with tefilah, son of Shimi, that Hashem ‘shama – heard” his tefilah, son of Kish means that he banged open the gates of heaven with his tefilos.

All 3 references to Mordechai have to do with prayer. In fact, his name comes from “mor-dror,” which was one of the good smelling spices in the incense offered in the Temple. As Mordechai was able to accomplish what he did through the power of prayer, each of us need to learn from him how much we must strengthen ourselves with this most powerful weapon. We should speak to Hashem in our own words every day, telling Him what’s on our mind, thanking Him and asking for our needs. This one of the reasons that Purim is such a special day for prayer. Whoever puts out a hand must be given something! When we reach out our hands in tefilah to Hashem, we will be answered. The great light of Mordechai, the “Ha’aros Mordechai HaTzaddik,” comes down every year in Purim. Asher haglah miYerishalayim im hagolah asher hagl’sa im Yichanya Melech Yehuda asher heglah Nevuchadnetzer Melech Bavel – Who had been exiled from Jerusalem with the group who were exiled along with King Yehochanya of Judah, whom King Nevuchadnetzer of Babylon had exiled.” This happened because the Jews did not return to Eretz Yisrael when they had the chance. The Gemarah in Megilah 13A: explains that Mordechai wasn’t forced to leave Eretz Yisrael. He actually exiled himself in order to help Am Yisrael. Sefer Mishb’tzos Zahav adds, in a similar vein, that Yirmiya Hanavi did the same when he left Eretz Yisrael to gather Jews to come back to the Land. We get a glimpse into Mordechai’s greatness in his sacrifice of leaving the Holy land to guide the Jewish nation in its time of need. His selfless nature is the precise role of the true tzaddkim in every generation. Mordechai had raised Hadassah, also known as Esther, who was an orphan. The Gemara in Megilah 13A interjects that Mordechai had

married Esther to indicate that she wasn’t really raised as his daughter. Pessukim 8 through 20 describe in greater detail the process by which Achashverosh prepared and selected women, which ultimately led to Esther being chosen. A “chut shel chessed – a strand of chessed” surrounded her.” As per Mordechai’s instructions, Esther had kept her birthplace and nationality secret. Mordechai would frequent the court yard of the harem to find about Esther’s wellbeing. Typically, after a woman had been anointed for 12 months, she would be able to bring with her whatever she wanted when she was called to the king. Esther, however, chose not to ask for anything beyond what Hegai recommended. Achashverosh loved Esther, and crowned her as the new queen. He made a party and lowered taxes in her honor, but she was careful not to divulge her identity. In pessukim 21 through 23, which end the perek, we learn how Mordechai saved Achashverosh’s life. One day, as Mordechai frequented the King’s gate to learn news of Esther, he overheard Bigsan and Seresh planning to assassinate the King. Mordechai told Esther about the planned assassination and she told Achashverosh in Mordechai’s name. Bigsan and Seresh were hung, and Achashverosh recorded the good deed that Mordechai did for him in his Book of Chronicles, which was essentially his diary. A quick word on Bigsan and Seresh: The Sefer Mishb’tzos Zahav explains that they planned the assassination because they wanted to make trouble for the Jews. They deduced that Esther was Jewish because Mordechai, the head of the Sanhedrin, was coming to the royal palace every day and Esther wouldn’t say where she was from! They thought that if they killed Achashverosh, people would automatically blame the Jews. The next logical step would be for people to kill Mordechai and create a huge massacre of his people, but once again, Hashem saved the day! He planted Mordechai to overhear and foil their plan, which ultimately led to Mordechai’s rise to power. Stay tuned to the next episode of NachDaily when Haman enters the scene. Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day!