Grabbing the Moment
A few years ago, I was privileged to share in a magnificent experience the South African Jewish Community has labelled Sinai Indaba. Five thousand Jews came together in the city of Johannesburg to share and study Torah and there are no words to describe the passion, excitement, warmth and the inspiration we all shared for 24 magnificent hours.
One of the speakers, Charlie Harari, shared an idea that really got me thinking: This coming week we will read the book of Esther and celebrate Purim. It’s interesting that we call the story of Purim the book of Esther, because Esther is a pretty unlikely heroine, to say the least; if there was ever a person not in control of her life, it was Esther.
At the start of the book (really the Scroll) of Esther, she seems to have absolutely no will of her own; in fact, her name Esther comes from the Hebrew word seter, which means hidden; she is as far under the radar as you can imagine.
When the Persian King Achashverosh has the Queen executed and decrees he will inspect all the women of the land to find a new Queen, all the other beautiful Jewish women go into hiding. After all, this is not simply a talent interview, this means being sequestered for six months in the King’s harem, until he has a chance to ‘sample the goods’. But Mordechai (her Uncle?) suggests she should go sign up so she… goes. No argument no debate just: “ok”!
Then Hegai, who is responsible for getting these girls ready for the King is trying to figure out which perfumes and oils and beauty treatments Esther wants, and her response seems to be ‘whatever ‘!
Her attitude seems to be: ‘who me?’ one senses she’s not quite sure what she is doing there but certainly does not consider herself worthy of winning the contest…
And then when she is actually crowned queen with Mordechai watching from the sidelines (in satisfaction?), she just… disappears; we don’t hear a peep from her; she is a non-entity; she is just … hidden. Even when the wicked advisor Haman gets the king to decree that all the Jews be murdered in a single day, Esther, who is the Jewish Queen, does … nothing! And even when Mordechai tells her she has to go save the Jewish people and speak with the King, Esther’s response is basically: ‘who me?’ not much I can do; not allowed to barge in on the King after all; her plan is to do… nothing?!
And yet the next thing we know, it all turns around; Esther not only petitions the King at risk of her own life, she confronts the most powerful Advisor in the realm, in the process revealing herself as a Jew and puts everything on the line! She will then tell her Uncle what he should do (“Go and gather all the Jews…”), and even subsequently suggest to the King himself: the Jews of Shushan need another day … to kill more Persians!
And she will ultimately decree to the Jewish leadership what the Jewish people should do… forever!
So how does hidden, quiet, meek, malleable Esther, become the powerful Queen who will change the course of history and become ensconced in Jewish lore forever?
Quite simply put: she has a ‘moment’.
Mordechai comes to the front of the palace in sackcloth and sends Esther a message: ‘We need you! Go to the King!’ And Esther seems horrified, even embarrassed: Mordechai is a mess, so she sends him nice clothes and it is his response to her (Esther 4:14) which changes everything:
“And if you will now remain silent, salvation will come to the Jewish people from some other place and you and your family will be lost; Who knows but that for this moment you have reached the Palace?!” (Esther 4:14)
This, says Mordechai, is your moment, and you need to grab it. Because once it passes, it will not return. In this moment you will make your mark, you can change destiny, if you will but confront your greatest fears.
You are living, says Mordechai, a life of mediocrity; swept along by the different forces that come your way. You need to seize control of your life, because the Jewish people and even the world, deserves better. It’s time to come out of hiding; it’s time to shine.
It is interesting that we call the book of Esther a megillah, a scroll, not a book. The word megillah also comes from the word nigleh: revealed; Purim is all about the hidden-ness becoming revealed. That’s why we unroll the whole scroll and it’s all laid out when we read it, because Purim is all about revealing the hiddenness. Hashem (G-d)’s name is not mentioned in the story of Esther because we have to find G-d even though he seems to be hidden; we have to see Hashem’s hand in history though it may be hard to discern.
And lost in the culture of Persia, the Jewish people’s greatness needs to be revealed as well.
And most of all, we need to find the hidden greatness within ourselves….
Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem,
Binny Freedman