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Mordechai:
Planting the Seeds
Mordechai: Planting the Seeds for Jewish Growth
Rabbi Ron-Ami Meir
"There was a Jewish man (Ish Yehudi) in the capital
city of Shushan." Thus we are introduced to Mordechai,
one of our two heroes in the Purim story. Who was
this hero? According to the midrash, Mordechai embodied
an essential attribute of Avraham Avinu: "Just as
Avraham Avinu dove into the fiery furnace and brought
others to an awareness of God's greatness .so, too,
Mordechai in his day, prompted people to appreciate
the Creator, as it says [after the fall of Haman]:
'.and many of the people of the land converted to
Judaism (Mityahadim).'" In other words, "Mordechai
unified God's name and sanctified it. This is why
he is referred to as a 'Yehudi' in the Megilah.
Don't read this term only as referring to him as
a 'Yehudi' but as a 'Yehidi'." What does this distinction
tell us?
The term Yehidi implies that Mordechai was unique
- or miyuchad ; he was unique in living a life dedicated
to inspiring the world with the message of Yichud
Hashem, God's Onenness. In the eyes of the Sefat
Emet, the wicked Haman's advisors and the villain's
wife Zeresh clearly understood the potential impact
of Mordechai's one-man outreach program. Haman is
warned towards the end of the Megillah: "If Mordechai
is from the seed of the Jews (Yehudim) - once you
have begun to collapse before him, you will never
be able to overcome him." The Amalekites and their
cohorts were well aware of the threat posed to their
worldview by such a man; they knew that should Mordechai's
theological message gain momentum its sheer irresistible
truth would sabotage Amalek's eternal battle to
wrest God from His earthly throne.
Mordechai's power to inspire is hinted at in the
expression, "If Mordechai is from the seed of the
Jews (Yehudim)." says Sfat Emet. Mordechai dedicated
himself to sowing the seeds of religious growth
in others and his efforts later culminated in large-scale
conversions: ".many of the people of the land converted
to Judaism (Mityahadim)."
In fact, the verse in Tehillim,"Or zaruah laTzadik
u' liyishrei lev simcha" - "Light is set aside ("sown")
for the righteous and joy for the upright of heart"
is a reference to Mordechai. The light of Torah
that was sown for him, he planted within others.
The arch-rival of Haman and "Zera Amalek," Mordechai
gave birth to the "Yishrei Lev" referred to at the
end of the verse. In Hebrew, the term literally
means "straight." This is a reference to Ba'alei
Teshuva who "straighten out" their lives in their
return to their Jewish roots.
In light of the above, it comes as no surprise that
Purim boasts two days - the 14th and 15th of Adar:
the former day is celebrated by Jews in unwalled,
unfortified cities; the latter, by those in cities
that were walled at the time of Yehoshua. Our Sages'
decision to award the honorary status of "Shushan"
to cities fortified at the time of Yehoshua is,
at first blush, puzzling, since the Purim story
took place hundreds of years after the time of Joshua!
The Sfat Emet's answer, "The Torah reports (Shmot,
Ch. 33) that Joshua, the lad, 'never departed from
the tent.' Like his mentor, Moshe Rabeinu, Yehoshua
valued Torah study, always finding himself b'ohala
shel Torah, in the tent of Torah. A Jew steeped
in Torah study is fortified and protected. It is
no coincidence, therefore, that our sages linked
Shushan Purim to cities that were walled during
the era of Yehoshua." Viewed this way, the 14th
of Adar represents Ba'alei Teshuva - Jews traveling
on the correct path without the years of experience
of fully fortifying themselves in Torah: Shushan
Purim, on the other hand, represents those Tzadikim
like Mordechai who had the experience and confidence
of a fully- developed Torah personality. It was
these Jews who led the battle against Amalek and
Haman.
Why then, does the Purim of the Ba'alei Teshuva,
the 14th of Adar, come first? The answer lies, the
Sfat Emet notes, with the famous rabbinic dictum,
"In a place where Ba'alei Teshuva stand - even complete
Tzadikim cannot stand." The new returnee to Judaism,
the student of Mordechai, must fight harder to develop
himself; it is thus appropriate to give a position
of prominence to the Purim of the Ba'al Teshuva,
and reward it with the 14th of Adar. |
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