28 Feb ESTHER, ONE OF THE GREATEST WOMEN OF ALL TIME PART TWO

Last week, we pondered the question of why the sages chose to call the

megillah Megillas Esther instead of

Megillas Mordechai v’Esther or Megillas

Purim. An interesting reason

for the choice of this name is in a very

different understanding of the words

‘Megillas’ and ‘Esther’ which can be

translated, “Revealing that which is

hidden.” In order to understand this

concept, we must answer another

great puzzle. Why is Hashem’s Name

absent from the entire megillah? In

general, even in casual speech this is

almost unheard of. A Torah Jew always

has Hashem’s Name upon his or

her lips. When something good occurs,

it’s ‘boruch Hashem’ or ‘adank

d’Eibishter!’ When discussing plans,

it is ‘im yertzah Hashem,’ or ‘b’ezras

Hashem’ or ‘b’siata d’Shmaya.’ Indeed,

when Yaakov disguised himself

as Eisav and asked his father for the

blessings, Yitzchak said, “Come close

so I can feel you and see if you are

indeed my son Eisav.” Rashi explains

that what made Yitzchak suspicious

was the fact that Yaakov (rather than

Eisav) regularly used Hashem’s Name

in his speech, and that was the embodiment

of Hakol kol Yaakov, the

voice of Yaakov. So it is truly confounding

that the megillah, whose

primary purpose is persumei nisa, to

broadcast the miracle, has not one single

mention of Hashem’s Name.

The most elementary reason

for this omission is fact that the megillah

was also inserted into the chronicles

of Paras and Madai. Esther knew

that if she would put in Hashem’s

Name, the Persians and the Medes

would substitute It with the names of

their pagan deities. This would be a

transgression of the Torah commandment,

“V’sheim elokim acheirim lo

saskiru – The name of other gods you

should not cause to be mentioned.”

The only way to avoid this was delete

Hashem’s Name entirely from the entire

megillah.

However, a deeper reason

why Hashem’s Name does not appear

in the entire Megillah is to emphasize

the fact that there was hester panim,

a concealment of Hashem’s involvement

throughout the drama of Purim.

As the Gemora teaches us, “Esther

min haTorah minayin? Where do

we see an allusion to Esther in the

Torah? – It says, Anochi hasteir astir

ponai – I will surely conceal my presence.”

The purpose of the Megillah

is to reveal that although Hashem was

not readily apparent, He was actually

pulling the strings during every moment.

Thus, because Mordechai was

in Shushan, Achashveirosh ‘decided’

to move his capital to Shushan. Because

Vashti was so wicked, Achashveirosh

could not control his drink

and he had her executed. And the list

goes on… Thus, another reason why

it was called Megillas Esther is because

it is a document that reveals that

which is hidden. For the word megala

means ‘to uncover,’ and the word ester

means ‘that which is concealed.’

Rav Avigdor Miller, Zt”l,

Zy”a, explains yet another reasons for

the name Megillas Esther. He says it

is to proclaim that the great wisdom of

Esther allowed the miracle of Purim.

For example, when Mordechai commanded

Esther after her initial hesitation

that she must go in and risk her

life to petition for her people, it was

Esther who made the incredible suggestion

that all the Jewish men, women,

and even the infants of Shushan

should fast an incredible three day,

72 hour, fast. This

unheard of deathdefying

feat is what

truly saved the Jewish

people. The

Chasam Sofer, Zt”l

Zy”a, explains that

if you spell the ineffable

Name Y-K-V-K in malei, in

a complete manner (as follows Yud

= yud vav daled, Hei = hei yud, Vav

= vav yud vav, and Hei = hei yud), it

equals 72. These were the 72 hours of

Esther’s fast. Furthermore, 72 is also

the gematria of the word chesed, kindness.

All of this was wholly Esther’s

idea – and it saved the Jewish People.

Another example of Esther’s

profound wisdom was her informing

Achashveirosh of the assassination

plot against him and reporting it in the

name of Mordechai. Mordechai never

instructed her to do this. He was more

than happy that Esther should find favor

in the king’s eyes and thereby be

more secure while she was with this

madman. But, Esther wisely reported

it in the name of Mordechai which

was a truly critical turning point in the

salvation of our people. Because of

Esther’s wisdom, Charvona doomed

Haman in front of Achashveirosh with

the declaration, “There is also the gallows

which Haman built to hang Mordechai,

the same person who saved

the king’s life!”

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