28 Feb OUR GIRL IN SHUSHAN

The world may be fascinated with the
Royals from across the ocean, but we, the
Jewish nation, have our own Royals to
learn from and emulate.
The news media is following Kate
Middleton’s wardrobe, but we look up to
Queen Esther who clothed herself
splendidly. “Vatilbash Esther malchus,
Esther donned royalty.” (Megillas Esther
5:1)
While Megillas Esther is translated as the
Scroll of Esther, it can also be understood
as l’galos hester, to reveal the hidden,
alluding to the fact that HaShem’s name
doesn’t appear in the Megillah.
The miracle of Purim was hidden. The
Megillah is not only a book of hidden
miracles, but also a book of hidden
messages within its verses.
“Vatilokach Esther, Esther was taken” to
the palace of Achashverosh. (ibid 2:16)
The Megillah emphasizes that Esther did
not choose to go to the palace, but that

she was “taken”. Imagine Esther, a young
orphaned girl, alone in the palace of an
enemy of the Jewish people. There,
during those dark, difficult days, Esther
was not only a survivor, but a fighter,
speaking up for the existence of her
people.
What was Esther’s secret, from where did
she get her power? While she clothed
herself royally, it wasn’t the silk, satin or
velvet that gave Esther strength, but the
spiritual armor she enveloped herself
with.
In Hebrew, the last three letters of Esther’s
name are samach, suf, reish, spelling the
word sayser, meaning “hidden”. “Esther
had not revealed her background or her
people.” (ibid 2:10) Mordechai had
instructed Esther to keep her true identity
under wraps, hidden from Achashverosh.
He understood that her becoming queen
was no coincidence, but part of HaShem’s
plan. Mordechai reasoned that if she
revealed her background too soon, she
might lose the opportunity for which she
was planted in the palace. His advice to
Esther was to let the story play out,

waiting to reveal herself at the proper
time.
Esther’s name begins with an aleph.
Aleph for Echad, the One and Only
HaShem. Aleph for emunah, strong
belief and faith. Aleph, for achdus, the
unity amongst the Jewish people that
Esther brought about. Aleph for avos, the
z’chus avos, the merit of her ancestors
that were with her.
Esther’s royal clothes were a beautiful
tapestry of turning to the Echod, the One
Above with tefillah. It was interwoven
with strong emunah, faith, belief and trust
in HaShem. Esther turned to Mordechai
instructing him “Leich k’nos es kol
haYehudim, Go and gather all the Jews”
before approaching the king. (ibid 4:16)
Threads of achdus, tying it all together.
And finally, Esther drew upon her avos,
the strength of her father, as Esther was
bas Avichayil, Avi, my father, chayil my
strength.
Was Esther afraid? Of course she was.
But she was able to rise above her fears
and worries by clothing herself royally.
By adorning herself with the “aleph”,
as she presented her plea before
Achashverosh. She truly felt that
HaShem was walking with her. Her
royal, spiritual garments empowered
her to become a true malkah, a queen of
Am Yisroel, the heroine of her people.
HaShem brought about hatzalah,
salvation to the Jewish people through
a young orphaned girl. A message for
all future generations. A message for us
all – one should ever feel alone and
abandoned, like an orphan, because
HaShem is always with us. (Midrash
Esther Rabbah 6:7).
Esther requested that her story be
recorded for future generations,
enabling all of us to learn from her
experiences. Each of us has a life
mission. Not necessarily in a palace,
but in our homes, our schools, our work
environment, our communities. It’s up
to us to fulfill our task and know that
HaShem assigns each person a life
mission that he or she is capable of
fulfilling.
The Jewish people in Persia merited to
experience a miracle. A ve’nehapach, a
total turn-around from a day that was
marked for pain and tragedy to a day of
joy and celebration. When the miracle
came, it came quickly, as we see in the
words of the Megillah: “Then the king
commanded, tell Haman to hurry and

fulfill Esther’s wish.” (Megillas Esther
5:5) The king said further to Haman,
“Hurry, get the clothes and the horse as
you have spoken, and do so to Mordechai
the Jew.” (ibid 6:10)
My mother a”h shared a haunting
Holocaust memory in her book, Life Is a
Test:
“My brothers and I agreed that the one
word that stands out most in our minds
from our Holocaust experiences was
“Schnell.” The Nazis were constantly
yelling, “Schnell! Schnell! — Quickly!
Quickly!”
We had to leave our homes quickly.
We had to climb into the cattle cars
quickly.
We had to march from the railroad station
to Bergen-Belsen quickly.
We had to ready ourselves for roll call
every morning quickly.
And they stuffed and shoved millions of
our people into the gas chambers —
quickly.
Oy Tatte Zeese, if it was so urgent for
those evil ones to quickly bring about our
demise, then surely, Almighty G-d, our
Tatte Zeese, it should be even more
urgent for You to bring us, Schnell!
Schnell! — Quickly! Quickly! — our
redemption speedily in our own day.
We, Your children, are very tired — two
thousand years is a very long time.”
Purim is truly an auspicious day to daven
for the ultimate redemption. There is a
well-known mandate that on Purim, “kol
haposhet yad nosnim lo, anyone who
stretches out their hand is given!”
Whomever requests tzedakah is given –
no questions asked. It’s time for us to
utilize the eis ratzon of Purim, to open
“our” hands and beseech HaShem for our
needs, for refuos, healing, for yeshuos,
salvation, for an end to the terrible
tragedies that are befalling our people in
Eretz Yisroel and around the world. It’s
time to ask for the geulah b’korov, for the
redemption to come quickly.