Purim: What Mordechai Discovered When He Returned to Shushan

by Rav Netanel Yosifun, translated by Hillel Fendel

Scholars of the Bible and Rabbinic writings know that the Scroll of Esther took place at roughly the same time as the beginning of the Book of Ezra. We're talking about the early days of the Persian Kingdom, when King Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to their Land and build the Holy Temple. However, not long afterwards, the Gentiles living there succeeded in persuading the king to rescind the dispensation – leading to a "construction freeze" of 18 years. Only when the Prophet Haggai arose and transmitted G-d's word to get up and resume construction did the building resume, and the Persian approval was received afterwards, retroactively.

During that period, only a small minority of the Jewish People moved back to the Land: just over 43,000 people. The others did not heed the prophetic call, and preferred to remain with the fleshpots and other enjoyments of the exile, in Shushan and elsewhere in the Persian empire. The story of the Megillah (Scroll of Esther) took place over a ten-year period, during the course of the above-stated 18 years. 

But this raises a well-known question: Why did Mordechai HaYehudi, the great righteous man, remain in Shushan, when he had a chance to return to our Holy Land and rebuild Jerusalem and the Holy Temple? Actually, we read in the Book of Ezra (2,2), that Mordechai was one of the leaders of those who did return to the Land of Israel – which means that he later returned to Shushan! Why did he do this?

The Ralbag (14^th-century Biblical commentator, known as Gersonides), resolved this question, and others, by explaining, based on the Midrash Yalkut Shimoni, that Haman was of Amalekite roots. The Ralbag continues that Haman was sent by the Gentiles living in Eretz Yisrael to convince the Persian king to halt the building of the Temple. Opposite him was Mordechai, who was the emissary of the Jews of the Land of Israel, charged with persuading the king to allow the construction to go on. 

And so, beneath the surface of the Megillah and its recounting of Haman's decree and Israel's salvation, a hidden struggle was underway regarding the Beit HaMikdash. 

This leads us to another important insight. In actuality, there were two groups within the Nation of Israel at that time [ed. note: and at many other times…]. There was a minority group that made Aliyah to the Land with great self-sacrifice to build the Temple, and then there was the majority who remained in Exile. Mordechai was sent to Shushan in order to persuade the king to allow the Temple to be built – but once he arrived, he discovered something very significant.

He witnesses King Achashverosh holding a giant banquet, using the very vessels taken decades before from the Beit HaMikdash! Not only that, but the king was wearing the holy garments of the High Priest, and essentially, the Gentiles there were celebrating what they believe was the great failure of the Prophet Yirmiyahu in predicting that the Jews would return to their Land after 70 years. The goyim were rejoicing in their perception that the Temple will never be rebuilt and the Jewish People would never be redeemed, Heaven forbid (Tr. Megillah 11b). This is, of course, a great mistake on their part, but the big problem for Mordechai is that he sees the Jews of Shushan taking part in this celebration. They do not do this willingly, of course, but it still shows how far they are from their brethren in Eretz Yisrael, and how estranged they are from the Holy Temple. 

When Mordechai sees this, he realizes that he has a new mission, replacing at least temporarily his mission to the king. He sees that before he can persuade the Persian king, he has to first connect the entire nation to the Land and the Temple, and foster within them feelings of love and longing for the Beit Hamikdash. He knows that this is a prerequisite so that the Temple soon to be built will be not only for the Jews of the Land, but for the entire nation. 

And after nearly ten years, Mordechai succeeds in his new mission. Our Sages teach us that when Haman came to Mordechai, at the king's command, to lead him to the Royal Horse and be given royal honor, he found Mordechai teaching Jewish children the laws of the Omer. This means that the children of Shushan were learning laws relating to the service of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. And that very day, everything turned upside down: Haman was hanged, and with him his plot against the Jews, who were soon allowed to defend themselves against their would-be killers – and within a few years, the Holy Temple was rebuilt.

Thus we see that a person does not necessarily know his true mission. Sometimes, G-d wants one to do something different than what one thinks and plans. In our generation too, it is fitting that we work to connect the entire nation to Torah, to sanctity, and to feelings of yearning for the building of the Beit HaMikdash – speedily in our days!