ארור המן אשר בקש לאבדי ברוך מרדכי היהודי ארורה זרש אשת מפחידי ברוכה אסתר בעדי
“Cursed be Haman who sought to destroy me, blessed be Mordechai the Jew. Cursed be Zeresh the wife of my terrorizer, bless be Esther who shielded me.” (Shoshanas Yaakov Piyut).
After we finish reading the Megillah, we sing the piyut known as Shoshanas Yaakov, in which we proclaim that Haman and his wife Zeresh are cursed, while Mordechai and Esther are blessed. At that point, we have already finished reading the Megillah, and it is quite clear that Mordechai and Esther had much happier endings than Haman and Zeresh, so why is it necessary to reiterate this self-evident point, and what lesson is it coming to teach us?
The Vilna Gaon explains that the term: ברוך – “blessed”, refers to a person who may have endured terrible suffering, but eventually comes out happy. On the other hand, somebody who is: ארור - “cursed” might enjoy lengthy periods of great success and joy, but ultimately his end will be bitter. The Lekach Tov explains that in the Megillah, Mordechai experienced tremendous anguish: He was exiled from Israel, Esther was forcibly taken away from him and given to Achashveirosh, and he was challenged and threatened by Haman. However, in the end, Mordechai ultimately enjoyed success, as he wore royal clothing, received Haman’s estate, and his name and reputation were respected throughout the land.
Haman, on the other hand, initially achieved unparalleled bounty and blessing. He had wealth, honor, children, and power. As a result of his anger at one individual, he had the ability to issue a decree to destroy an entire nation. However, although Haman seemingly had it all, his end was one of disgrace and humiliation, as everything he knew and had was reversed in a matter of hours.
This is the lesson of the Megillah. Many times in life, we see people around us who seem to have it all, yet no matter how hard we try to perform Hashem’s will, nothing ever seems to go our way. Since Chazal would not have included Megillas Esther in Tanach unless it had a relevant message for every generation, it is insufficient for us to view it as a one-time historical event, for its message is eternal and relevant to each of us. We therefore reiterate in Shoshanas Yaakov the triumph of Mordechai and Esther over Haman and Zeresh to help us internalize the recognition that if we follow in the spiritual paths of Mordechai and Esther, the time will ultimately come when we will merit following in the footsteps of their success and happiness as well, and indeed, many have the custom to add: ברוכים כל הצדיקים ארורים כל הרשעים – “Blessed are all the righteous, and cursed are all the wicked”.
As we learn from the Megillah, there is often much more going on beneath the surface than meets the eye. Although Hashem seems even more hidden today than in Mordechai and Esther’s era of hester ponim, that just means that our job is that much harder to look behind the veil and discover the hidden miracles that are still taking place for anybody who wants to find them.
There is a well-known tzaddik in Yerusholayim named Rav Gamliel Rabinovitch, to whom people turn for berachos and advice with all types of problems. He once related that he once took a trip to some kevorim in the North of Eretz Yisroel. Along the way, he noticed a tall office building that had just been built and was advertising for tenants. There was a large banner near the top of the building that said: מלמעלה הכל נראה אחרת – “From up high, everything looks different”. He pulled over and took a picture of the sign, and when he returned home, he had it blown up and taped to the inside of one of his closet doors. He explained that often, when people open up and share their pain, they express it in a way that seems to question Hashem’s treatment of them. When that happens, he opens the door and shows them the sign with the message: מלמעלה הכל נראה אחרת – From up High with a capital H, there is another perspective, and the situation may appear quite different.
Even in the Megillah itself, where Hashem’s name is not mentioned a single time and He appears to have abandoned us, He is still there protecting us through Mordechai and Esther. (R’ Ozer Alport)
