It is well known that Mordechai HaTzaddik was the amud hatefillah [pillar of prayer], he was the prime example of the power of tefillah. Chazal darshen (Megillah 12b) the pasuk: איש יהודי היה בשושן הבירה ושמו מרדכי בן יאיר בן שמעי בן קיש איש ימיני, to mean, בן יאיר – “the one who enlightened the eyes of Klal Yisroel with tefillah”, בן שמעי – “the son who Hashem listened to his tefillos”,בן קיש - “the one who banged on the gates of mercy and they were opened for him”.
We see from the above Gemara that the tefillos of Mordechai is what brought the salvation for Klal Yisroel.
There is an additional Gemara, however, which also talks about Mordechai HaTzaddik. The Gemara in Chullin (139b) asks: “Where is a mekor [source] for Mordechai in the Torah?” and the Gemara answers: מר דרור ומתרגמינן מירא דכיא – “It writes in regard to the spices taken to make the anointing oil, flowing myrrh and we translate mor deror into Aramaic as: mira dachya, which resembles the name Mordechai”.
The above Gemara needs explanation, what is mira dachya? And where is the name of Mordechai hinted at in the words mor deror? The Chasam Sofer has around twenty different p’shotim explaining the above Gemara. However, I would like to bring a novel explanation that I saw brought down from R’ Naftoli Kopshitz shlita.
It’s well known, that the gematria [numerical value] of the word,עמלק , is the same gematria as the word,רם , which means exalted. This teaches us, that the yesod [foundation] of Amalek’s tumah, which represents the yetzer horah, is haughtiness. Haughtiness, and the feeling that one is able to achieve what he wants without needing to come on to help from the Ribbono Shel Olam is what Amalek stood for. When one feels the above very strongly, he is being influenced directly by his yetzer horah. However, even if one only feels this on a very slight level, he is still being influenced by his yetzer horah.
The word רם , which means exalted, is made up of the same letters as,מר , which means bitter. One who feels that he is exalted and suffers from haughtiness will in the end, end up being מר, feeling very bitter. Someone who doesn’t subjugate himself to the Ribbono Shel Olam, will end up feeling very bitter.רם brings one to the feeling of מר.
Haughtiness and bitterness go hand in hand, where there is one normally the other one can also be found. Mordechai was the exact opposite of the above. The biggest opposition to Haman was Mordechai. The,זה לעומת זה , the thing that Hashem created to stand in opposition to Haman was Mordechai. If Haman stood for the ultimate haughtiness and in turn the ultimate bitterness, then Mordechai who stood in opposition to Haman, stood for the ultimate humility and happiness.
מר דרור, which can be translated as free from bitterness, refers to Mordechai who was the exact opposite of Haman. This is also pshat in the Targum of מר דרור, which is מירא דכיא. The expression of דכיא , is an expression of purity, this represents Mordechai who was pure from any bitterness.
The yesod of Mordechai, the tefillos of Mordechai, which as we explained above brought the salvation, were able to achieve what they did, because they were said with complete subjugation (hachnoh) to the Ribbono Shel Olam. Mordechai subjugated himself completely to the Ribbono Shel Olam and didn’t take credit for anything - the complete opposite of what Amalek stood for, as a result, he merited that his tefillos were answered.
Being Boiteach [Having Faith] that Hashem Will Answer
There is another important aspect of tefillah that we can learn from the miracle of Purim, a very yesoidosdika [fundamental] lesson in tefillah.
When one davens, besides for completely subjugating himself to the Ribbono Shel Olam, one must have complete emunah and bitochan that Hashem will answer his tefillos. If one davens and believes in his tefillos, his tefillos will be much more powerful. When a person believes that his tefillos have a koach [strength] to go to Shomayim and change his matzov [status], then it is much more likely that his tefillos will in fact be able to do so.
If, however, when one davens he thinks to himself, who says my tefillos will be answered, who says I am worthy, I have so many aveiros why should Hashem answer me, etc., etc., then it will be much harder for him to get his tefillos answered.
If, however, one davens and believes 100% that even though he is not worthy his tefillos will be answered, his tefillos will be answered much quicker. Subjugation together with complete bitochan that one’s tefillos will be answered, are two things which will ensure that one’s tefillos will be answered.
A person who lives with the understanding that even the tefillah of a lowly ba’al aveirah has the possibility of being answered, is much more likely to have his tefillos answered. If one doesn’t believe in the power of tefillah, and one is in doubt if his tefillah has any weight behind it, it he will find it much harder to get his tefillos answered.
We find the above yesod in the Gaon’s pirush on the siddur (Avnei Eliyohu) where he explains something very strange that happened in Megillas Esther.
We say in Shemonah Esrei three times a day the words: משען ומבטח לצדיקים – “Support and trust of the righteous”. The Gaon explains on a deeper level the meaning behind the above. He explains, that even though Hashem is trustworthy with those tzaddikim who trust in Him and always answers their tefillos, sometimes before they even have to ask for things, Hashem drops a hint that He is there waiting to help them and reminds them that they shouldn’t lose trust in Him.
The Gaon cites two examples, one of the examples he brings is, that before Haman was hung on the gallows, Hashem arranged that Haman led Mordechai through the streets and proclaimed, “So shall be done to the man who the king wants to honor”. Why did Hashem do this, surely, he could have saved them without it? The Gaon explains, the reason Hashem did this was to help Klal Yisroel strengthen their bitochan and trust in Him before He ultimately redeemed them.
When a person davens to Hashem without bitochan that his tefillos will be answered, his tefillos aren’t so powerful and they are very likely to go unanswered. Therefore, sometimes Hashem gives a person a mishon - something to lean on, some support, something to show the person that Hashem wants and desires him and that He is prepared to listen to his tefillos. With this reminder, Hashem wants the person to daven and trust in Him, and ultimately Hashem will be able to redeem him.
This is what happened, explains the Gaon, in the Purim story. The entire story of Haman leading Mordechai around on a horse and proclaiming, “So shall be done to the man the king wants to honor”, didn’t need to happen in order to annul Haman’s decree. In fact, the decree was annulled because of Esther, so why did Hashem cause the above episode to happen, why did Hashem want Haman to lead Mordechai around on a horse? Hashem orchestrated the entire sequence of events to give Klal Yisroel a boost in bitochan and remind them that they have hope and that they should trust in Him. משען ומבטח לצדיקים. Through Hashem showing Himself, he is reminding and giving Klal Yisroel chizuk that they should trust in him. Achashveirosh ruled over the entire world, Haman was second in command to the king, there was a decree to destroy all the Jews,
there was nowhere to run to, and what happened next? Mordechai sits on the back of a horse and Haman leads him through the streets. This gave Klal Yisroel hope, this reminded them that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and it helped them see that Hashem was with them, even in these dark times. This gave them a mishon, something to lean on. As a result, they strengthened in their bitochan in Hashem, which helped them to daven better, as a result their tefillos were answered, and consequently the gezeirah was annulled.
Without this complete bitochan in Hashem the gezeirah would have remained in place. Only because Hashem gave them this mishon, and arranged that Haman lead Mordechai through the streets, were they able to remain strong in their bitochan and were able to daven and consequently annul the decree.
Based on the above yesod, R’ Itzelah Blazer explains a difficult Gemara in Rosh Hashanah. The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah (18a) writes, that there can be two people that go to beis din to be judged if they deserve the death penalty or not, and it can be that they both have done the same crime, and this one survives and this one doesn’t. Asks the Gemara: “How can it be that this one survives, and this one doesn’t?” Answers the Gemara: “Because this one davened and was answered and this one davened and wasn’t answered”. Asks the Gemara: “Why was this one’s tefillah answered and this one’s not?”. Answers the Gemara:זה התפלל תפילה שלמה נענה וזה לא התפלל תפלה שלמה לא נענה - “This one davened a complete heartfelt tefillah and so was answered, whereas this one didn’t daven a complete heartfelt tefillah and so wasn’t answered”.
Asks R’ Itzelah, surely if one is standing in beis din, and is being judged if he should live or die, and his life depends on the outcome, he davens a complete tefillah. What does the Gemara mean, “this one didn’t daven a complete heartfelt tefillah and so wasn’t answered”?
R’ Itzelah explains, true that both of them certainly davened from the bottom of their hearts to Hashem. However, one of them davened to Hashem with complete bitochan that Hashem will listen to his tefillah and believed that his tefillah had power. The other one, however, davened to Hashem because he thought, “maybe my tefillah will work maybe not, I have no other option so I might as well daven” however, he doesn’t believe so strongly in the power of tefillah. Since he davened without complete bitochan that Hashem answers all tefillos, however bad a person may be, Hashem didn’t accept his tefillah. (Based on a shmooze given by R’ Naftoli Kopshitz shlita)
