ובהקבץ בתולות שנית ומרדכי יושב בשער המלך
“And when the maidens were gathered together the second time and Mordechai sat at the king’s gate.” (Esther 2:19)
We all know the story very well. Vashti refused to accede to the wishes of her inebriated husband to appear before him. In response, he in effect said, “Off with her head.” Achashveirosh woke up from his drunken stupor and realized that he needed a new wife. He held a “Beauty Contest” to choose the new queen. “...and Esther was taken to the king’s palace, under the charge of Hegai guardian of the women.” (Esther 2:8) Lo and behold, Esther is chosen as the Queen of Persia-Media.
Achashveirosh was very pleased with Esther. She was beautiful. She was charming. He had only one problem with her. “Esther refused to reveal her origins or her people...” (Esther 2:20). Apparently, this fact drove Achashveirosh crazy. For some reason, he wanted to know what she was hiding from him. The pasuk says: “Then the king made a great banquet for all his officers and his servants – it was Esther’s banquet – and he proclaimed an amnesty for the provinces and gave gifts worthy of the king’s hand.” (Esther 2:18).
Achashveirosh declared a tax holiday in the name of the Queen for all citizens of his empire in order to ingratiate himself to Esther. His plot was, if I put out this decree declaring the tax amnesty in her name, she will break down and reveal to me that which I desire to know. However, the plan did not work: “Esther refused to reveal her origins or her people.” (Esther 2:20).
The very next pasuk reads: “And when the maidens were gathered together the second time and Mordechai sat at the king’s gate...” (Esther 2:19). Suddenly, Achashveirosh holds another Beauty Contest! Why did he do that? He loved Esther! The Gemara (Megillah 13a) writes that he took counsel from Mordechai. He asked, “Mordechai, how do I get her to tell me where she is from?” Mordechai said, “I’ll give you great advice: Have another beauty contest as if you are going to pick another wife. Women are always jealous of the “thigh of their rival”! She will want to ingratiate herself to you to regain her favored status, and she will break down and tell you her secret!” The Gemara says that nevertheless, Esther still refused to reveal her origins to Achashveirosh.
What was Mordechai thinking? Did he actually think that Esther would break down because of another beauty contest and reveal her secret that Mordechai forbade her to tell? The answer is that Mordechai thought “Esther hates being there in the palace with Achashveirosh. I don’t want her to be there. I want her out of there. Takeh! Let Achashveirosh find another wife, another beauty, and let him get rid of Esther, and the problem will be solved.” In other words, Mordechai’s intent was not that this would induce Esther to reveal her origins. His intent was in fact that Achashveirosh should find another wife! Esther the righteous will be freed from this horrible situation in which she found herself. Mordechai’s plan did not work.
Let me ask: When this did not work, what was Mordechai thinking to himself? “Oy, vei iz mir! Nebach! She is still stuck in the palace! My grand plan on how to extricate Esther from this predicament did not work! Woe is me!”
But what would have happened if Mordechai would have been successful in this plan and Achashveirosh would have thrown her out and she would not have remained the Queen? The Salvation of Klal Yisroel would not have happened. This is one of the great lessons of life: Do not try to run the world. Be very careful about what you daven for. Sometimes we daven for things because we think that will bring our salvation, and they turn out to not be our salvation.
The take-away lesson from the way Chazal present this story is that sometimes we daven for something to happen in order to bring about a certain result, but if our tefillos were answered as formulated, they would have brought about the opposite result! If our tefillos appear to go unanswered, we should never think “Woe is me – Hashem is ignoring my pleas”. The Ribbono Shel Olam knows better. The Ribbono Shel Olam wanted Esther to be in the palace, and therefore nothing was going to get her out!
We see a similar phenomenon in the beginning of Parshas Shemos. Moshe Rabbeinu’s parents put him in a little basket in the Nile River to hide him from Pharaoh and to save their child. What happened? “And Pharaoh’s daughter descends to bathe by the Nile...” (Shemos 2:5) The daughter of the tyrant who ordered that every Jewish boy should be drowned is the first person to come across the floating basket! Miriam is standing a short distance away on the banks to watch what is going to be with her brother (Shemos 2:4).
When Miriam sees the daughter of Pharaoh approaching the floating basket, what must she have been thinking? “Oy vey iz mir! Of all the people in the world to come down to bathe in the Nile right now, this is the worst person who could possibly have shown up!” Miriam must have been davening with great intensity to the Ribbono Shel Olam: “Please, Ribbono Shel Olam, please do not let her notice the basket with my baby brother inside! If Bas Pharaoh sees Moshe, she will most likely drown him. He will not have a chance!”
What happens? Miriam’s tefillah was not answered! Pharaoh’s daughter sees the little baby and decides to take him into the palace, to hire his mother to nurse him, and ultimately, as a result of this, Klal Yisroel has salvation. What did Miriam think when Bas Pharaoh took the baby? “Nebach, the Ribbono Shel Olam did not listen to my tefillos! He didn’t answer me!”
And yet, what do we know? This was the yeshua [salvation]. This was another example. We daven for “X” because we think “X” is going to be good, and what unfolds is exactly the opposite of what we davened for – and it is even better than we could have ever hoped for!
We see this all the time. Someone davens for a shidduch: “Ribbono Shel Olam, I want this shidduch to go through, I want this shidduch to happen so badly! This will be the best thing in the world for me!” And then the shidduch does not work out. The person is crushed with disappointment. “Oy vey iz mir – woe is me!” Sometimes people do not realize that they have been saved from great pain!
We see this in business. “Ribbono Shel Olam, if this deal succeeds, I will be so successful...” We see this all the time.
Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, zt”l, before he came to America, applied for a rabbinic position in Europe. Someone else also applied for the job. Rav Yaakov said, “In all honesty and in all modesty, I was a much better candidate for that position in Lithuania.” The other fellow got the job. Rav Yaakov said about himself that he was very depressed about this development. “What will be with me and my family?”
Nebach, what did he need to do? He had to come to America. He came to America, eventually became a Rosh Yeshiva in Yeshivas Torah Vodaas, and was respected as one of the Gedolei HaDor. The “winning candidate” was unfortunately killed out with the entire city by the Nazis. How much did Rav Yaakov daven that he should get that position! How disappointed he was that he didn’t get that job!
But such, my friends, is life. We don’t know what is good for us and we don’t know what the Ribbono Shel Olam has in mind for us. That is why the best tefillah is “V’HaTov b’Einecha assei” [And that which is good in Your Eyes, do] and likewise “Maleh mish’alos lee’beinu l’tova” [fulfill the requests in our heart – for good!]. I don’t know what is good; You know what is good. Fulfill the requests of our heart for good.
This is the lesson that we learn from Mordechai and Esther. We also learn it from Moshe and Miriam and Bas Pharaoh. And we see it time and time again in our own lives. (R’ Frand)
