When the Megillah introduces us to Mordechai, it tells us not only his name, but the names of several of his ancestors, recording that he was Mordechai the son of Yoir the son of Shimi the son of Kish. Why does the pasuk mention all these ancestors, especially when the commentators point out that these were not his direct father and grandfather, but more distant ancestors? The Gemara in Megillah (12b) explains that each name teaches us something: 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”.
The Vilna Gaon writes that humans have four senses: sight, hearing, smell, and speech. Three of these are needed for the purpose of learning Torah: Sight to see what one is studying, hearing to listen to one’s teacher, and speech to share knowledge with others. The sense of smell has no connection to Torah study. Rather, its place is in the Avodah (Divine service) in the Beis HaMikdosh, as the pasukim in the Torah that discuss the korbonos repeatedly describe them as a: ריח ניחוח לד׳ – “a pleasant smell to Hashem.” Today, when we do not have korbonos, our tefillos take their place.
The Gemara in Chullin (139b) says that Mordechai is hinted to in the beginning of Parshas Ki Sisa, where the Torah lists the spices that were used to create the anointing oil. The first of the spices is called: מר דרור – pure myrrh – which the Targum translates into Aramaic as מרא דכיא, which sounds like Mordechai.
The Vilna Gaon explains that by linking Mordechai to the choicest of all the spices, the Torah is teaching us that he is the most connected to the concept of davening which corresponds to the sense of smell. For this reason, he had all four of the senses in his tefillos, as he lit up the eyes of the Jews with his entreaties, Hashem listened to his tefillos, he knocked on the doors of Mercy by expressing his petitions, and his very name and essence connote that his tefillos were the epitome of a:ריח ניחוח לד׳ – “a pleasant smell to Hashem”.
Extending this concept, the Haggadah Shel Pesach Reiach Duda’im cites the Rambam’s opinion (Hilchos Klei HaMikdosh 1:3) that the pure myrrh in the anointing oil was made from the blood of a non-kosher animal from India. The Raavad disagrees vehemently, arguing that no part of a treif animal could ever be used in the Beis HaMikdosh. The Kesef Mishneh defends the Rambam by suggesting that because the substance in question is dried out and ground into a fine powder, it is legally considered a new object and therefore permitted even though it originated from a non-kosher animal. Even so, why is Mordechai specifically alluded to in an object that has such questionable origins?
The Medrash comments on a pasuk in Iyov (14:4) that says: מי יתן טהור מטמא, by explaining that the pasuk is referring to the concept of something pure emerging from an impure source, such as the porah adumah making one person tahor but another person tomei. One of the examples given is the pure and holy Mordechai who was descended from the impure Shimi ben Geira. The fact that Mordechai’s name is hinted to in conjunction with a treif animal that according to the Rambam finds its way into the Beis HaMikdosh alludes to this Medrash.
As far as why Mordechai’s name is hinted to in the Targum instead of in an actual pasuk in the Torah, a sefer called Divrei Purim points out that a critical event in the Megillah involved Mordechai’s knowledge of other languages which enabled him to discern the plot of Bigsan and Seresh, who spoke in a foreign language assuming that nobody would be able to understand them. Mordechai’s name is therefore hinted to in the Targum’s translation of the Torah into a foreign language.
Although the Gemara provides an allusion to Haman in a pasuk in Parshas Bereishis, Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld suggests that he is also hinted to in the section of anointing spices together with Mordechai. All the 11 spices are fragrant except for חלבנה – “galbanum” (Shemos 30:34) – which has a foul odor. Not surprisingly, the word חלבנה has the same numerical value (95) as Haman. (R’ Ozer Alport)
