9. The Midrash tells about a ship that came to an inhabited island. They sent the only Yid aboard to go to the island to bring back provisions. The Yid asked, "Why me? I’m a stranger on this island, just like you. No one knows me here. I will be all alone there..."
The captain answered him, "A Yid is never alone. As it states, אליו קראנו בכל אלקינו 'כה, when you call to Hashem, Hashem is near you, and He will help you."
Mordechai davened from the earth, and the decree was annulled."
It states (Esther 2:5), ושמו הבירה בשושן היה יהודי איש קיש בן שמעי בן יאיר בן מרדכי, "There was a Yid in the capital Shushan. His name was Mordechai, the son of Yair, the son of Shimi, the son of Kish..."
The Gemara (Megillah 12:) says that the pasuk isn't only mentioning Mordechai's yichus (because if it were, it would tell his yichus up to Binyamin). The pasuk is coming to teach us about Mordechai HaTzaddik. The Gemara says בן יאיר implies, בתפלתו ישראל של עיניהם שהאיר בן, "Mordechai was someone who enlightened the eyes of Yidden with his tefillos. שמעי בן implies, תפילתו ל"א ששמע בן, he was a person whose tefillos were heard by Hashem. קיש בן means, לו ונפתחו רחמים שערי על שהקיש, "He knocked on the doors of heaven, and they were opened for him."
We can wonder why Mordechai was named קיש, because he was הקיש, knocking on the gates of heaven. It seems more appropriate to call him יפתח, hinting at the fact that he opened the gates of heaven with his tefillah.
We can explain that we are praising Mordechai for not giving up. He knocked at the gates of heaven, and when the gates didn't open, he knocked again and again until they opened. His tefillos were answered, and Klal Yisrael was saved.
The Rambam (end of המצוות מנין) writes: "The nevi'im with the beis din established and commanded that we read the megillah at its designated time to remember Hakadosh Baruch Hu's praises and the salvation He performed for us, and that He was near to listen to our shouts, so we will bless Him and praise Him and to let the upcoming generations know that what the Torah says is true [that Hashem listens to our tefillos]. As it states (Devarim 4:7), אלוקים לו אשר גדול גוי ומי אליו קראנו בכל אלקינו 'כה אליו קרובים, 'Which great nation has a god as close to them like Hashem our G-d who is close to us whenever we pray to Him."
The word מגילה is associated with bitachon, as it states (Tehillim 22:9), יפלטהו 'ה אל גול, "Roll [your problems] onto Hashem, and He will save you." מגילה comes from the word גול, roll, associated with bitachon, which is what saved us in the era of Mordechai and Esther.
The Gemara (Megillah 15) asks, "Why did Esther invite Haman to the party...? So the Yidden won't say, 'We have a sister in the palace.'"
Initially, the Yidden trusted that Esther would help them. When Haman made his evil decree, they said, "Esther will certainly speak with Achashveirosh and annul the decree." But then Esther invited Haman to her party. The people lost trust in Esther helping them, and they placed their trust in Hashem. That's when they were saved.
Similarly, when Haman drew lots, he thought that he could destroy the Jewish nation, but the lots caused the Jewish nation to turn to Hashem and trust in Him. They felt desperate, and they turned their eyes to Hashem, and whenever Yidden turn to Hashem, they are saved. Therefore, the yom tov is called פורים, named after the פור. The פור was a positive moment for the Jewish nation because it brought them to place their trust in Hashem.
