“And on the spoils, they never set their hands.” (Esther 9:10)
After the death of Haman, Mordechai issued a new decree sealed with the king’s ring giving the Jewish people permission to kill all their enemies and plunder their possessions (8:11). Although they adhered to Mordechai's instructions in slaying their foes, the Megillah stresses that they did not take any of the spoils. Why not?
The Ralbag writes that Shaul was commanded by Shmuel to destroy the Amalekites and their possessions but erred by keeping some of their animals alive (Shmuel 1 15:9). The Jews in the Megillah rectified this sin when they were given explicit permission to take their enemies’ belongings yet refrained from doing so. Rav Aryeh Leib Tzintz offers an allusion to this explanation by noting that the first letters of the four words that record that they abstained from the spoils can be rearranged to spell Shaul.
The Imrei Emes adds that it took tremendous self-control for the impoverished Jews to restrain themselves and not take any of the booty. They had a legitimate opportunity to improve their financial circumstances, but they all passed it up for the sake of heaven. Hashem rewarded them by giving the mitzvah of matanos l’evyonim, which obligates us to seek out the poor and give them gifts to make up for what they declined to take in the times of the Megillah.
