דברי שלום ואמת
“Words of peace and truth.” (Esther 9:30)
In Megillas Esther, the Megillah is referred to as: דברי שלום ואמת – “Words of peace and truth”. This is an unusual description. Most people if asked to describe the Megillah would likely call it the book of pirsumay nisa [publicizing the miracles]. Why is the Megillah called “words of peace and truth”? How do these words personify the entire Megillah?
According to the Gaon only the first description – “words of peace” – refers to the Megillah. “Truth” refers to the Torah. The Gemara in Shabbos (88a) teaches that at the time of Purim, the Jews renewed their acceptance of the Torah. So “words of truth” refers to the Torah they accepted.
But why is the Megillah called “words of peace”, and why is this description put together with the acceptance of the Torah? What is the connection between these two themes? Clearly there is a message here?
The Megillah’s Message
Rav Yerucham (Da’as Chochmah U’Mussar vol. 1 pg.77) writes that one can come to appreciate the vast contrast between the behavior of the Yidden and of the umos ha’olam, by analyzing the people who represented each of them in the Megillah.
The Megillah gives a lengthy, detailed description of Haman’s and Achashveirosh’s behavior. Look at how the foolish king made a ridiculously extravagant party to show off his riches, only to get so drunk that he killed his own wife. See how Haman, his prime minister, a man who had the greatest riches in the world, couldn’t handle when one person didn’t bow down to him. In his rage, he ordered the murder of an entire nation. Why does the Megillah give such detailed descriptions of their actions? So that we will see the evil middos the umos ha’olam exhibit and how they lead a person to act in such a horrific manner. We should be repulsed by their behavior and learn how not to conduct ourselves.
The Middos of Mordechai and Esther
By the same token, there is much detail describing the behavior of Mordechai and Esther, two righteous people, each of them the epitome of a Yid. Through them, the Megillah teaches us how a person with exemplary middos behaves. It teaches us how a Jew is expected to conduct himself.
For example, the Megillah tells us that when Esther was brought to Achashveirosh: לא בקשה דבר - "she did not request anything” (Esther 2:15). She had no ambition to be queen of the entire world, even with all the wealth and power and honor it would bring her. She understood that these things have no real importance. She was the exact opposite of Haman and Achashveirosh. They needed everything. She needed nothing.
Another example of Esther’s remarkable middos tovos is shown when Mordechai told her to warn the king about the plot to kill him. She made Achashveirosh aware that it was actually Mordechai who deserved the credit for saving him. She could have easily taken credit for saving the king and earned great honor, but she didn’t, because being honest was of prime importance to her, more than all the honor in the world.
Similarly, we learn in the Megillah of Mordechai’s middos: ויהי אמן את הדסה היא אסתר בת דדו כי אין לה אב ואם - “And he raised Hadassah, she is Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother” (Esther 2:7). The first thing we hear about Mordechai is his tremendous act of chesed – raising someone else’s child. And when Esther was taken away: ובכל יום ויום מרדכי מתהלך לפני חצר בית הנשים לדעת את שלום אסתר – “And each and every day, Mordechai would pace in front of the courtyard of the house of the women to Know Esther’s wellbeing” (Esther 2:11). That’s caring for another person.
The Sefas Emes (Purim 5637) points out that it was a span of four or five years from the time that Esther was taken to the palace until the Purim miracle occurred. And every single day, Mordechai would go to check on her, because she was an orphan. He writes that this deed alone was enough of a merit for Klal Yisroel to merit the Purim miracle.
“Words of Peace”
If we focus on the different people presented in the Megillah, we see two contrasting personalities – Mordechai and Esther with their stellar middos representing the Yidden, and Achashveirosh and Haman with their evil middos representing the umos ha’olam. We must learn the proper behavior by analyzing both types – how to behave and how not to behave.
With this, we can explain why the Megillah is referred to as “words of peace”. Refined character traits are the root of peace between people. People with proper middos do not harbor hatred, nor do they quarrel. They are people of peace. The Megillah, which teaches us how to behave properly, is appropriately called “words of peace”.
Mordechai HaYehudi
After reading the Megillah, we recite Shoshanas Yaakov. In it, we curse Haman who, as it says: “Attempted to destroy us”. We describe the evil that he did. We then bless Mordechai HaYehudi, but we make no mention of how he saved Klal Yisroel. We simply refer to him as the Yehudi. Why is that?
Based on the above, we can answer that Mordechai merited saving Klal Yisroel simply because he acted as a Yehudi. He was the epitome of how a Jew is supposed to behave, and that is why he merited to be Klal Yisroel’s savior. There is indeed the perfect description for him – a Yehudi.
That’s a Yid
A non-frum kibbutznik, a man who did not even know krias shema, travelled with his wife to England for an operation. When he returned to Eretz Yisroel after the surgery, people who were acquainted with him noticed that he had begun moving towards teshuvah. “What happened?” asked his friends. “Why the newfound interest in Judaism?”
“I’ll tell you,” he answered. “When I was in the hospital in England, a man with a long beard came around every single morning to see what we needed. He took care of all of our needs. Growing up on a kibbutz, I never got to know ‘a Yid.’ Now that I’ve seen what a Yid is, I would like to be one as well.”
That is the definition of a Yehudi: someone with exemplary middos, someone who cares for others. This is the lesson we learn from Mordechai HaYehudi.
Middos Before Torah
HaRav Chaim Vital writes that the Torah never discuses good middos, because middos come before the Torah. Only with proper middos can one receive the Torah. This explains why the Megillah is called: דברי שלום ואמת – “words of peace and truth”, with “peace” coming before “truth”. Before mentioning the reacceptance of Torah, it stresses the middos tovos, because they are a prerequisite to Torah. At the time of Purim, before Klal Yisroel reaccepted the Torah, they had to purify their middos; they had to learn the lessons from their leaders, Mordechai and Esther.
The Megillah and the Mezuzah
The Gemara in Megillah states that the Megillah needs to be written with sirtut [lines below the words] just as is needed in the: אמיתה של תורה – “The truth of the Torah”. Tosfos in Gittin 6b explains that “the truth of Torah” refers to the mezuzah. The Megillah requires sirtut just as a mezuzah does.
The Chasam Sofer (Drashos vol. 1, pg. 246) asks, “Why is the mezuzah described as, “The truth of the Torah”, more than any other part of the Torah? Also, what is the connection between the Megillah and the mezuzah?
He explains that the mezuzah represents Hashem’s loving kindness to His children: He stands outside our homes, guarding us inside, despite this being below the dignity of a king, certainly for the King of kings. The mezuzah, therefore, demonstrates to us the extant one must go to do kindness for others. We must do for others, despite all of our reasons why it may not be in our own best interest. This, says the Chasam Sofer, is the meaning of, “the truth of Torah”. The emes and chesed of the Torah is the most apparent in the mezuzah.
Similarly, says the Chasam Sofer, the details of the miracle of Purim are based on the chesed Mordechai did for Esther the orphan. Despite being the gadol hador, he went to the gates of the palace every day to see how she was faring. He paid no attention to his own honor; he focused solely on helping another Yid. It was in the merit of this chesed that both he and Esther became Hashem’s messengers to rid the world of the evil of Amalek. The middah tovah of kindness demonstrated in the Megillah, which was the prerequisite to the reacceptance the Torah, is similar to the: אמיתה של תורה – “The truth of the Torah” of the mezuzah. It is the lesson we learn from Purim, so we too can be worthy of accepting and learning the Torah. (HaRav Yerucham Olshin)
