In two weeks time we will be reading Megilas Esther. R’ Elimelech Biderman is known to ask: What is the difference between Megilas Esther and Megilas Eicha?
Megilas Eicha is five perakim, Megilas Esther contains ten. In Esther, all of the tzaros are described in the first five perakim. The sixth perek already contains the words “ba’layla hahu'' which begin the tale of the yeshuos.
This teaches us that there are two parts to everything that happens in this world. The first is that of hester, the periods in which we experience pain and difficulty, when we do not understand what is happening and why we are enduring such pain. The second part is taught to us by Megilas Esther: That which we thought was bad was actually good - it was the very beginnings of the salvation.
In our lives today we may only perceive the first part - the tzaros detailed in Megilas Eicha. But we must realize that there is a second, as occurred in Megilas Esther. Then we will see the reality that everything that occurred in our lives, as difficult, painful, and unjust as it may have seemed, was building towards our salvation.
This is why Klal Yisrael brought only half a shekel to the Mishkan. As explained above, the half shekels and the adanim that they formed, represented emuna. But the first lesson in emuna is to realize that you only have half in your hand. You may think you have the full picture but in reality, you are only seeing part of it. Only Hashem has the master plan.
