I know exactly what you’re thinking,
The Rabbi’s crazy, or he’s been drinking
I think his agile mind has gotten feeble,
Men and women, kids and teens
Are packed just like sardines,
How dare he speak when we’re in the Turner shtiebel!?
Yet the midst of great transitions
We must cling to our traditions
certain things should not change anytime
Thus I appeal to your refulgence
And beg your great indulgence
As I deliver this week’s drasha as a rhyme
In the book of Esther, Chapter four
Mordechai is at the palace door,
Wearing sackcloth, tearing clothes and crying
He found it rather disconcerting
That Esther was not at all exerting
Efforts to prevent the Jews from dying
Because to every single city,
Both beautiful and not so pretty
The satraps hurried to bring the king’s orders
That every nation state
Had to exterminate
Every single Jew that lived within their borders
To avoid the king’s #metoo abuses
Esther offered up excuses
As to why she could not stop this mortal peril
But Mordechai was not impressed
This wasn’t Esther at her best,
When she tried to send him new apparel
The text of the Megillah teaches
One of the Bible’s Top Ten Speeches,
An impassioned plea from Mordechai
He needed her to see the reality
Of her intersectionality
With the Jews, whose day of death was drawing nigh
“Do not for a moment think
That to the palace you can slink
And escape the troubles of our nation
Even if we hear your silence;
The Jews will never suffer violence
We will surely merit our salvation
If your response is misbegotten
You and your family will be forgotten
Maybe it’s for this that you are queen”
This was a successful sermon
As Esther donned her royal ermine
And went to see the king in the next scene
While Mordechai looked rather pallid,
Esther’s claims were all quite valid,
Going to the king was fraught with harm
No doubt her memories were vivid,
Of instances when he was livid,
Even when she dialed up the charm.
Would Achashverosh accept her,
And extend to her his scepter,
When she approached him in this game of thrones?
Thirty days already passed
Since Esther had been summoned last,
This situation had quite nasty undertones
And even in the case he stated
Mordechai equivocated
Hedging when he should have gone for broke
He said, “Who knows? Could be your time”
Which isn’t quite the paradigm
Of what you say to render someone “woke”
To awaken her compassion,
He should have said, in forceful fashion,
“This is absolutely why you’re here!”
Indeed, many a commentator
Said he tried to agitate her,
The doubtful language played upon her fear,
But Mordechai had full belief
That she would bring about relief,
This was the reason for her coronation
But Rashi and some others read
This statement as a sign of dread,
That she missed the chance to benefit her nation,
He wasn’t so sure after all,
Why she was in the royal hall
And if she didn’t act with utter haste
For every second she might waver,
They could lose the time of favor,
Never to return, and what a waste!
No doubt Esther had heard a dozen
Mussar shmuessen from her cousin,
It’s no surprise that this one hit the spot
Because in lacking surety,
He spoke to the insecurity,
That we should be thinking about a lot
It is in Mordechai’s suggestion,
That we find the burning question,
That we should always move ourselves to ask
Until Hashem brings down the curtain,
On our lives, we can’t be certain,
What is our divinely ordained task
Of course our sages clearly stated,
That, in broad terms, we’re created
To study Torah and do Hashem’s command
Well, that statement, while terrific,
Is quite global, not specific
But what is our own role in what God planned?
Is there a moment or an action
With which I give God satisfaction
And fulfill my purpose in the world?
Perhaps through action that’s heroic
Or being quiet, acting stoic
That our Godly banner is unfurled-
And possibly we haven’t reckoned
That this moment could be a split second,
When no one sees, you give a nice word or a smile
Through coming one day to a minyan,
Or not expressing an opinion,
You might just make your entire life worthwhile,
That’s why this question is so essential,
Each of us has the potential,
To maximize our purpose to the hilt
But we have to live without
Knowing when they come about,
These moments upon which our lives are built
On this Purim, it’s our mission
To live with more enhanced cognition
Of the accomplishments that are in our capacity
And may every one of us prevail
In every challenge and travail
As we demonstrate our spiritual audacity.
© 2018 Rabbi Ariel Rackovsky
shaarerabbi 