by Rabbi Menachem Nissel

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In order to appreciate the events described in Megillas Esther, it is crucial to understand that every reference to "the melech" -- "the king," that is, King Achashverosh -- conceals a reference to the King of Kings, the Almighty God. The story of Purim can thus be read on two levels. When read literally, King Achashverosh is the central controlling player. When read at a deeper level, the King of Kings is manipulating the people involved like puppets on a string.

Consider, for example, the episode where Esther entered the palace of Achashverosh for the weighty purpose of saving the Jewish people. She had no invitation to the palace and was therefore risking her life. In her own words, "And so, I will come to the King, which is against the law, and if I perish I will perish" (Esther 4:16). At a deeper level, Esther entered the palace of the King of Kings to save the Jewish people with the power of prayer. But she had no invitation. In other words, as the representative of
the Jewish people, she was not worthy of being saved.

Every Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, we enter the palace of the King of Kings and ask to be inscribed in the Book of Life. As we begin our prayers in the silent prayer of the High Holidays, our opening word is "uvechen" -- and so.  Avudraham teaches us that this word is inserted to invoke the "uvechen" said
by Esther before she entered the palace. On the High Holidays, when the question "who will live and who will die?" hovers over us, we all become Esther. We are all undeserving, yet we have no choice but to follow in Esther's footsteps and ask for salvation.

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                                                   UNDERSTANDING THE CONSEQUENCE

Let us learn from Esther, as we take one more look at the dramatic moments when Esther entered the palace of the king.

Esther fully understood the consequence of entering the king's palace without an invitation: it was a guaranteed death sentence. For the king to revoke a law that he himself had formulated was inconceivable. Why would the king make a mockery of himself in front of his whole royal court?

Yet there was always a chance that God would perform a miracle -- like He did for Daniel when he was cast into the lion's den, or for Chananiah, Mishael, and Azariah when they were thrown into the fiery furnace.

But this thought gave her little comfort. Even if she miraculously survived entering the palace, and even if she escaped Haman's decree, she would still be condemned to misery. As an orphan girl, the only person Esther had in her life was Mordechai, the great tzaddik of the generation, her husband and
mentor. By willfully submitting herself to the king, she would be forbidden to Mordechai. She would then have to live the rest of her days with the wicked King Achashverosh.

Furthermore, she had spent her whole life perfecting the trait of modesty. Her name, Esther, means hidden. Modesty was her very essence. It was through this trait that she had attained the status of one of the Jewish people's seven women prophetesses. And now she would be perpetually condemned to live with a man who was notorious for perversion and obsessed with immodesty.

Her life was in tatters.

But there was one thing that no one could take away from her. Even as she was about to enter the valley of death, she knew that God would always be with her. God would be her Rock to lean on. Esther girded herself with her power of prophecy; the Divine Presence, would accompany her to
Achashverosh's court. The extreme closeness to God that only prophecy can bring would carry her through her ordeal.

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                                                             MOVING TOWARD THE KING

Esther was on her third day of fasting. She removed her sackcloth and ashes and donned royal clothing -- perhaps her beautiful attire would help hide her gaunt features after not having eaten for so long. She set out toward the royal palace, comforted that the Shechinah was escorting her, yet with
constant prayer on her lips.

As she approached the courtyard of the palace she focused all her energies on her prayers. Her fate, and the fate of every man, woman, and child in the Jewish people, and the fate of all of Jewish history, was on her shoulders. Her big moment had arrived.

She entered the palace.

Disaster struck. For Esther, no greater catastrophe could possibly have occurred. The Shechinah, unable to remain inside an impure palace filled with idols, left her.

Suddenly she felt totally alone. There she was, a frail and fragile woman, who had never enjoyed parents or children, with no friends to support her, utterly alone in the most hostile environment on earth, at the most critical moment in her life. And in her moment of greatest need, God had abandoned her.

"My God! My God! Why have You forsaken me!" she burst out crying. She cried and she prayed, and she cried and she prayed, until her whole body became an ocean of prayer and tears.

What was she to do now? Her voice was too choked with emotion to speak, her eyes too filled with tears to see, and her body too weak from fasting to move. But she had no choice. She had to move forward toward the king.

Slowly, she inched her way through the seven antechambers that led to the hall of the king. Although she felt her strength waning, she channeled every ounce of remaining energy into prayer. She prayed like she had never prayed before. She begged God to see the afflictions of her soul and the suffering
of her people. She invoked every merit that she had. She implored God to remember the merit of her family, her ancestors, the forefathers, all the tzaddikim of all the generations and all of the Jewish people. Little by little, step by step, she made her way to the hall of the king.

She entered the hall. She looked up and found herself standing directly opposite the king.

Esther knew that she cut a pathetic figure at that moment. All her beauty had vanished with the trauma of her ordeal. She was a wretched Jewish girl who had just defied the most powerful ruler in the world.

The king was sitting on his throne of judgment. The magnificent hall was filled with courtiers and advisors, aristocrats and nobles. It was also filled with soldiers and the king's executioners. Haman and his henchmen were there, too. Everyone gasped with shock at the audacity of Esther's entry. How dare she enter the palace uninvited? Everyone knew the royal decree -- Esther now had to be put to death. The hall fell silent as everyone waited for the king's reaction.

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                                                             RADIANCE AND REDEMPTION

The king was fuming with rage. He started gnashing his teeth, and his eyes burned like fiery torches. His wrath was terrifying; there was no question what his intentions were. Haman savored the moment. He was waiting for a nod from the king so that he could unleash his henchmen, who were straining to
slay Esther.

Esther lowered her eyes. She was shaking inside and her heart was racing. She had to do something. She wanted to move, to speak, to just raise her head, but she could not. She completely froze. After all her fasting, prayers, and tears, her strength had finally left her.

It was all over.

And then the most extraordinary thing happened. Her head lifted up, but without any effort on Esther's part. Her face was suddenly transformed into its full radiance and beauty. Her eyes and the eyes of the king met. He was overwhelmed by Esther's charm and grace. He looked at his hand and was
surprised to find that he was holding his golden scepter, something he had never before held while seated on the throne of judgment. Then, to the absolute amazement of everyone present, the scepter miraculously started growing and reaching toward Esther. The scepter stretched to the other side
of the hall, touched Esther and then stopped.

The king arose from his throne of judgment and his face was filled with lovingkindness. He ran towards Esther and supported her frail body. "My dear Queen Esther, why did you go to all this trouble and endanger your life? But have no fear. My laws apply to my people, not to my beloved queen. What is
your request? I am prepared to grant you even half of my kingdom."

And the King of Kings arose from His Throne of Judgment, and He was filled with the attribute of mercy, as if He was saying, "This is the moment of extreme closeness that I have been waiting for. Know that as you struggled toward Me, at your moments of greatest darkness, I was with you all the time. But I remained hidden, because I wanted your efforts to be yours. My precious the Jewish people! Get up from your praying and fasting, your sackcloth and ashes. Wipe away your tears!"

The moment of redemption has arrived...

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Excerpted with permission from "RIGSHEI LEV: WOMEN AND PRAYER" by Rabbi Menachem Nissel. Published by: Targum Press, Inc. http://www.targum.com