It was pretty obvious that Esther was destined to be the queen. Mordechai spent all the effort required to prevent this and tried to hide her from being exposed. The name Esther means hidden. What’s puzzling is that many commentaries say that she was not Mordachai’s niece but actually his wife.
There are two important hints that Sages are disclosing to us about Esther. She is the descendant of King Shaul and the comparison to our matriarch Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
The Sages bring an interesting passage relating the time when she prays to G-d in which she beseeches:
“My G-d you have forsaken me. Why have the order of the world and the order of the matriarchs changed to go against me? Sarah was held captive and Pharaoh was punished. I have been placed in the bosom of a wicked man all these years and you have made no miracles for me”.
Ester was Queen over 127 countries, the same amount of years that Sarah lived. Sarah was taken from her husband, however was saved from living with Pharaoh. Esther was not. For whatever reason, the soul of Sarah which might very well be Esther had to go through the torture of living with a barbaric king.
The connection to her ancestor, King Shaul, is revealed when Mordechai informs Esther to go to the king now. She protests and says he didn’t call me. No one goes to the king without being called. Mordechai answers in a most unusual way and says that if you don’t go, someone else will be the one chosen to do this important mission. You and your ancestors will be lost.
Esther was the secret weapon to fix the mistake of her ancestor, King Shaul, who did not kill off all of the Amalekim (the nation that’s an enemy to the Jews). She has now come to kill off Haman who is from the genealogy of Amalek.
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