Taanit Esther

The Purim story has many dramatic moments. The conversation between Mordechai and Esther may have been the most significant turning point in the Megilla.

When the queen is told that she must risk her life and beg the king to rescind Haman’s evil decree, she hesitates. Mordechai tells her that if she is silent and shirks her responsibility, salvation will come to the Jewish people from another place, and she will ultimately perish. Perhaps this was the reason why she was chosen as queen.

Esther accepts the challenge and asks Mordechai to gather and unite all of the Jewish people. They are to fast just as she will, and if she perishes, she perishes.

This was the turning point where everything began to turn in favor of the Jewish people. It is ironic that when Haman was being taken to Esther’s second feast, his evil wife, Zeresh, told him that he better beg for his life. It was an admission that he could never defeat the Jewish people.

We are the descendants of Avraham Avinu. A covenant was made with Hashem that his seed would live forever. Taanit Esther and Purim are a time of gratitude to Hashem that this covenant has been fulfilled. Other nations and empires have risen and fallen, but the Jewish people continue to survive and thrive. Am Yisrael Chai!