What does Queen Ester have to do with the High Holidays? |
In each of the High Holiday prayer
services, we recite the word “u’vchen”, “and so…” Avudraham points out that the word “u’vchen”
was also used by Queen Ester as she prepared to go to go before King
Achashverosh in Megillat Ester, 4:15-16: Then Ester said to reply to
Mordechai: “Go assemble all the Jews that are to be found in Shushan, and fast
for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day: And I, with my maids
will fast also, and so (u’vchen) I will go to the king, though it is against
the law: and if I perish, I perish.” As we stand before God, the Supreme
king of kings, we begin with the same word that Ester uttered before standing
before the human king, Achashverosh. The Siddur, Magid Tzedek explains
that if Ester who had fasted for three days in penitence and prayer in
preparation for her appearance before the king was still terribly frightened,
then we too should remember the sacrifices that Ester made and tremble in awe
in the presence of God. Rabbi Abraham Besdin adapted Rabbi
Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s teachings in the book Reflections of the Rav.
In the section called “The Dual Character of Purim”, the Rav teaches that “Purim
is also a day of introspection and prayerful meditation. The Megillah is both a
Book of Distress and Petition. The narrative relates two stories, of a people
in a terrifying predicament and also their great exhilaration at their sudden deliverance.” The Rav goes on to say that Taanit
Ester which is commemorated the day before Purim through fasting, Slichot and
the recitation of the Avinu Malkeinu prayer sets the mood of solemn penitence.
It reflects the fear of the Jews on the 13th of Adar as they fought
their enemies. Purim day celebrates the victory and the sudden miraculous
salvation of the Jewish people. The Rav concludes: “Perhaps the
feature common to both Purim and Yom Kippur is that aspect of Purim which is a
call for Divine compassion and intercession, a mood of petition arising from
great distress.” Let us hope and pray that just as
God answered the prayers of the Jewish people in the days of Ester, so too will
He listen to our Yom Kippur prayers and seal us in the Book of Life. |