The Reluctant Politician

No one is perfect but common sense and basic decency dictate that when honoring an individual or expressing gratitude for their devoted service, criticism, however true it may be, is inappropriate. Everything has a time and place.

The Megillah (Book of Esther), which was written by Mordechai and Esther, concludes with a tribute to Mordechai who continued serving as an advocate and protector for his people even after the Purim drama. “For Mordechai the Jew was viceroy to King Achashveirosh, and great among the Jews and accepted by most of his brethren; seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all their seed.”

Why was Mordechai accepted only by most of his brethren and not all his brethren after he saved their lives? And even if there were some Jews who had a negative opinion of him, why must Mordechai include this information in the written scroll of his legacy? Many important details of the narrative were preserved by oral tradition and later included in the Midrash and Talmud, and the details of his negative popularity among some could have been included there.

Our sages point out the verse’s distinction between “the Jews” and Mordechai’s “brethren.” Mordechai “was great among the Jews” - everyone adored Mordechai and revered him for his role in navigating them through Haman’s diabolical plot. Mordechai’s “brethren” refers to his peers and colleagues in the Sanhedrin - the Jewish High Court. He was a central figure in this select group of seventy brilliant scholars, the central governing authority of all Jews even in exile and the nucleus of Torah study and tradition.

Until the Purim saga, Mordechai spent the bulk of his time with the Sanhedrin, preserving Torah tradition, and teaching thousands of students, while his work in the palace was minimal. But after Esther revealed her true identity to the king and Mordechai was appointed viceroy, he was forced to cut back on his Torah study and teaching hours, to attend to matters of state.

Most of his colleagues in the Sanhedrin approved of this change in Mordechai’s schedule for the benefit of Jewish survival. Achashveirosh was still a rabid antisemite, prone to mood swings and easily persuadable, and it was crucial to keep close tabs on him. But some felt it was a shame to lose such a Torah scholar to Persian politics - and Mordechai felt the same. He viewed his ascent to global power and fame as a position to be filled out of a sense of sacred duty to Jewish survival, not the realization of a lifelong dream. He constantly yearned for the day he could once again devote every waking hour to Torah study.

In the concluding verse of the Megillah Mordechai wants us to know, that even when the most sacred duty of protecting the Jewish nation calls for a Jew to engage full-time in the mundane world, he or she must always remember that their natural habitat is in Torah study and the preservation of our glorious heritage.