Secret of the Megillat Esther

By Avi Lazerson for Jewishmag.com

The secret of the Megillat Esther is deduced from its name. The word Megilla has two meanings and the word Esther has two meanings. Megilla traditionally is interpreted to mean a rolled document such as the scrolls that were rolled up in the ancient and medieval periods of history (before the invention of paper). The second meaning of the word is to expose, from the word in Hebrew, âìåé. The word Esther is traditionally interpreted to mean a women's name. The second meaning of the word is concealment, from the Hebrew word to hide, ìäñúéø.

Using the second meaning of each word Megilla Esther literally means to expose the hidden.

In the Megilla itself we find a very interesting phenomena. This is the only book in the twenty four books of the Bible, the five books of Moses, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings which does NOT have in it, even one time, the name of G-d. Yet it is included as a Holy Book. Why is it that not only the name of G-d is not mentioned, but even a hint of the existence of G-d is not mentioned?

To understand why this is, it is necessary to understand miracles. What is a miracle? Very simply speaking, we say that a miracle is a change in the state of nature for a specific event. As an example, the splitting of the Red Sea, when the Jewish People left Egypt was a miracle. Why? Simply because the nature of the water is not to stand upright but to fall down until it reaches the lowest place possible. When the Jewish People left Egypt, the sea split in half. Each side stood like a wall, and the sea floor became a dry path. This existed only as an escape route for the Jewish People at that time. This is called a miracle. This was a suspension of the laws of nature for a particular time and purpose.

Another example was the turning of the water of the Nile into blood. A large body of water like the Nile (picture the mighty Mississippi) with all it's tributaries suddenly turning into sickening blood! It's not natural. Yet this was also a suspension of the laws of nature for a particular time and place.

Now one of the most popular questions of today seems to be: If G-d did miracles for the Jewish People then, why doesn't he do it for us now? It's a good question. The answer is this: The truth is that there are two types of miracles: the hidden miracles and the open miracles. What is the difference between them? Simply, the open miracles are like the examples above. The hidden miracles are different. A hidden miracle is one that happens in the guise of nature. The event that G-d wants to take place, takes place, but in a totally natural manner, in a manner that can be called a "coincidence".

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