Two Nobles

“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” – Esther 4:14 Today, we continue the story of Esther. There are two key nobles: Mordecai, a Jew who is Esther’s cousin and adoptive father, and Haman, the ambitious and ruthless prime minister. Haman is so disliked that the king must order everyone to bow to him—a gesture that should come naturally, like shaking hands. Imagine if a decree required you to shake someone’s hand; you’d assume that person was not well-liked. While others obey, Mordecai refuses to bow to Haman. Outraged, Haman plots not only Mordecai’s death but the destruction of all Jews in the kingdom.  To heighten the fear, Haman casts lots (the “purim”)