The following is a summary of a fascinating shiur that R' Mansour said last Thursday Night. Since its Shushan Purim somewhere, this is hopefully still timely, and if not, its still great Torah. Same ground rules as always apply. Its not a complete transcription, but the main concepts are here. Any perceived inconsistencies are the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Mansour.
In the fourth perek of Esther there is a dialogue between Mordechai and Esther wherein he asks her to go to Achasveros and ask for the Jews to be saved because of Haman's decree. He is quite urgent and insistent, even though the decree against the Jews was not going to be put into effect until eleven months later, in the month of Adar and the dialogue takes place in the month of Nissan. Esther agrees to go and asks that Mordechai order that the Jews fast for three days, even though it would mean there would be no Pesach Seder that year.
As part of this dialogue, Mordechai says כִּ֣י אִם־הַֽחֲרֵ֣שׁ תַּֽחֲרִ֘ישִׁי֘ בָּעֵ֣ת הַזֹּאת֒ רֶ֣וַח וְהַצָּלָ֞ה יַֽעֲמ֤וֹד לַיְּהוּדִים֙ מִמָּק֣וֹם אַחֵ֔ר וְאַ֥תְּ וּבֵֽית־אָבִ֖יךְ תֹּאבֵ֑דוּ וּמִ֣י יוֹדֵ֔עַ אִם־לְעֵ֣ת כָּזֹ֔את הִגַּ֖עַתְּ לַמַּלְכֽוּת . Many people focus on the end of the pasuk, but R' Mansour asked - what is it about Esther's father's family which will suffer a loss if she does not act?
R' Mansour by quoting the Alshich who links this to Esther's forefather Shaul and Haman's forefather Aggag. Shaul had been ordered to wipe out Amalek, but he left Aggag alive for one more night and he wound up fathering a child that night. And now, Esther was given an opprtunity to fix Shaul's mistake and if she did not, her and his lineage will be lost.
Rabbi Mansour then tied this into a pasuk from Shmuel which absolutely blew me away. The discussion of Shaul's failure to follow the decree is found in Shmuel I 15. In 15:28, the navi writes וַיֹּ֚אמֶר אֵלָיו֙ שְׁמוּאֵ֔ל קָרַ֨ע יְהֹוָ֜ה אֶֽת־מַמְלְכ֧וּת יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל מֵעָלֶ֖יךָ הַיּ֑וֹם וּנְתָנָ֕הּ לְרֵעֲךָ֖ הַטּ֥וֹב מִמֶּֽךָּ . Shmuel tells Shaul that the kingdom will be taken from you and be given to a friend who is better than you.
The language is familiar to anyone who read Esther as Memuchan tells Achasveros in Esther 1:19 - אִם־עַל־הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ ט֗וֹב יֵצֵ֤א דְבַר־מַלְכוּת֙ מִלְּפָנָ֔יו וְיִכָּתֵ֛ב בְּדָתֵ֥י פָֽרַס־וּמָדַ֖י וְלֹ֣א יַֽעֲב֑וֹר אֲשֶׁ֨ר לֹֽא־תָב֜וֹא וַשְׁתִּ֗י לִפְנֵי֙ הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵר֔וֹשׁ וּמַלְכוּתָהּ֙ יִתֵּ֣ן הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ לִרְעוּתָ֖הּ הַטּוֹבָ֥ה מִמֶּֽנָּה . This is an unwitting prediction that the role of Queen will be given to a friend who is better than her.
R' Mansour also noted that the reason for Mordechai's urging of Esther to act is also to fix the mistake of Moshe and counteract Amalek. In Parshas Beshalach when Moshe appoints Yehoshua to lead the Jews into battle against Amalek the Torah tells us that Moshe's arms grew weak. But why could he not keep his arms up? The Targum Yonatan Ben Uziel explains that Moshe was punished because he delayed and said to wait another day before going to war.
R' Mansour quoted the Sar Shalom M'Belz on Parshas Yisro who explained an odd Rashi. Rashi explains that Yisro came to convert because he heard of Krias Yam Suf and the Battle with Amalek. But this is what the Torah tells us already that Yisro came because he heard all that Hashem had done in taking the Jews out of Egypt! So what is Rashi teaching us? That when Amalek came it was Vayavo - this is coming in haste, when the rest of the world wanted to slow down and look at all that was done for the Jewish people. Amalek says - if we sit an look at us, then we wont come and fight. Rashi is explaining that Yisro came with the same alacrity - I heard that Amalek came in haste right after the Jews left Egypt, so I too will come in haste to convert to Judaism.
R' Mansour noted that this middah of haste for Amalek comes from Esav who was running and trying to leave the womb when Rivka passed by a house of idol worship.
R' Mansour then quoted R' Friedman who noted that Amalek attacked when we were tired וְאַתָּ֖ה עָיֵ֣ף וְיָגֵ֑עַ (Devarim 25:18) - because Amalek jumps when we delay acting to do mitzvos. And when Shaul delayed killing Aggag, it allowed Amalek again to procreate and led to the downfall of Shaul.
This brings us to Esther and her discussion with Mordechai. She tries to convince Mordechai that she should not go immediately to Achasveros. But Mordechai understood, we need to act swiftly to fix the sins of the past.
R' Mansour then noted that Haman picked his lottery date to wipe out the Jews and sends his letters. He then tells his wife about how he hates Mordechai and she tells him to make a tree to kill him. But he does not wait to tell Achasveros about his plan, he goes in the middle of the night (Esther 6:6) - וַיָּבוֹא֘ הָמָן֒. And the only reason that Haman shows up is because he had previously been at the first party that Esther made and when he left he saw Mordechai. But if Esther does not make that first party on Pesach, Mordechai is not mentioned to the king and if Haman shows up before that, there is no person mentioning to Achasveros that Mordechai had saved his life.
In this we see that Esther came and fixed the sins of the past by being quick to counteract Haman, the latest iteration of Amalek.
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