The Rosh Yeshiva begins by analyzing the narrative in Megillas Esther regarding Mordechai’s reaction to Haman’s decree. He notes the strangeness of the interaction where Mordechai, dressed in sackcloth and ashes, wails at the king’s gate, and Esther sends him fresh clothes. The Rosh Yeshiva dismisses the simple notion that Esther thought Mordechai had lost his mind or was merely acting out; rather, there is a deeper significance to Mordechai’s behavior and the specific nature of his prayer.
The Rosh Yeshiva focuses intensely on the verse: "And [Mordechai] cried a loud and bitter cry" (Vayiz'ak). He points out a glaring omission in the text: The Megillah tells us that Mordechai cried out, but it does not record what he said. The content of his prayer is missing.
The Omission of Divine Attributes
To explain this silence, the Rosh Yeshiva cites the Gemara (Yoma 69b) regarding the phrase "HaEl, HaGadol, HaGibor, v'HaNora" (The God, the Great, the Mighty, and the Awesome). He explains that historically, the prophets stopped using these descriptions during times of catastrophe:
Jeremiah saw gentiles frolicking in the Temple and asked, "Where is His Awesomeness (Nora)?" So he omitted "Nora" from his prayers.
Daniel saw the Jewish people enslaved by gentiles and asked, "Where is His Might (Gibor)?" So he omitted "Gibor."
The Rosh Yeshiva emphasizes that these prophets were "Men of Truth" (Anshei Emes). They could not lie to God; if they did not visibly witness His might and awesomeness in the world, they refused to recite those words falsely.
The Restoration of the Crown
The Rosh Yeshiva continues by explaining that the Anshei Knesses HaGedolah (Men of the Great Assembly) later "restored the crown to its former glory" (Hecheziru atarah l'yoshnah). They reasoned that God's might is actually demonstrated by His restraint and by the survival of the Jewish people—"one sheep among seventy wolves."
The Rosh Yeshiva identifies a crucial timeline: The miracle of Purim is the very event that allowed for this restoration. The survival of the Jews against Haman’s decree is the ultimate proof of God’s might in times of concealment.
Why Mordechai’s Prayer Had No Words
Applying this to the text, the Rosh Yeshiva offers a profound insight into why Mordechai’s specific words are not recorded. At the moment Mordechai was screaming "Vayiz'ak," the miracle had not yet happened. He was living in the spiritual reality of Jeremiah and Daniel—a time when God's face was hidden (Hester Panim).
At that specific moment, the standard liturgical formula of "Great, Mighty, and Awesome" had been suspended by the prophets and not yet restored by the Great Assembly. Mordechai could not use the standard prayer because, in his eyes, the attributes of Gibor and Nora were visibly absent.
Conclusion: The Definition of Purim
The Rosh Yeshiva concludes that the essence of Purim is the realization that God maintains His might even when hidden. However, during the crisis itself, Mordechai let out a raw, unstructured scream. It was a cry without a liturgy, a prayer of pure brokenness without the formal titles of God that we use today. It was only after the miracle of Purim that the Jewish people could look back at the "seventy wolves" (the nations) and realize that their survival was the true definition of God’s might, allowing the prayers to be codified for all future generations.
