לזכות ר' אפרים אבא בן מרים שושנה וכל בני ביתו לברכה והצלחה בכל מעשי ידיו
Mordechai hears of the terrible decree and puts on sackloth as a sign of mourning [Esther 4/4]. What was Esther's reaction when she hears? ותשלח בגדים להלביש את מרדכי ולהסיר שקו מעליו - She sends clothing to dress Mordechai and to remove his sackloth.
That is SOOOO weird. It is like one sees his friend who is an aveil wearing socks and he sends him shoes so that he will have what to wear on his feet.
The aveil doesn't lack shoes, silly! He is wearing just socks as a sign of mourning. So too, Mordechai was wearing sackloth as a sign of mourning and not because he lacked clothing. As Rav Hutner put it at his Purim Seudah [1972 and 1978 - see his רשימות לב] - Did Mordechai lack his Kapoteh? Of course not! So why did Esther send him clothing??
The Heilige Avnei Nezer explained that she was in effect saying that he should not do things in such a public manner and he should hide his feelings - encloth them, so to speak. That was the middah of Esther - Hester [hiddeness].
The Heilige Vilna Gaon explained that she wanted to speak to him in order to see how she could help and for that he had to approach the palace which required that he first change his clothing [כי אין לבוא אל שער המלך בלבוש שק]. Mordechai didn't accept her offer because he felt [as Rav Chaim Freidlander and Rav Dovid Soloveitchik both suggested - and see also Malbim] that the correct hishtadlus was to cry out and wear sackloth and he couldn't interrupt for even a minute. When Hashem is running the show [as He always is] and the correct hishtadlus is tefillah - nothing "practical" may get in the way.
Rav Hutner [ibid] explained based on the gemara in Yoma [69] which says there was a period where the Jews couldn't say about Hashem גבור ונורא - strong and awesome - because he was hiding his might and allowing the Goyim to reign. Only after the miracle of Purim [see Maharsha there] were those words restored. This was then a time when prayer was in a state of בלבול - discombobulation and confusion. Divine Providence was not evident. Esther sent Mordechai clothing as if to say "Daven in royal clothing and not in the clothing of mourners". Mordechai was not willing to accept her approach since this was a time of בלבול and thus the order of the day was to daven in sackloth.
That also explains why it says ויזעק זעקה גדולה ומרה - He cried out a great and bitter cry. OK - he cried out in prayer but what did he say? The answer is that this was a time when tefillah was not מבורר - clear, so all he could do was let out a primal, visceral scream of pain.
The Megilla says that Mordechai was בן יאיר - the son of Yair which alludes to the fact שהאיר עיני ישראל בתפילתו - He lightened the eyes of the Jews with his tefillah. We now understand the two types of tefillos [royal and through mourning] and Mordechai's enlightening approach.
DELICIOUS!!
