אסתר ג׳:א׳-ז׳

אחר הדברים האלה. שנבראת רפואה זו להיות לתשועה לישראל:

After these events. That this remedy was created as a salvation for Yisroel.

גדל המלך וגו'. את המן שהקב"ה בורא רפואה למכתן של ישראל קודם שיביא המכה עליהם:

King [Achashveirosh] conferred eminence on Haman. For the Holy One Blessed Is He, creates a remedy for Yisroel’s blow before He brings the blow upon them.¹Maseches Megillah 13b.

כרעים ומשתחוים. שעשה עצמו אלוה לפיכך ומרדכי לא יכרע ולא ישתחוה:

Kneeled and prostrated themselves. Because he made himself as a god;²Esther Rabbah 7:5. Alternatively, his robes were decorated with idols. (Ibn Ezra) therefore, “but Mordechai would neither kneel nor prostrate himself.”

היעמדו דברי מרדכי. האומר שלא ישתחוה עולמית כי הוא יהודי והוזהר על ע"א:

If Mordechai’s avowal would be sustained. Who said that he would never prostrate himself because he is a Jew, and was admonished against idolatry.³Esther Rabbah 7:8. When his servants told him that Mordechai refused to kneel, Haman remarked that Mordechai’s ancestors, Yaakov, Rachel and their children had prostrated themselves before Eisav, Haman’s ancestor. Upon hearing Haman’s remark, Mordechai replied that he was a descendant of Binyamin, who was born after Yaakov’s meeting with Eisav, and who had thus never prostrated himself before Eisav. Alternatively, היעמדו דברי מרדכי means “whether Mordechai’s words will avail,” i.e., if his actions were successful they would become a precedent for others to follow.

הפיל פור. הפיל מי שהפיל ולא פירש מי ומקרא קצר הוא:

A pur was cast. Whoever cast, cast, and the verse does not specify who [cast the pur]. This is an abbreviated verse.

הוא הגורל. הכתוב מפרש ומהו הפור הוא גורל הפיל הגורל באיזה חדש יצליח:

Meaning “lot.” Scripture explains; and what is the pur? “That is the lot.” He cast lots [to determine] in which month he would succeed.

מיום ליום. באיזה יום בחדש שיצליח:

For a specific day. On which day of the month he would succeed.⁴Haman felt gratified when the lot he cast resulted in the month of Adar, because Moshe died in that month so it was obviously an inopportune time for the Jews. (Maseches Megillah 13b)