אסתר ד׳:י״ג-י״ז

אל תדמי בנפשך. אל תחשבי כמו (במדבר לג) והיה כאשר דמיתי, אל תדמי בנפשך אל תהי סבורה להמלט ביום ההריגה בבית המלך שאין את רוצה לסכן עצמך עכשיו על הספק לבא אל המלך שלא ברשות:

You had better not fantasize. [I.e.,] “Do not think,” as in, “And it will be, that which I had thought.”⁴Bamidbar 33:56. Do not imagine to yourself, do not think to escape in the king’s palace on the day of the massacre, and therefore you do not want to endanger yourself now⁵Esther apparently wanted to delay going to the king. Mordechai therefore emphasized to Esther that she must not hesitate, but rather she must seize the moment and go immediately before the king and beg him to spare her people. by taking the risk of coming to the king without permission.

ומי יודע אם לעת כזאת הגעת. ומי יודע אם יחפוץ ביך המלך לשנה הבאה שהוא זמן ההריגה:

Who knows whether, at this time next year, you will retain your royal position. [I.e.,] “And who knows whether the king will desire you next year, which is the time of the massacre.”⁶I.e., who knows whether you will be spared from the decree.

לעת כזאת. שהוא היה עומד בניסן וזמן ההריגה באדר לשנה הבאה:

At this time next year. For he was presently in Nisan, and the time of the massacre was in Adar of the next year.

הגעת למלכות. אם תגיעי לגדולה שאת בה עכשיו:

You will retain your royal position. If you will attain the greatness which you now enjoy.

אשר לא כדת. שאין דת ליכנס אשר לא יקרא, ומ"א אשר לא כדת שעד עתה באונס ועכשיו ברצון:

Even though it is unlawful. For it is contrary to the law for one who has not been summoned to enter. And the Midrash Aggadah [explains], “even though it is unlawful,” [to signify], “for until now I was coerced [to live with Achashveirosh], but now [I will do so] willingly.”⁷Maseches Megillah 15a.

וכאשר אבדתי אבדתי. וכאשר התחלתי לילך לאבוד אלך ואמות, ומ"א כאשר אבדתי מבית אבא אובד ממך שמעכשיו שאני ברצון נבעלת לגוי אני אסורה לך:

And as I am bereft, so must I be further bereft. [I.e.,] “And just as I have begun to go to destruction [by appearing before Achashveirosh without being summoned], I will go and die.” And the Midrash Aggadah [explains], “as I am lost [i.e., orphaned] from my father’s house, so will I be lost to you, for from now on, that I am submitting willingly to a heathen, I will be forbidden to you.”⁸Because the Torah forbids a wife to her husband if she voluntarily had relations with another man.

ויעבר מרדכי. על דת להתענות בי"ט ראשון של פסח ששהתענה י"ד בניסן וט"ו וט"ז שהרי ביום י"ג נכתבו הספרים:

Mordechai passed. [I.e., he transgressed] the law⁹Otherwise, ויעבר מרדכי is apparently superfluous because the text further states that he implemented all her instructions. Alternatively, Mordechai actually went over (=ויעבר) a bridge. (Maseches Megillah 15a) by fasting on the first festive day of Pesach, for he fasted on the fourteenth, the fifteenth¹⁰I.e., Pesach. Although the holiday feast is obligatory, Mordechai bypassed the obligation and ordered the fast, using the special authority of the Sanhedrin to suspend such obligations in times of extreme need. (Maseches Megillah 15a) ,¹¹Midrash Esther Rabbah (8:7) is of the opinion that the three day fast was on the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth day of Nisan. and the sixteenth, for the letters were written on the thirteenth day.