Is Mordecai a hero?
Megillat Esther and all it entails
Summary: Mordecai actually imperils the well-being of Jewish people by not bowing down to Haman. Doing so does not make him a hero. He’s also not the one who has to convince the king to save the Jews. His heroism lies elsewhere in the story.
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We’ll have to reevaluate whether Mordecai, supporting actor in the Purim tale, is a hero. What, in fact, did he do? He took in his orphaned niece and raised her - that’s commendable. He overheard two guards conspiring to assassinate the Persian king and reported their plans to the authorities, resulting in their conviction and death - that’s also commendable, though perhaps not heroic. He refuses to bow down to the evil Haman after the king had decreed that everyone must do so, thus putting himself in mortal danger - that’s heroic, right?
Our tradition is actually quite ambivalent as to whether Mordecai did the right thing by not bowing down to Haman. We do know that this provocation put all of the Jews in direct and mortal danger, as Haman decided to punish not just Mordecai but Mordecai’s entire people. Was this act of defiance heroic? Justified? Worth it?
That would depend on why Mordecai refused to bow to Haman. Many reasons have been offered - perhaps Haman had embroidered some sort of idol into his clothing, and bowing to him would amount to bowing to an idol. Perhaps Mordecai refused to bow because Haman was descendent of Amalek, the arch-enemy of the Jewish people. Perhaps it was Mordecai’s refusal to bow to any power outside of God.
That last answer would be surprising, though, because there are many stories in our tradition of righteous people bowing to evil but powerful people - one of the most famous being about Ya’akov’s encounter with his estranged brother Eisav. After being away for 22 years, Ya’akov reached out to reconcile with his brother and, as they finally approached each other, “he bowed seven times, to the ground, until he reached his brother.” Not only that, but all of Ya’akov’s wives and children bowed to Eisav, as well.
Did Mordecai show he was better or holier or more righteous than his ancestor Ya’akov, by not bowing down? Maybe. The Rabbis of the Midrash offer an interesting take on this moment in the Purim story. The scroll of Esther says, ”And Mordechai did not bow." The rabbis of that generation said to Mordecai: Know that you will cause us to fall at the sword! (You’re putting us all in danger by not bowing!) Why did you disobey the orders of the king? Mordecai answers: “Because I am a Jew.” To which they respond: “But surely we find that your forefathers bowed down to his forefathers, as it is stated: "And [Ya’akov] bowed himself to the ground seven times.” Mordecai has an answer for that, too. “Binyamin, my forefather, was in his mother's womb at that time, and did not bow down, and I am his descendant. Just as my forefather did not bow down, so I too will not bow down.”
Still, is this heroic? Understandable, perhaps. Bold. Maybe even somewhat inspiring. But not heroic. Mordecai’s heroics lie elsewhere. What did he do? He showed people how to care.
Mordecai is introduced in the Megillah as Mordecai Ben Yair Ben Shim’i Ben Kish Ish Yemini - Mordecai the son of Yair who was the son of Shim’i who was the son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin. The rabbis of the Talmud, who never let an opportunity go to waste, interpret each of these names not (only) as the names of his ancestors, but for his own actions. And each of them is, surprisingly, about prayer: He opened the eyes of the Jewish people in prayer. His prayer was heard. He banged on the gates of mercy with his prayers and his prayers were heard.
If you look at the story itself, you see that when Mordecai heard about Haman’s decree to kill all the Jews, he screamed - loud, bitter. Then he went to the palace gates dressed in sack cloth. He showed everyone how deeply we can care.