Purim Derasha 5765
Towards the end of Megilat Esther, actually in the last Pasuk, the Megilah tells us something about Mordechai, who we know was one of the heroes of the miracle of Purim. The Megilah writes ‘Ki Mordechai HaYihudi… ViGadol LaYehudim’, that Mordechai was great among the Jewish people, ‘VeRatzui LiRov Echav’, that he was accepted by the majority of his brothers. What is Megilat Esther trying to telling us? Why is it writing that Mordechai was accepted by the majority of the people? The Gemara further writes on this, ‘Rov Echav Vilo Kol Echav’, that Mordechai did not receive total universal acceptance by every single person in the Jewish nation, but the majority of the people were happy and pleased with Mordechai. So what is the point of this statement?
There are many people in life who seek approval from and try to please everyone. These people go to every extent in order to find favor in the eyes of others. They try to win over affection of others by false flattering them, by agreeing with them when they really don’t agree, and placate them, and give in to their wants. It’s usually a person with low self esteem and with low confidence who feels unlikable, who believes they have to sell themselves in order to gain likeability and affection of others.
Megilat Esther is teaching and telling us that a true leader does not succumb to such feelings. A good leader is self confident for he knows he has good qualities and is decent. Such a leader understands and accepts that there will be some people who disagree with him or not like him. He knows that there is nothing wrong with him necessarily, and acknowledges that he can’t please everyone. He does not take it personally and it does not cause him to become depressed. The leader understands that it is impossible to please all the people, but it is however possible to please the majority of the people. And this is the lesson we learn from this Pasuk in Megilat Esther.
Even our great leader Moshe Rabbeinu who had the greatest talents was not able to please all the people. After all, Korach and his cohorts usurped the authority of Moshe.
So from here you see why Mordechai was so successful. When he told the Jews not to go to the party, many of the Jewish people argued with him and told him that it was a mistake. So if he were a people pleaser, he might have acquiesced and not gone to the party. The greatness of Mordechai was that even though there were many antagonists against him, he nevertheless stood strong in his conviction and opinion. He accepted the fact of ‘Ratzui LaRov Echav’ that it is OK to be accepted by the majority of people. He accepted that it is the problem of those select few oppositional individuals if they chose to disagree. That was one of the traits that made Mordechai a ‘Gadol L’Yehudim’, a successful leader among the Jewish people.
Let this be a great lesson to us. We of course want to be friendly with everybody, but that is practically impossible. With good qualities and proper demeanor, one will have a healthy self esteem and good confidence level about himself, and as such he will not be bothered or affected by those people who contradict him, or who do not like him, or have a criticism on him. Being ‘Ratzui LiRov Echav’, being accepted by majority is the goal.
