The war against the axis of evil that surrounds us has revealed the faith hidden in the hearts of the masses of the people. Soldiers asked for tefillin, Psalms, and tzitzit. The families of the kidnapped asked the public to pray for their loved ones, to light Shabbat candles in their honor, and to multiply other mitzvot. We saw the miraculous manifestations of faith that arose in the kidnapped precisely in the dark inferno.
Some had difficulty containing this burst of faith and tried to attribute all the achievements to human efforts. Hatufa excitedly thanks the crowds who prayed for her, and someone responds to her that she was released thanks to the deal and not thanks to prayers...
The story of Purim teaches us that human action and miracles go hand in hand. The miracle does not have to occur in a situation where a person does nothing. The miracle can be clothed within our actions, and instill a heavenly success that is beyond estimate.
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Mordechai understood.
When Haman's edict was announced, Mordecai could have determined that it stemmed from the wicked Haman's hatred of the Jews, his envy of them, his arrogance and conceit, the frivolity of King Ahasuerus, and his tendency to accept bribes ("ten thousand pieces of silver"). Ostensibly, he should have focused all his activities in these directions.
But Mordechai understood that natural causes, by themselves, were still powerless to inflict such a terrible decree on the people of Israel. He knew that the decree was only possible because the divine protective wall that protects the people of Israel was damaged. He also assumed that the reason for this was, as the Sages say, because they "enjoyed the feast of that wicked one" – the mass participation of the Jews in the feast of Ahasuerus, which amounted to turning their backs on God and His Torah.
Mordechai combined the two axes of action. He sent Esther to work to repeal the decree in earthly ways, and at the same time worked to repair the spiritual breach. He called for repentance, fasting, prayer, and a cry to God Almighty.
He was certain that when the people of Israel corrected the spiritual reason for the decree, it would also yield success on the earthly and natural levels.
Integration, not contradiction
Purim imparts to us a great and central foundation in the perception of Judaism. Some tend to separate faith and earthly life, out of the mistaken perception that they contradict each other. When they encounter a problem, they react in one of two opposing ways: some will say, 'Everything is from above,' and in any case, all we need to do is pray; and some will say, 'We need to act in the ways of nature,' and therefore all our attention should be invested in earthly-natural activity.
The truth is that there is no contradiction between the two. Back in the wilderness, Moses warns the people of Israel not to think that "My power and the might of My hand have made this army for Me." He makes it clear to the people: "And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to make an army." Success depends on the Creator's blessing, and without it, human efforts are likely to go to waste. And yet, action is required with earthly tools, because it is the Creator's will that man act in the ways of nature.
Indeed, we all see how recently regional and global developments have miraculously worked out for the benefit of the people of Israel, just as the events in the story of the Scroll worked out, until they created the "and it shall be overturned, that the Jews themselves shall rule over those who hate them." Yes, we shall have it!
