When Opportunity Knocks

by Rabbi Mordechai Rhine

Rabbi Akiva’s students were having a rough day. Perhaps they had been up late the night before diligent in their studies. Or, perhaps they had been up late helping out at home. No matter. It looked like it was going to be one sleepy day in the yeshiva. Rabbi Akiva decided to get their attention.

Rabbi Akiva asked: What did Esther see that enabled her to rule over 127 provinces?

Rabbi Akiva replied: Esther looked at the 127 years of Sora’s life. That is what empowered her.

The Medrash records this incident in Rabbi Akiva’s life because it was apparently an effective way to wake up and galvanize the students. What is the deeper meaning behind comparing the provinces over which Esther ruled to the years that Sora lived?

One of the great traditions about Sora’s life is that her years were all equally good [Rashi]. One wonders how Sora’s life can be considered “good.” Didn’t she struggle through many challenges? For example, Sora wandered with Avraham for many years. She didn’t have a child for many years although she desperately wanted one. She was taken captive by a king and held overnight. How can Sora’s life be defined as “good”?

Apparently, despite the challenge, frustration, and possibly even pain, Sora was able to realize that life is meant to be lived to the max. In the life situations in which Hashem places us, we are meant to be the best we can be. Perhaps, one day–later–we will be shown why we had to go through a difficult chapter of life. Maybe it was a gateway to be well positioned for future blessing. Perhaps there was a different reason. But, either way, our job during the challenging time is to be the best we can be.

Esther, of the Purim story, found herself in a difficult situation. She was taken by force to be held by the king, to be his queen. Esther could easily have succumbed to her situation as queen over 127 provinces. She could easily have become depressed over the situation as a captive in the king’s palace. She could have viewed her queenship over the provinces as 127 problems. Or, she could have dropped her Judaism and Jewish identity in an effort to blend in. “What made her rise above the situation, and remain a loyal, well focused person who ruled over her situation as queen of 127 provinces?” wondered Rabbi Akiva to his students.

Rabbi Akiva answered, “Esther looked at the 127 years of Sora’s life,” which were also challenging. Yet, our tradition about Sora is that she viewed her life as “good.” Somehow she maintained the perspective that if Hashem placed me in this situation, it is my job to be at my best. Every challenge is an opportunity to be the best we can be. “Just as Sora was held captive in a king’s palace,” Esther thought, “So am I held captive. Just as Sora stayed strong and ruled on her situation, so must I. I must not let the challenge get the better of me.”

Rabbi Akiva chose to share with his sleepy students this intriguing connection between Esther and Sora because he wanted them to become heartened and likewise try their best. Both Esther and Sora encountered challenging situations, maintained true to their ideals, and passed their respective tests with flying colors. But not all of life’s challenges are so dramatic. Sometimes life challenges come in more mundane forms like feeling sleepy just as Rabbi Akiva is about to give the shiur. Rabbi Akiva’s message is: True, you may be encountering hindrances which make it difficult for you to focus. Be empowered; rule over your situation. Do not let the situation rule over you.

The Chofetz Chaim (d. 1933) writes in a letter to the Cantonists (young Jewish boys who were kidnapped by the Czar to serve in the Russian army), that if they stay loyal to their Jewish upbringing even as the Czar tries to tear them away from it, they will look at these challenging years as the best years of their lives.  This is true whenever we feel that challenges are knocking at as. Challenges are opportunities for us to shine. Hopefully we will one day see how the situation we were put in was to position us for great salvation. But either way- in the great challenges, and in the mundane ones- it is up to us to try to rule over the situation, with serenity, with equanimity, and with the enormous power of Hashem’s salvation.

With best wishes for a wonderful Shabbos!

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