A quick thought on Megillat Esther

וַיֹּאמֶר מָרְדֳּכַי, לְהָשִׁיב אֶל-אֶסְתֵּר:  אַל-תְּדַמִּי בְנַפְשֵׁךְ, לְהִמָּלֵט בֵּית-הַמֶּלֶךְ מִכָּל-הַיְּהוּדִים.  יד כִּי אִם-הַחֲרֵשׁ תַּחֲרִישִׁי, בָּעֵת הַזֹּאת--רֶוַח וְהַצָּלָה יַעֲמוֹד לַיְּהוּדִים מִמָּקוֹם אַחֵר, וְאַתְּ וּבֵית-אָבִיךְ תֹּאבֵדוּ; וּמִי יוֹדֵעַ--אִם-לְעֵת כָּזֹאת, הִגַּעַתְּ לַמַּלְכוּת


What does Mordechai mean when he says "ומי יודע אם לעת כזאת הגעת למלכות"?  Who knows if for a time like this you arrive(d) at the malchut (monarchy/majesty)?

I always understood it to mean, and my informal poll of 5-6 people in town confirms it, that Mordechai is saying to Esther:  Maybe this is why you are here, as the Queen-- to save the Jews at a time like this!

Indeed, this is how Ibn Ezra explains it.

However, Rashi seems to take a very different explanation.  He understands Mordechai as saying:
Who knows if --לעת כזאת at another time like this one--
הגעת למלכות--you'll get the chance to be close to the King's favor.

Rashi notes that the decree, and this scene, happen in Nissan, and the actual date set for the destruction of the Jews is almost a year later, in Adar.

What drives Rashi to an explanation like his instead of taking the more obvious reading of the Ibn Ezra (and everyone else I've asked)?

I think it's because at the beginning of verse 14, he says "If you are silent at this time, salvation to the Jews will come from somewhere else."   The words בעת הזאת mean "at this time".   But the verse would mean the same thing without those words, i.e. if it said "If you are silent, salvation to the Jews will come from another place."

Rashi, I think, sees the words  "at this time" as superfluous according to Ibn Ezra's understanding, and understands Mordechai in a way that gives them meaning:

If you are silent at this time--the time of the decree--salvation to the Jews will come from somewhere else.  . . . And who knows,    אם לעת כזאת if at the next time like this--the time of the killing-- you will have access to the King.



Note: I have some things that I published after each Shabbat for Parashat Yitro and Mishpatim.  Drop me an email if you think I should post them, even though the time for those parshiot is past for this year.