Psalm of Esther: 22:2: Alshich ha-Kadosh

“My Lord, my Lord, why have You abandoned me; why so far from delivering me and from my anguished roaring?” The repetition of the word “my Lord,” has been explained as reflecting Esther’s dismay that the Holy Spirit had departed from her when she entered the king’s throne chamber with its idolatrous images.

Her anguish was expressed thus, “my Lord,” if You were my Lord before I was married to this uncircumcised person, You have still remained my Lord even though I have shared his bedroom which was surrounded by idolatrous images. Why, therefore, does Your Holy Spirit forsake me at this critical time?

My outcry, was not concerned with my own safety. If the king refuses to extend his scepter to me and executes me, this is a relatively easy fate to bear. But, Your withdrawal from me makes my people’s deliverance distant, unlikely!

Alternatively, Esther calls “my Lord” twice, to indicate her doubt if the withdrawal of the Holy Spirit is due to the impurity of the Kings quarters, or whether it presages that God will not respond to her pleas for the Jewish people. In case it is the latter, here is my desperate outcry.