Saul said to Samuel, “I did wrong to transgress Hashem’s command and your instructions; but I was afraid of the troops and I yielded to them.” (Shmuel I 15:24)

In the Haftara of Parshas Zachor, King Shaul retained some of the spoils of Amalek in order to bring offerings and glorify Hashem’s name. While Shmuel Hanavi had already commanded that no spoils be taken, Shaul felt this meant that only private individuals should not benefit, but spoils could be used to glorify Hashem. When being taken to task for this, Shaul denies the allegations until Shmuel forces him to admit his lapse of observance of the prophecy; because of this infraction, he lost his rule to King Dovid.

Chazal tell us (Yuma 22b) that Shaul sinned only this once, and Dovid sinned twice. Yet, Hashem forgave Dovid and not Shaul. Why was Hashem more forgiving to Dovid than he was to Shaul? The answer which I always assumed was that Shaul denied the charges and didn’t “own up” to his shortcoming, which is a lack of leadership quality, whereas Dovid was forever repenting and he understood that he did wrong.

However, I recently saw something that made me think of another possible answer. Klal Yisrael were commanded three mitzvos to perform upon entering the Holy Land: To appoint a king; to destroy Amalek; and to build the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The Rugachover Rav writes that the completion of the character of a nation cannot be fully appreciated without them having a homeland. Therefore, it is necessary for Klal Yisrael to have Eretz Yisrael in order to exist properly. It seems to me that these three mitzvos are actually part of that final stage of developing the character of Klal Yisrael. The Droshos HaRan tells us that although the job of the Sanhedrin is to keep the letter of the law, the job of the King as a judge is to keep us on track and follow the spirit of the law. Amalek’s existence actually can confuse people to think that there is another possibility other than the service of Hashem. Therefore, by getting rid of the confusion which Amalek generates, and having clear spirit and intent in carrying out the law, we can serve Hashem in totality.

When Shaul sinned, Shmuel admonished him. He did not say that his reasoning was wrong, but rather that he caved into pressure. A leader who caves into pressure is then acting based on reasoning outside of Hashem’s Will. Therefore, Shaul had to be removed and Dovid instated in his stead.

In the Purim story, Mordechai did things which people really did not understand. They wondered why Mordechai would incite Haman by walking in front of him and then refusing his command to bow down. Mordechai also overruled the Pesach observance, and instead decreed that all Jews should fast. It must have been a great test to listen to Mordechai and not plead that he just delay the fast a day or two. Mordechai understood that there are ideas that must be ingrained in Klal Yisrael in order to put them back on track. He understood that Klal Yisrael, at the time, was lacking in their spiritual connection to the Mitzvos. When Klal Yisrael ate at the feast of Achashveros, they first made many logical justifications which upheld the letter of the law, but did not uphold the spirit of the law. Hence, Mordechai rectified the lapse that his grandfather Shaul made.

The mitzvos of Purim have a theme which is unusual. “Kol Haposhet yad nosnim lo” – anyone that asks for money, we give to him indiscriminately. Common sense would say, “Make sure you are giving money to someone worthwhile.” When giving someone a present, we may think that the main point is that they get the gift. On Purim, one may not be fulfilling his mitzvah of Mishloach Manos if he gives anonymously. In general, a Jew is obligated to be in control of his faculties and not get drunk. Here the Torah demands of us to lose our sensibility (by either getting drunk or falling asleep from the wine). The purpose might possibly be in order that we celebrate the spirit of the law and the message of the day, and not just do dry acts of mitzvah observance.

The halacha is that one cannot read the megillah backwards. I would like to suggest, based on what we have said, the following explanation: When trying to solve a “maze puzzle” found in comics and magazines, many people find it is easier to solve by beginning at the finish and working towards the start, as the path is usually much clearer. If one were to read the megillah from the end to the beginning, he would see the hand of G-d throughout the story, and it would all make perfect sense. However, our obligation is to read it in chronological order in a way that looks like it makes no sense, and then for it to truly become V’nehaphoch Hu!