“On each day, Mordekhai would walk before the courtyard of the harem, to find out how Esther was, and what would be done with her” (Esther 2:11). “On each day, Mordekhai would walk before the courtyard of the harem” – [to give her the opportunity] to ask about her blood stains and her menstrual status.15According to the midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), Mordekhai was the head of the Sanhedrin (the supreme rabbinic court) and Esther would ask him halakhic questions about her status as a menstruant. “To find out how Esther was” – that they should not cast any spells of sorcery upon her. Rabbi Yaakov bar Aḥa said: The Holy One blessed be He said to him: You sought to ascertain the wellbeing of one person – “to find out how Esther was”; by your life, ultimately you will seek to ascertain the wellbeing of an entire nation. That is what is written: “Seeking good for his people and speaking of peace for all his descendants” (Esther 10:3).