At Shushan's gate, even the Torah appeared to mourn.
Targum Sheni on (Esther 4:1) says the holy ark was brought out, the book of the Law was taken from it, and sackcloth and ashes were placed upon it. The people read the promise that when Israel is in distress and turns back, God is merciful (Deuteronomy 4:30-31).
Then Mordecai teaches the people to look at Nineveh. Jonah warned that the city would be destroyed, and its king rose from his throne, put on sackcloth, covered himself in ashes, and proclaimed a fast. God turned back from the evil that had been decreed.
The targum is not comparing peoples for curiosity. It is making repentance urgent. If Nineveh could be spared by fasting, confession, and turning from violence, then Israel must not despair in exile. The Torah in sackcloth becomes a public witness. The covenant itself stands at the gate, dressed like a mourner, urging the people to answer the decree with return.
Immediately the holy ark was brought out to the gates of Shushan, and the book of the Law was taken out, and they covered it with sackcloth, and ashes spread upon it, and then they read therein: "When thou art in tribulation, and all these things have come upon thee, etc., thou should turn to the Lord thy God; for the Lord thy God is a merciful God" (Deut. iv. 30, 31). Mordecai again rose in the midst of the congregation and said: People of Israel! Beloved and dear people! Beloved and precious to God! Let us look for an example to the people of Nineveh! When the prophet Jonah, the son of Amittai, was sent to announce to them that the city of Nineveh would be destroyed, and when the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside the royal throne, put on sackcloth, rolled himself in ashes, and issued a proclamation in Nineveh, saying: 'The decree of the king and his nobles commands thus: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed nor drink water. Let them turn from their evil ways, and from the violence that is in their hands.' 'And the Lord turned by His word from the evil which He thought He would do unto them, and He did it not.' Let us also do as they did, and institute and proclaim fasts, because we are banished from Jerusalem;
