Mordechai - Religious Leader or Political figure?

Question

I'm looking to gather some more background, context, sources and opinions, regarding Mordechai's religiousness, or lack thereof.

This was the topic of a recent comment thread on Was Darius Jewish?, specifically on @avi's answer.
Though this was not the topic of the question nor the answer, a side comment turned into a long thread on this.
Instead of hashing it out there, and just between us, I thought it would be a good idea to gather some additional voices.

So, to the issue:
Many well-known midrashim pose Mordechai as a tzaddik, a religious leader, and even a member of the Sanhedrin. I'm sure we all learned these at one point or another.
On the other hand, reading the Megilla as a "story", focusing on the pshat, but taking into account the historical and cultural context, in addition to relevant background added by other books in the Tanach (such as Melachim Bet, Divrei Hayamim, and other Nevi'im) - it would seem that this was not the case. At the least, there is no evidence or basis for the "religious figure" theory, but rather the evidence seems (at least to me) to point in the opposite direction.

Now, taking into account the intended ambiguity, which is one of the most fundamental motifs of the Megilla, and the obvious historical distance, I don't expect to find "the one true history"...

But I am interested in hearing, what is the basis for the "religious leader" theory? Is there evidence for this, or is it "just" Midrash* ? What was the original source? What is the Midrash based on? (Obviously besides the Midrash itself, and the persuant discussions in e.g. Gmara*... )
Or, alternatively (and preferably), sources and explanations for the opposite theory?

EDIT: To emphasize, I am referring to Mordechai's "back story". Even according to the "non-religious" theory, there is plenty of room to allow for a change of heart as a result of the Purim events. Therefore anything that relates to his situation after the fact (such as @follick's excellent source in Nechemia) would be besides the point.

EDIT2: I don't intend on ignoring the midrashim, nor do I expect to be completely independant of them. Rather, I'm interested in the basis of those midrashim, as these are usually based on something, be it a reference, alliteration, extraneous wording, "secret" story, etc.

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(*) I'm not belittling the importance of those Midrashim or the discussions in the Gmara, of course, but it is both important and extremely difficult to discern which stories are intended to be accepted literally, as "historical fact", and which not.
Hence this question.

Answer 1

Here are a couple:

• The very fact that the Megillah introduces him as איש, and takes the trouble to tell us his lineage and background, indicates that he was a person of importance. (It is true that איש can mean simply "a man," but quite often in Tanach, when a person is introduced with this term, it bears the connotation of "a prominent person" - one example is Mordechai's ancestor Kish, in I Sam. 9:1.)

  Contrast with Haman, whose background information is limited simply to the three words בן המדתא האגגי.

• The man refused to bow to Haman even under pressure, and even though he knew he was thereby putting himself at risk. This is not the action one would expect from a person who, as in your comments to the other thread, is semi-assimilated. Neither would such a person's first reaction to the decree be putting on sackcloth and ashes rather than trying to use his connections at court.

• For that matter, consider Esther's request to him, "Gather all of the Jews in Shushan, and fast for me..." She was Mordechai's ward, and it is reasonable to assume that this is an idea she learned from him. (Then, too, if he wasn't a known religious leader, why would she expect that anyone would follow his lead in doing so?)

• It is also likely, of course, that the Talmudic and Midrashic evaluation of Mordechai is based on extra-textual considerations. Consider how we find them giving us quite a lot of information about the "Men of the Great Assembly" contemporary with these events (and mentioning Mordechai as one of its members), though their activities are barely recognizable in Tanach. Then, too, there is the Talmudic consideration that מגלגלין זכות על ידי זכאי, Hashem causes good things to happen through good people, so that from this point of view the salvation of the Jewish people and the establishment of the important holiday of Purim can hardly have been due to an assimilationist.

Some other comments:

• The proof that follick brought from Ezra and Nechemiah (assuming, for argument's sake, that indeed it's the same Mordechai) does not represent, as you're thinking, a "potential change of heart" after the story of Purim. The verses there are talking about the first wave of Jews who returned in the wake of Cyrus' decree allowing the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash, a few years before the opening scene of the Megillah. We see, then, that there was someone named Mordechai in the first rank of Jewish leaders of the time.

• Your argument (in the comments to the linked thread) that the name Mordechai, seemingly of pagan origin, demonstrates that he (or his parents) were assimilated Jews is rather weak. For one thing, the Gemara (Chullin 139b) associates it with the Aramaic expression מירא דכיא, "pure myrrh." I don't know whether the Gemara means this as an actual etymology for the name or simply an assonance, but it does at least indicate that it's not necessarily derived from a pagan source. Second, consider Antigonos of Socho, who unquestionably served as spiritual leader of Jewry (Avos 1:3) - and yet who bore a Greek name, only a couple of decades after Alexander's conquest of the country.

• Your other argument, that the people who were exiled with Yechanyah (as Mordechai was) were semi-assimilated, also lacks any proof. Let's take the verses as given (leaving aside the midrashim on them), that they were "the carpenters and the locksmiths." Which makes them the (lower) middle class - far from the elite. Why would you assume that their commitment to Judaism was weaker than anyone else's?

Answer 2

I just want to point out that the Midrashic tradition of Mordechai being even originally a righteous individual is not completely unsupported by the text. Most (some would argue: all) midrashic material is inspired by textual subtleties and allusions, no matter how non-explicit.

From Esther Rabba (6:3)

ושמו מרדכי. הרשעים קודמין לשמן. "נבל שמו", " שבע בן בכרי שמו". אבל הצדיקים שמם קודם להם. "ושמו מנוח", "ושמו קיש", "ושמו שאול", "ושמו אלקנה", "ושמו בועז", "ושמו מדרכי", לפי שדומין לבוראן דכתיב ושמי ה׳ לא נודעתי להם

Now, this is clearly not proof to support the midrash's position. (In fact, this rule it's using is not always necessarily true.) Neither does this mean that the midrash is to be taken literally, just because it is basing itself on scriptural allusion. But it does mean that it shouldn't be called "just midrash" without basis.

Answer 3

There was Nechemia 7:7 Which lists Mordechai amongst the leaders of Israel. And also Ezra 2:2 Which does likewise.

Answer 4

I apologize for the quote dump, but it's really the only way to answer this question:

ה אִישׁ יְהוּדִי, הָיָה בְּשׁוּשַׁן הַבִּירָה; וּשְׁמוֹ מָרְדֳּכַי, בֶּן יָאִיר בֶּן-שִׁמְעִי בֶּן-קִישׁ--אִישׁ יְמִינִי. 5

There was a certain Jew in Shushan the castle, whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair the son of Shimei the son of Kish, a Benjamite,

ו אֲשֶׁר הָגְלָה, מִירוּשָׁלַיִם, עִם-הַגֹּלָה אֲשֶׁר הָגְלְתָה, עִם יְכָנְיָה מֶלֶךְ-יְהוּדָה--אֲשֶׁר הֶגְלָה, נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר מֶלֶךְ בָּבֶל. 6

who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives that had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.

From Shmuel, we know that Kish was a very important person. And the text here tells us that Mordechai was taken with the King of Judah, rather than with the locksmiths and woodworkers. In conjuction with the introductory word of "Ish", Mordechai was a very important person.

Secondly, here Mordechai is introduced as a Jew, not a Yemini, despite his lineage. Clearly he is not so assimilated, that he is still obviously identifiable as a Jewish person. So much so that Haman always calls him that. Haman decides to kill all the Jews because of Mordechai, who is obviously a Jew in good standing and the leader of his people.

חַ מָנוֹת, אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ. 19 Therefore do the Jews of the villages, that dwell in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another. כ וַיִּכְתֹּב מָרְדֳּכַי, אֶת-הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה; וַיִּשְׁלַח סְפָרִים אֶל-כָּל-הַיְּהוּדִים, אֲשֶׁר בְּכָל-מְדִינוֹת הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ--הַקְּרוֹבִים, וְהָרְחוֹקִים. 20 And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far, כא לְקַיֵּם, עֲלֵיהֶם--לִהְיוֹת עֹשִׂים אֵת יוֹם אַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר לְחֹדֶשׁ אֲדָר, וְאֵת יוֹם-חֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר בּוֹ: בְּכָל-שָׁנָה, וְשָׁנָה. 21 to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, כב כַּיָּמִים, אֲשֶׁר-נָחוּ בָהֶם הַיְּהוּדִים מֵאֹיְבֵיהֶם, וְהַחֹדֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר נֶהְפַּךְ לָהֶם מִיָּגוֹן לְשִׂמְחָה, וּמֵאֵבֶל לְיוֹם טוֹב; לַעֲשׂוֹת אוֹתָם, יְמֵי מִשְׁתֶּה וְשִׂמְחָה, וּמִשְׁלֹחַ מָנוֹת אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ, וּמַתָּנוֹת לָאֶבְיֹנִים. 22 the days wherein the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor. כג וְקִבֵּל, הַיְּהוּדִים, אֵת אֲשֶׁר-הֵחֵלּוּ, לַעֲשׂוֹת; וְאֵת אֲשֶׁר-כָּתַב מָרְדֳּכַי, אֲלֵיהֶם. 23 And the Jews took upon them to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;

Here, Mordechai is given the Authority over all the Jewish people, to declare a yearly holiday, and everyone does what Mordechai tells them to do. This sort of act could only be done by a leader of that generation. Else, Mordechai would have had to ask the elders of the Jewish people to help him in the proclamation. This mirrors exactly what the Megilah tells us in the beginning of the story, when Mordechai tells Esther to keep her Judaism hidden.

יט וּבְהִקָּבֵץ בְּתוּלוֹת, שֵׁנִית; וּמָרְדֳּכַי, יֹשֵׁב בְּשַׁעַר-הַמֶּלֶךְ. 19 And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, and Mordecai sat in the king's gate-- כ אֵין אֶסְתֵּר, מַגֶּדֶת מוֹלַדְתָּהּ וְאֶת-עַמָּהּ, כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה עָלֶיהָ, מָרְדֳּכָי; וְאֶת-מַאֲמַר מָרְדֳּכַי אֶסְתֵּר עֹשָׂה, כַּאֲשֶׁר הָיְתָה בְאָמְנָה אִתּוֹ. {ס} 20 Esther had not yet made known her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her; for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him-- {S}

Esther unquestionably listens to Mordechai's instructions,(As the entire Jewish people do afterwards) and not only did Esther not say that she was part of the Jewish people, but she did not say who her close family was. And Yet, Mordechai was allowed to sit by the gates of the Palace. Clearly a leader of the Jewish people here.

And then we come to the end of the Megillah which, in our version, closes with this line:

ג כִּי מָרְדֳּכַי הַיְּהוּדִי, מִשְׁנֶה לַמֶּלֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ, וְגָדוֹל לַיְּהוּדִים, וְרָצוּי לְרֹב אֶחָיו--דֹּרֵשׁ טוֹב לְעַמּוֹ, וְדֹבֵר שָׁלוֹם לְכָל-זַרְעוֹ. {ש} 3 For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren; seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his seed. {P}

Mordechai was accepted by all the Jewish people, he was a leader and the greatest of the generation.

Whatever details may be eeked out of the Megillah, the author of it wants us to believe that Mordechai was the leader of the Jewish people at that time, ever wise in his planning and helping to make sure that the Jewish people were saved, and given the authority to declare new holidays.

Answer 5

Here is a book you may be interested in: Yoram Hazony, The Dawn. Political Teachings of the Book of Esther. I recommend it. It is well-reasearched and is based on the classical Jewish sources. It probably won't sit well with the ultra-orthodox public (I'm not being disrespectful here, it's just the shortest way to express what I mean).

Hazony treats Mordechai mainly as a political figure. His main thrust is the political lessons that Jews in Diaspora can learn from The Book of Esther. He also underscores in what respects Mordechai's moves are uniquely informed by his Jewish worldview - unlike his adversaries that are moved by mostly unrestrained dark emotions.

The fact that Mordechai was a historic figure is not corroborated by independent sources. So the Meggilah is our only source of information about him - we do not know any other Mordechai, if you will. The Meggilah calls him Mordechai Ha-Yehudi - being Jewish is his essential quality. It's in the text, you can't argue with it (well, unless you are Jewish ;) ). Now, for the Rabbis being Jewish meant (and means) being pious, observant, G-d-rearing - in short, a Tzaddik. At 'worst' he'd be a baal-teshuva. That's, in my opinion, is the basis for all those well-known midrashim. (This reminds me of a famous joke: "There is a proof from the Torah that Moshe wore a shtreimel, it says: וילך משה ('and Moshe went'). Can you imagine that he went without a shtreimel?").

For Hazony, on the other hand, who is more concerned with the political future of the Jewish 'enterprise' in general and the Zionist enterprise in particular - he is first and foremost a political leader.