מדרש אויף אסתר 4:16

2. Blessed is the Lord, blessed is He, who recognizes at the start what will be in the end. And He proclaims from the beginning the ending from before that He made (i.e. created). And He knows that which He made and what it would be destined to do. And He foresees for good and He does not foresee for evil. He is rich and is happy with His portion. And in His wisdom and His understanding, He created His world, and He prepared and afterward created in it a Man (Adom), and flung him before Him. And He calculated until the end of all the generations and foresaw that his (man's) descendants would be angering. He said if I were to guard in him the first debts (i.e. seek payback in regards to sins), the world would not stand. It is on me to overlook the first (sins), so He does. Where can you know this is so? When (The Nation of) Israel was in the Desert, they rotted in their actions (by the sin of Golden Calf). He stood to overlook all that They had done, as it says "And Hashem passed (ויעבור) in front of him (Moshe) [Shemos 34:6]. Do not read he passed (ויעבור) rather he forgave (ויעביר). Learn that He forgave all the evil in front of him. And it should be known to you that so was with Mordechai in the time that Esther spoke not properly; since she said "but I have not been called to come in to the king etc." [Esther 4:11]. And he (Mordechai) responded to her "For if you remain silent etc." [Esther 4:14]. And when she repented and spoke to him properly, "Go, gather all the Jews" [Esther 4:16]. He looked past her words (i.e. her original words, forgiving them) as it says "And Mordechai passed" [Esther 4:17]. (The verb עָבַר has multiple meanings, literally to pass or take away, here the meaning is its use in the following verse) and he said: "Who is like God, who forgives iniquity, and overlooks transgression (וְעֹבֵ֣ר עַל־פֶּ֔שַׁע)" [Micha 7:18]. "Your eyes did see my unshaped flesh (for in Thy book all things are written)" etc. [Psalms 139:16] that teaching says in the future The Holy One Blessed Be He will sit in the Big House of Study of His. And the Righteous (צדיקים) will sit before him, and He will say to them 'My children, this generation such Torah it did and such I did with them righteousness, but I will not mention their sins, and they do not go upon my heart', as it says "and the former things shall not be remembered" etc. [Isaiah 65:17]. (Continuing the interpretation of the cited verse) "These days were formed, but not one from them" [Psalms 139:16] (the verse ends as written ולא אֶחָד בָּהֶם not one from them, yet is read וְלוֹ אֶחָד בָּהֶם which means and to him one from them both connotate a unique day). This refers to the day of Shabbos for Israel. How so? A man does work all six days and rests on the seventh. He has amity with his children and the people of his house. Mans returns to do work in the face of his enemy all six days, and rests on the seventh, forgetting all pain, as it is so with the ways of man - a good day he forgets the bad day. A bad day he forgets the good day. The Holy One Blessed be He says to Israel did I not write to them in my Torah, "You should not remove this Book of Torah from your mouths" [Joshua 1:8] even though you do work all six days, Shabbos you should make fully Torah. From here, it is said a man should arise early and learn on Shabbos. And go to the Synagogue and to the House of Study. And he should read Torah verse, then learn in the Prophets, and afterward go to his house and eat and drink to fulfill that which it says "[But you, the righteous one,] go and eat your bread in joy, and drink your wine with a good heart, (for G-d has already accepted your good deeds) [Ecclesiastes 9:7]. Accordingly, there is no refreshment to the Holy One Blessed be He except only with those who make Torah, therefore that it says "For all those things has my hand made, (and so all those things came to be, says the Lord:) but to this man will I look, to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at my word." [Isaiah 66:2]. From here it is said what a man says (i.e. when learning Torah) he should grasp in his hand in order that he does not have to handle the embarrassment and shame at the time when they say to him 'Stand and arrange (וערוך) the Verses you said and arrange (וערוך) the Mishnayos you have learned. And so it is explicit in the Tradition by King David, "Hashem, in the morning you hear my voice, in the morning I arrange before you (אֶעֱרָךְ־לְךָ) and I hope" [Psalms 5:4].

“Esther said, to respond to Mordekhai” (Esther 4:15). She said to him: “Go, assemble all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast on my behalf; do not eat and do not drink for three days” (Esther 4:16). These were the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth of Nisan. He sent her [in response]: ‘But isn’t the first day of Passover among them?’ She said to him: ‘Elder of Israel, why is it Passover?’⁷The festival of Passover was given to the Jewish people; if they are destroyed, of what value is the festival of Passover? It is better to desecrate Passover once so that it may be observed forever more (Etz Yosef). Immediately Mordekhai heard and conceded to her contention; that is what is written: “Mordekhai went on [vaya’avor] and acted in accordance with everything that Esther had commanded him” (Esther 4:17). There they say: That he violated [shehe’evir] the first day of Passover with a fast.
Regarding that same trouble, Mordekhai prayed to God and he said: ‘It is revealed and known before Your Throne of Honor, Master of the universe, that it is not due to haughtiness or arrogance that I did not prostrate myself to Haman; rather, it is due to my fear of You that I acted in this way, and did not prostrate myself to him. It is because I feared You, and did not wish to grant the honor due to You, to flesh and blood, and I did not want to prostrate myself to anyone other than You. For who am I not to prostrate myself to Haman at the expense of the salvation of Your people Israel? For that, I would be prepared to lick the shoes on his feet.
Now, God, rescue us from his hand, and let him fall into the grave that he dug, and let him be ensnared in the net that he concealed at the feet of your pious ones. And let this instigator know that You have not forgotten the promise that You promised us: “And despite this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not have spurned them and will not have rejected them, to destroy them, to violate My covenant with them, as I am the Lord their God”’ (Leviticus 26:44).
What did Mordekhai do? He assembled the children and deprived them of bread and water, he dressed them in sackcloth and sat them in ashes. They were shouting, weeping, and engaging in Torah study.
At that time, Esther was very frightened due to the evil that had developed for Israel. She removed her royal garments and her glory, donned sackcloth, loosened her hair and filled it with dirt and ashes, afflicted herself in a fast, and fell on her face before God and prayed. She said: ‘Lord, God of Israel, who has ruled since the days of yore and created the world, please help your maidservant, as I have remained an orphan from my father and my mother, and am comparable to a poor woman begging from house to house. So, I am requesting Your mercy from window to window in the palace of Aḥashverosh.
Now, Lord, please grant success to this poor maidservant of yours, and deliver the sheep of Your flock from these enemies who have arisen against us, as You have “no restraint to save by many or by few” (I Samuel 14:6). You, father of orphans, please stand to the right of this orphan, who has relied on your mercy, and let me be viewed mercifully by this man, for I fear him. Lower him before me because You lower the haughty.’

“It was as the sun was setting, and a slumber fell upon Abram, and, behold, dread, a great darkness, fell upon him” (Genesis 15:12).
“It was as the sun was setting, [and a slumber fell]” – Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: The beginning of downfall is sleep,⁷⁰This is alluded to by the words “slumber fell.” as when one sleeps one does not toil in Torah study, when one sleeps one does not do any work.
Rav said: There are three kinds of slumber – the slumber of sleep, the slumber of prophecy, and the slumber of a trance. The slumber of sleep – “The Lord God cast a slumber upon the man, and he slept” (Genesis 2:21). The slumber of prophecy – “It was as the sun was setting, and a slumber fell upon Abram” (Genesis 15:12). The slumber of a trance – “No one saw, and no one knew, and no one awoke, as they were all asleep because a deep slumber from the Lord had fallen upon them” (I Samuel 26:12). The Rabbis said: There is also the slumber of foolishness, as it is written: “For the Lord poured upon you a spirit of deep slumber…” (Isaiah 29:10).
Rabbi Ḥanina bar Yitzḥak said: There are three microcosms: sleep is a microcosm of death; a dream is a microcosm of prophecy; Shabbat is a microcosm of the World to Come. Rabbi Avin adds another two: The orb of the sun is a microcosm of the supernal light; Torah is a microcosm of supernal wisdom.
“And, behold, dread, a great darkness, fell upon him.” “Dread [eima]” – this alludes to Babylon, as it is written: “Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury [ḥema]” (Daniel 3:19). “Darkness” – this alludes to Media, which darkened the eyes of Israel with fasts and privation.⁷¹As a reaction to their evil decrees (see Esther 4:16). “Great” – this alludes to Greece. Rabbi Simon and the Rabbis, Rabbi Simon said: [The Greeks have] one hundred and twenty dukes, one hundred and twenty governors, and one hundred and twenty generals.⁷²And that is why they are called “great.” The Rabbis said: Sixty of each, as it is written: “Serpent, fiery serpent, and scorpion” (Deuteronomy 8:15). “Serpent” – this alludes to Babylon; “fiery serpent” – this alludes to Media; “scorpion” – this alludes to Greece; just as the scorpion gives birth to sixty young at a time, so the kingdom of Greece appointed sixty of each [kind of official]. “Fell upon him” – this alludes to Edom, as it is stated [regarding them]: “From the sound of their fall the earth quaked” (Jeremiah 49:21).
Some transpose it: “Fell upon him” – this alludes to Babylon, in whose regard it is written: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon” (Isaiah 21:9). “Great [gedola]” – this alludes to Media, as it is written: “After these matters, King Aḥashverosh promoted [gidal]” (Esther 3:1). “Darkness” – this alludes to Greece, which darkened the eyes of Israel with its edicts, as they would say to Israel: ‘Inscribe on the horn of an ox that you have no share in the God of Israel.’ “Dread” – this alludes to Edom, as it is written: “Behold, a fourth beast, fearsome, dreadful, and very strong” (Daniel 7:7).