Daily devotion merits the Purim miracle

ובכל יום ויום מרדכי מתהלך כו'.

"And every single day Mordechai would walk about..."

The pasuk describes how Mordechai would walk daily before the courtyard of the women's house where Esther was held, and the Sefas Emes explores why the Megillah records this detail.

נראה שכל הדברים הנזכרים במגילה היה הכל לצורך הנס.

It appears that all the matters mentioned in the Megillah were entirely for the sake of the neis (miracle).

Every detail recorded in the Megillah, even seemingly minor ones, was part of the necessary preparation for the great miracle of Purim.

ובודאי זה דבר גדול מאוד שהי' כארבעה וחמשה שנים מעת הלקח אסתר לאחשורוש.

And surely this was a very great thing, for it lasted some four or five years from the time Esther was taken to Achashverosh.

The Sefas Emes emphasizes the magnitude of Mordechai's devotion — this daily walking continued for four or five years after Esther was taken to the palace.

ומרדכי הצדיק הלך בכל יום ויום לראות שלומה בעבור כי היתה יתומה.

And Mordechai the tzaddik went every single day to inquire about her welfare, because she was an orphan.

Out of his care for Esther, who was an orphan in his charge, Mordechai faithfully came each day to check on her wellbeing.

ובצער התפיסה בבית הנכרי.

And in the pain of her captivity in the house of a gentile.

His concern was all the deeper because she was suffering the anguish of being held captive in the palace of a non-Jew.

ובזכות זה זכה לנס.

And in the merit of this he was worthy of the miracle.

It was precisely this steadfast daily devotion that earned Mordechai the zechus to be the vehicle of the Purim miracle.

וכתיב גם כן באמרם אליו יום ויום כו'.

And it is likewise written, "when they said to him day after day..."

The Megillah uses the same phrase "day after day" again regarding how the king's servants challenged Mordechai daily about why he would not bow to Haman.

שע"י שבכל יום ויום מתהלך זכה לזה לנצח את המן הרשע ולהכעיסו בכל יום ויום:

For through his walking about every single day, he merited this — to defeat the wicked Haman and to provoke him every single day.

The "day after day" of his faithful walking earned him a corresponding "day after day" of triumph: the merit to overcome the wicked Haman and to vex him continually by refusing to bow.

Summary: Every detail of the Megillah served the miracle; Mordechai's steadfast daily devotion in caring for the orphaned Esther over four or five years earned him, measure for measure ("day after day"), the merit to defeat the wicked Haman.