The1 Midrash relates2 that when the letters ordaining the decree against the Jews had been duly sealed by the king and delivered to Haman’s hands, Haman and all his comrades went strolling with jovial hearts and encountered Mordechai.

Just then Mordechai had caught sight of three little boys on their way home from school. He hastened towards them, and Haman and his band followed him so that they could hear what he was going to ask them.

When Mordechai caught up to the young pupils he said to one of them: “Recite me your verse!” The little boy promptly recited the verse he had just learned at school: “Do not fear sudden terror, nor the destruction of the wicked when it comes.”3

The second little boy spoke up and said, “I studied Scripture today, and this is the verse I just reached at school: ‘Contrive a scheme, but it will be foiled; conspire a plot, but it will not materialize, for G‑d is with us.’4

And the third little boy said: “To your old age I am [with you]; to your hoary years I will sustain you; I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and deliver you.’5

The Midrash proceeds to relate that when Mordechai heard these responses, he smiled with a happy heart.

Haman asked him: “What makes you so happy about what these children said?”

Replied Mordechai: “I am happy because of the glad tidings they told me — that I should not be afraid of the evil plot that you contrived against us.”

Hearing these words, the wicked Haman flew into a rage and declared: “The very first ones whom I will destroy shall be these children!”

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Simply understood, the reason for Mordechai’s joy was that in the children’s words he saw a prophecy that he had no cause to fear Haman’s decree. Along these lines, there are a number of sources in the Talmud6 in which we encounter the phrase, “Recite me your verse,” intimating that the verse quoted by a small child serves as a kind of prophecy7 from Above.

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As to the spiritual content of the above three verses: A Jew has an innate, latent capacity to sacrifice himself for the sake of Heaven. And these verses indicate three modes and levels of faith and trust in G‑d, faith and trust that propel this latent capacity to the surface.

The first child’s verse was: “Do not fear sudden terror, nor the destruction of the wicked when it comes.” It is natural that a person should be afraid when confronted by sudden terror or by the destruction of the wicked. Nevertheless, because of his innate faith and trust, a believer — a Jew — does not have this fear, nor does he need any rational explanation as to why he should be unafraid. With him it is natural that he should experience something in the spirit of the teaching of the Sages: “Whatever the Merciful One does, He does for the good.”

The second child’s verse was: “Contrive a scheme, but it will be foiled; conspire a plot, but it will not materialize, for G‑d is with us.” This verse indicates a stronger kind of faith. At this level, not only is one unafraid. Beyond that, he is certain that the threatening evil will be foiled and will not materialize. Moreover, he is certain of the reason that underlies his response to his predicament — “for G‑d is with us.”

Higher yet is the fundamental premise of the individual who lives at the level of the third verse: “To your old age I am [with you]; to your hoary years I will sustain you; I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and deliver you.” It is clear to such an individual that even the laws of nature that G‑d imbued in all of Creation have no dominion over a Jew. He does not feel overwhelmed by them. This state of mind demands more justification than the previous state of mind. Not only is a person at this level conscious that G‑d is “with us,” but moreover, since He has promised that “I have made you,” the individual who lives at this level is confident that the corollary of that promise will be fulfilled — “I will carry you; I will sustain you and deliver you.”

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These three modes of faith and trust also correspond to three levels in the schooling of the three children.

The first child, taking his earliest steps at school, can only “recite his verse.” More than that he has not learned. Nevertheless, even before he reaches an age at which he can understand things rationally, this he should know, simply and decisively: “Do not fear sudden terror, nor the destruction of the wicked when it comes.”

When a child is a little older and his learning has progressed (“I studied Scripture today, and this is the verse I just reached at school”), so that he can now read and study alone and can use his own understanding, he is taught to appreciate a deeper principle. He can now be taught to attain — and with certainty — a superior level of faith and trust. He can now be taught: “Contrive a scheme, but it will be foiled; conspire a plot, but it will not materialize.” Moreover, he is now ready to be taught why such certainty is warranted — “for G‑d is with us.”

The mind of a child at the third level is even more developed.8 In the mind of such a child one ought to impart and implant the axiom — complete with an explanation of the third-quoted verse — that a Jew does not allow himself to be overawed even by the natural laws and limitations that G‑d created.