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From B'nei Yisaschar, Adar 7:10
The Midrash states: "Hadassa" [Hebrew for "myrtle"] is [another
name for] Esther. In the same way that myrtle has a sweet smell but a bitter
taste, so was Esther sweet for Mordecai, yet bitter to Haman. (Esther Rabba
6:5) And the great rabbi " Chida" [Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai], of
blessed memory, wrote: Esther was a reincarnation of Eve, the Serpent was
enclothed in Haman, and Mordecai was the reincarnation of Jacob, as recorded by
the students of the Ari. Thus, Esther (as Eve) was bitter to Haman, who was the
Serpent, who had brought her to sin - and sweet to Mordecai, who, as a
reincarnation of Jacob, was also the reincarnation of Adam [as is known from the
teachings of the Ari]. (Dvash L'pi 5:2)  | | " the scent was sweet to Mordecai...and the taste was bitter to Haman..." | | |
And here I come to add, in accordance with what I've written on
many an occasion, that every one of the [five] senses was recorded in the
account of the sin of Adam - except that of the sense of smell. Therefore,
understand that the sense of smell wasn't ever really blemished, and for this
reason it is a thing which the soul [ Neshama] gets pleasure from, as
opposed to the body.
Thus, the scent was sweet to Mordecai. (And also because he
himself is called "pure myrrh" [see Targum Onkelos on Ex. 30:23].) Thus,
"[Mordecai] shouted a great shout" (Esther 4:1), for "the voice is good for [the
quality of] spices" (Jerusalem Talmud, Yoma 23a).
And the taste was bitter to Haman, for [it was him, as] the
Serpent, who seduced Eve [to sin essentially with] the sense of taste [and
received his punishment from the reincarnation of Eve, measure for measure].
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