She had lost both her father and her mother and was raised by her older cousin, Mordecai Esther The Persian King, Xerxes a. Ahasuerus , was displeased with his wife and sought her replacement.
So, naturally, he made a decree in order to gather to himself all suitable virgins in the region. Esther We read in Scripture that Esther was young and exceptionally beautiful. She was young, she was pretty, and she was taken. This part comes as a shocker to people — even to those who have read the whole Megillah as part of their yearly Purim celebration. But the Scriptures are pretty clear about what happened.
Now when the turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after being twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their beautifying, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments for women — when the young woman went in to the king in this way, she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem to the king's palace.
In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem in custody of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch, who was in charge of the concubines.
She would not go in to the king again, unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name. The virgins, who were all quite young, were escorted to the king, who is said to have been approximately 40 years of age at the time. They were taken one by one, for him to sleep with. Mordecai sends the queen a message, telling her to throw herself before the king and beg for mercy on behalf of her people.
Esther knew that anyone who approached the king without first being summoned was killed — unless the king was in the mood to extend his scepter and spare their life. It can be understood as commending human responsibility instead of misguided dependence on God: the Jews in the book must take matters into their own hands to preserve their existence, rather than wait for God to act.
Still another interpretation of the book views its message as an implied critique of diaspora Jews who have become assimilated to the culture around them, disregarded traditional Jewish law, and neglected God, yet are nevertheless destined to overcome their enemies. The character of Esther and her story serves as a source of reflection for Jewish men and women living in diaspora, both in the time the book was written and down through the centuries to the present day. It confronts readers with questions that are asked anew in each generation: What does it mean to live as a Jew?
Can one be Jewish without God or religious observance? What are Jews to do in the face of hostility and the threat of genocide? The contemporaneity of these issues helps to account for the enduring popularity of the book, and Esther herself, in the Jewish community. Amsellem, Wendy. Berlin, Adele. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, Fox, Michael V. Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther. Grand Rapids, MI: W. Eerdmans Reimer, Gail Twersky. White, Sidnie A.
Newsom and Sharon H. Ringe, — White, Sidnie A.. Day, — Minneapolis: Fortress Press, Zornberg, Avivah. New York: Schocken, Have an update or correction? Let us know. Episode E. Lockhart's New Jewish Superhero. Jewish Women's Archive. Another question that concerned the Rabbis was that of the children from the union of Esther and Ahasuerus.
Another tradition has her becoming pregnant by Ahasuerus, but miscarrying Esth. Mordecai would walk about in front of the harem in order to rule for Esther regarding menstrual spotting; another exegetical exposition has Esther showing the spotting from her menstruation to the Torah she-bi-khetav : Lit. The Book of Esther relates that Esther told no one of her Jewish origins, as Mordecai had ordered her. The Rabbis accordingly relate her to the Matriarch Rachel, the mother of the tribe of Benjamin.
Rachel was silent when she saw that Jacob married her sister instead of herself. Similarly, her son Benjamin knew about the sale of Joseph, but remained silent and did not tell his father. Saul, a Benjaminite, did not reveal to his uncle that he had been anointed to be king; likewise, Esther did not disclose her identity Gen.
In response, Esther tells him that, like him, she is the offspring of royalty Midrash Abba Gurion , para. Despite her hiding her identity, Esther still maintained contact with Mordecai. Judah ha-Nasi c. Mishnah Avot According to the Babylonian tradition, she saw menstrual blood BT Megillah 15a. In the Erez Israel tradition, she miscarried the fetus she bore in her womb the offspring of Ahasuerus Esth. Horev], chap. In the midrashic reenactment, Esther sent a message to Mordecai in which she asked him whether Israel had transgressed one of the commandments of the Torah.
She greatly feared to appear before Ahasuerus. Esther understood that this action would require her to commit a grave transgression, and even lose all possibility of returning to her husband Mordecai. This, then, is the meaning of Esth. Esther asked Mordecai to fast for three days, even though the third day was the first day of the holiday of A seven-day festival to commemorate the Exodus from Egypt eight days outside Israel beginning on the 15 th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan.
Esther herself observed the commandment of searching for the hamez Esth. Verily, I seek Your mercy from window to window in the house of Ahasuerus. And You, O Lord, bring success to this, Your poor handmaiden. Save the flock of Your pasture from these foes who have arisen against us, for nothing prevents You from winning a victory by many or by few. You, O Father of orphans, stand at the right hand of this orphan, who trusts in Your compassion.
May this man have mercy on me, for I fear him. Rabbah ; the passage is taken from Josippon. The spirit of divine inspiration descended on Esther shortly before she went to Ahasuerus, thus leading to her inclusion in the list of the seven women prophets BT Megillah 14a ; 15a.
Esther turns in prayer to God and compares the situation of the Jews of Persia to that of the Jews in Egypt: in Egypt the Jews cried out and were answered; and in Persia, they fasted, prayed and cried out over their tribulation and the decree that was harsher than that during the time of the Egyptian servitude.
This prayer also mentioned her situation, which contrasted with that of Sarah and Rebekah: they were taken for a single night to the court of a foreign king and miracles were performed for them. Esther, on the other hand, was taken every day and, like them, she requested miracles.
In post-Temple times, a small piece of dough set aside and burnt. In common parlance, the braided loaves blessed and eaten on the Sabbath and Festivals. In the midrashic expansion, on her way to the king Esther encountered various obstacles and she had to pass through seven departments in the palace. Esther stood in the middle of the fourth department; the guards of the first department could no longer touch her, while those of the last department could not yet approach her.
Ahasuerus first tried to turn his face so that he would not look upon Esther, but the ministering angels forcibly turned his head, until he cried out. He was blinded, but when he looked in her direction his vision was restored and he extended his scepter Midrash Panim Aherim , version B, para. Three ministering angels were appointed to aid her at that moment: one made her head erect, one endowed her with charm, and one stretched out the scepter BT Megillah 15b.
Esther invited Ahasuerus and Haman to a feast and the Rabbis ask: why did she invite Haman? The BT lists a number of possible reasons: 1 she wanted Haman to be near her so that she could say what she wanted about him at the appropriate moment ; 2 she wanted to set a trap for him; 3 she planned to act toward Haman in a way that would lead Ahasuerus to suspect that she had engaged in an improper relationship with the former and thus cause the king to kill them both.
An additional stratagem employed by Esther against Haman was connected with his leading Mordecai on the horse. When Esther sought to deliver up Haman, she revealed her identity as a Jew in the act.
The BT presents this in the opposite way: the king first talked with her by means of an interpreter, but when she told him that she was descended from King Saul, he spoke with her directly, out of respect Lev. Rabbah ; Lam.
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