JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

esther
good graces. Her real intention, however, was to take revenge
on him. During the second banquet, Queen Esther revealed
her origin to the king, begged for her life and the life of her
people, and named her enemy (7:3–6). Angry with Haman,
Ahasuerus went into the palace garden. Haman, in great fear,
remained to plead for his life from the queen. While imploring,
he fell on Esther’s couch and was found in this compromising
situation on the king’s return. He was immediately
condemned to be hanged on the gallows he had prepared for
Mordecai. The king complied with Esther’s request, and the
edict of destruction was changed into permission given to the
Jews to avenge themselves on their enemies.
See also *Scroll of Esther.
In the Aggadah
Esther was a descendant of King Saul. Her father died soon after
her conception and her mother when she was born (Meg.
13a), and she was brought up by Mordecai as his daughter. Her
real name was Hadassah, but she was called Esther by non-
Jews, this being the Persian name for Venus (ibid.). Esther was
one of the four most beautiful women in the world (ibid. 15a),
though some say that she was of sallow complexion but endowed
with great charm. Like the myrtle (Heb. hadassah) she
was of ideal height, neither too short nor too tall (ibid. 13a).
All who beheld her were struck by her beauty: she was more
beautiful than either Median or Persian women (Esth. R. 6:9).
In addition, everyone took her to be one of his own people
(Meg. 13a). Before Esther was made queen, Ahasuerus would
compare women who entered with a statue of Vashti that stood
near his bed. After his marriage the statue was replaced by one
of Esther (Midrash Abba Guryon, Parashah 2). When Esther
became queen she refused to disclose her lineage to Ahasuerus
though she claimed that like him she was of royal descent.
She also criticized him for killing Vashti and for following the
brutish advice of the Persian and Median nobles, pointing out
that the earlier kings (Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar) had
followed the counsel of prophets (Daniel). At her suggestion
he sought out Mordecai whose advice he requested on how
to induce Esther to reveal her ancestry, complaining that neither
giving banquets and reducing taxation in her honor nor
showering gifts upon her had been of any avail. Mordecai suggested
that maidens be again assembled as if the king wished
to remarry and that Esther, aroused by jealousy, would comply
with his wishes. But this too was in vain (Meg. 13a).
Mordecai was appointed to the king’s gate, the same appointment
that Hananiah and his companions had received
from Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2:49). His task was to inform
Ahasuerus of any conspiracy against him. Bigthan and Teresh,
who had previously kept the gate, became incensed, saying:
“The king has removed two officials and replaced them by
this single barbarian.” To prove the superiority of their guardianship
over that of the Jew, they decided to kill the king.
Not realizing that Mordecai as a member of the Sanhedrin
knew 70 languages, they conversed together in their native
Tarsean. In Mordecai’s name Esther informed the king, who
ordered the two to be hanged. All affairs of state were entered
into the king’s chronicles and whenever the king wanted to
be reminded of past events they would be read out to him.
The information given by Mordecai was written in the book,
and this was the beginning of Haman’s downfall (Esth. 6).
This was why the sages said: “whoever repeats something in
the name of one who said it brings redemption to the world”
(Perek Kinyan Torah = Avot 6:6 in the prayer book version;
Esth. R. 6:13; Meg. 15a; PdRE 50). The three days appointed by
Esther as fast days (Esth. 4:16) were the 13th, 14th, and 15th of
Nisan. Mordecai sent back word complaining that these days
included the first day of Passover! To which she replied: “Jewish
elder! Without an Israel, why should there be Passover?”
Mordecai understood and canceled the Passover festivity, replacing
it with a fast (Esth. R. 8:6). Esther’s motive in inviting
Haman to the banquet was that he should not discover
that she was Jewish, and that the Jews should not say: “We
have a sister in the king’s palace,” and so neglect to pray for
God’s mercy. She also thought that by being friendly to Haman
she would rouse the king’s jealousy to such an extent
that he would kill both of them (Meg. 15b). Haman thought
that Esther prepared the banquet in his honor, little realizing
that she had set a trap for him (Mid. Prov. 9:2). With the revocation
of the evil decree, Esther sent to the sages and asked
them to perpetuate her name by the reading of the book of
Esther and by the institution of a feast. When they answered
that this would incite the ill-will of the nations, she replied: “I
am already recorded in the chronicles of the kings of Media
and Persia (Meg. 7a).”
[Elimelech Epstein Halevy]
In the Arts
Of all the biblical heroines Esther has enjoyed greatest popularity
among writers, artists, and musicians, representing
feminine modesty, courage, and self-sacrifice. From the Renaissance
era onward she figured in a vast array of dramas,
including many Jewish plays intended for presentation on the
*Purim festival. Two early works on this theme were La Representatione
della Reina Hester (c. 1500), an Italian verse mystery
that went through several editions during the 16th century,
and the last of the 43 plays of the French Mistére du Viel Testament,
a work of the later Middle Ages. These were followed
by the German Meistersinger Hans Sachs’ Esther (1530) and
an English verse play, A New Enterlude of Godly Queene Hester,
published anonymously in 1561. The latter, which entirely
omitted the character of Vashti and muted the role of Mordecai,
contained marked political undertones reflecting popular
dissatisfaction with King Henry VIII and his ministers of state.
A work of the same period was Solomon *Usque’s Esther, first
staged in Venice in 1558. This Portuguese play, later revised
by Leone *Modena, was remarkably successful and attracted
many non-Jews to its performances.
The subject gave rise to a series of dramatic interpretations
in France, beginning with the Huguenot playwright Antoine
de Montchrétien’s three verse tragedies, Esther (1585),
Vashti (1589), and Aman (1601). During the 17th century a
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