The fundamental question about chapter 1 is why is this chapter even here? There is no mention of the Jews in this chapter, no mention of the main protagonists in the story, Esther, Mordecai, or Haman. Certainly no mention of any decree against the Jews. That does not come until chapter 3. This chapter could be here to teach us about to teach us about Achashverosh and the Persian court which he rules and could offer hints about the Jewish who lived in this time.

According to Daniel 5:1-31, King Belshazzar of Babylon takes sacred golden and silver vesselsfrom the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem by his predecessor Nebuchadnezzar. Using these holy items, the King and his court praise 'the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone'. Immediately, the disembodied fingers of a human hand appear and write on the wall of the royal palace the words "MENE", "MENE", "TEKEL", "UPHARSIN"

Rembrandt [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The Talmud explains that Achashverosh dressed in garments of the Kohen Gadol and used vessels from the Temple. This is derived from the textual similarities between this chapter and the chapters in the Torah which describe the Mishkan. See parallels below.

Chapter 1 teaches us about the character of Achashverosh. He is a glutton for power. He is pure "Thumos" spirit in the writings of Plato. Yet he desires the approbation of the people throwing them an over the top party. He is all spirit, willing to do anything to assert a feeling of control over others. He wants to gain this control by making his people love him and does this not only by making this feast but by making the central feature of this feast the copious amounts of alcohol to release the inhibitions from the people.

Yoram Hazony, God and Politics in Esther

“It is no coincidence, either, that the material gift of choice is alcohol, an agent whose actions is directly on the spirit, “releasing inhibitions”, “steadying the nerves,” “making the heart merry,” all of these affectations deriving from a chemically enhanced sense of power and control”.

Achashverosh asks to bring Vashti to show off to the people. He treats Vashti as an object, a "vessel" for his "use". Vashti refuses which causes a challenge to Achashverosh spirit. He turns his personal shame into an affair of state, asking his advisors what to do. Memuchan transforms this into an affront on all men and a challenge to their leadership in the family. So Vashti is banished and a royal decree comes forth that "every man should wield authority in his home".

Chapter 1 sets the stage for Megillat Esther by introducing the character of Achashverosh as a king of pure spirit who was either greatly clever or foolish (or perhaps both). The Jews are not mentioned but Chazal theorize that they must have been at the king's feast like everyone else and this is the reason for the decree against them that follows. By celebrating with the king at this feast they are involved in debauchery, drunkenness and also worship verging on idolatry for a ruler who is celebrating his power over the people and by using vessels from the Temple, perhaps his power over God as well. 

Achashverosh consults his servants, he never decides anything on his own. They give him a plan to "wield authority in his home" as his royal decree had stated by kidnapping virgins and forcing himself upon them. Each would only be with him once and then never hear from him again unless he calls for them. In this way he guarantees himself the position of power over these inexperienced young girls.

Towards the beginning of the Megilla, we encounter a well-known verse that makes reference to the exile of King Yehoyachin at the hands of the Babylonians: "There lived a Jew… who had been exiled from Jerusalem in the group that was carried into exile along with Yechonya [an alternate name for Yehoyachin], the king of Judah" (2:5-6). This is the earliest date mentioned throughout the Megilla. It seems that the one exiled along with Yehoyachin was not Mordechai himself, but rather his great-grandfather, Kish: "There lived a Jew… by the name of Mordechai, son of Yair, son of Shimi, son of Kish the Benjaminite, who had been exiled…"

This exile of Yehoyachin occurred eleven years prior to the destruction of the first Temple, whereupon Benei Yisrael were driven to Babylonia. With the declaration of the Persian king Koresh (Cyrus) allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem, the Babylonian exile could have effectively ended. As we know, however, only a minority of the nation - and not necessarily those of the upper classes - heeded the call to return. The number of returnees was small, and, correspondingly, so was the level of activity in Eretz Yisrael upon their arrival. For good reason, the halakha requires that cities fortified specifically from the time of Yehoshua (the original conquest of Eretz Yisrael) read the Megilla on the fifteenth, and not those fortified since the early Second Temple era, when the story of Esther actually took place. The situation of the Land of Israel at that time was woeful. As we know from Ezra and Nechemia, even the wall fortifying the city of Jerusalem hardly served as a sturdy fortress.

As detailed in the books of Ezra and Nechemia, four waves of Jews returned from Babylonia after Koresh's proclamation, under the leadership of: Sheshbatzar; Yehoshua the High Priest and Zerubavel; Ezra; and Nechemia. The book of Ezra (chapter 4) also delineates the dynasty of the Persian monarchy, mentioning four kings: Koresh, Daryavesh, Achashverosh and Artachshasta. The text provides no information at all regarding the relevant dates or chronology of Koresh's reign, but it does tell us that the Jews dedicated the Second Temple in the sixth of year of Daryavesh's reign.

As the books of Ezra and Nechemia describe, during the period of Achashverosh's reign the situation in Eretz Yisrael was grim. The small handful of Jews that populated the Land faced many different types of problems - spiritual, security-related, economic and social. Intermarriage became rampant and the people sensed an apparent lack of religious leadership. Ezra, who migrated to Eretz Yisrael towards the beginning of Artachshasta's reign, offered suggestions and attempted to ameliorate the situation, meeting with only limited success.

This is the historical framework of the period. During the reign of Achashverosh, the vast majority of the Jewish people still lived in exile. The hopes for the complete redemption of Israel, as prophesied by Yirmiyahu, Yeshayahu, Hoshea, Amos, Yechezkel, Mikha, Chagai and Zekharya, were to have been realized through the Second Temple. Primarily because of the fact that most of the nation simply did not return to Jerusalem, this did not occur. The prophecies were not fulfilled during the Second Temple period; the house spoken of by Yechezkel remained far from reality.

-The Historical Framework of Megillat Esther

Based on a shiur by Rav David Nativ

Translated by David Silverberg

Mordecai instructs Esther to use her non-Jewish name meaning "star" and also related to Ishtar the Persian queen of heaven associated with the planet Venus. This despite the fact that she was raised with the Hebrew name Hadassa. He tells her to not reveal that she is a Jew. He wants her to act passive and submissive but he will use this to accumulate power that he can use to influence the king and defend the Jews when necessary.

Mordecai did not passively submit to Achashverosh like most people. Rather he placed himself in a position where he could become privy to sensitive information and then use his connection to Esther to pass the information along to the king. In this way he took the initiative to become indispensable. He chose against resistance and submission to the despotic authority and rather chose to actively support him so that he and Esther could find favor with the king and use this to ultimately help the Jewish people.

The reference to Mordecai sitting in the Lishkat Hagazit, the seat of the Sanhedrin also implies that sitting in the palace gate did not just represent a location but some type of authority. Mordecai seems to serve in some governmental capacity in Persia acting as a judge similar to the capacity he would have in the Jewish court.

Two fundamental questions:

1. Why did Achashverosh appoint Haman at this juncture to become his second on command?

2. Why did Mordecai refuse to bow down to Haman?

1. The assassination plot of Bigtan and Teresh although discovered in time, created a crisis for Achachverosh. Previously, Achashverosh had ruled as a limited monarch, regularly consulting with a large group of advisors. There are some 18 advisors and servants mentioned by name in the first two chapters and every decision from the decision to banish Vashti to the pageant to find a new queen is established by their suggestion. But now two of his close advisors have conspired against him and Achashverosh's response is to no longer trust his advisors and therefore consolidate his power to one trusted advisor who will rule above all of the others, Haman.

Malbim explains that in the confusion after the assassination attempt, Mordecai's role in saving Achashverosh's life was forgotten and Haman was able insinuate that he was the one who revealed the plot and saved the king and therefore Achashverosh appointed Haman as his most trusted second hand man.

2. Mordecai did not bow because by elevating Haman above all advisors Achashverosh has moved to an absolute monarchy. As long as Achashverosh consulted with many advisors his power was limited and the chances of him making evil decisions mitigated by his advisors. Now by elevating Haman as the only advisor he will listen to, Achashverosh has become an absolute despot and this Mordecai cannot countenance.

The Midrash brings another reason for Mordecai's refusal to bow connecting with the fact he was a Jew. Haman wore an idol so when they bowed to him, they bowed to the idol. Ralbag learns that Haman did not necessarily wear a god, he was given the status of a god who must be bowed down to. For this reason, Mordecai would not bow.

"We usually understand idolatry to refer to the making of figures... that represented gods or... were... considered gods whose pleasure and grace were thought necessary to obtain human good: sustenance, fertility, victory, peace. Frequently, there were men who claimed the ability to provide these things, and these men were referred to as gods." -Hazony, God and Politics in Esther   

The system of idolatry was moral relativism that there are different standards of morality based on time and place based on the "gods" of this place. For examples, see the story of the Samaritans in 2 Kings 17:26 who ask about the law of the Jewish God once they are settled in Israel. They assume the Jewish God rules Israel and has his own morality which must be followed in his land like the other gods who rule their lands.

Monotheism believes in one God who gives one moral standard by which all are judged no matter the time or place. This is why Mordecai could not accept the promotion of Haman and his establishment as a "god". As long as Achashverosh made his decisions based on a group of advisors, there was hope that these decisions could be moral as a settlement between many competing perspectives and interests. When Haman takes over and establishes his desires, needs, wants as the only ones that matter and the only ones that Achashverosh will listen to that is elevating his morality above the universal morality of God. Mordecai will not serve the god of Haman just like he will not serve any other idol.

Mordecai exercises civil disobedience against the injustice of Haman something we have seen numerous times in Tanach in the past starting with Abraham the first Hebrew whose very name indicates that the world is on one side. Abraham is willing to even defy God when it is a question of moral justice. Later the midwives defy Pharaoh rather than kill the Jewish boys when they are born. Moses stands up to an Egyptian who is striking an Israelite. Hananiah Mishael and Azariah are willing to be thrown into a fiery furnace rather than bow down to the statue of Nebuchadnezzar. Now Mordecai defies Haman because he is a Jew and will not bow down to Haman as a god.

Haman is from King Agag who was spared by King Shaul the son of Kish from Binyamin. Mordecai is a descendant of Shaul from the tribe of Binyamin. (His father Kish is named after the Kish who is the father of Shaul.) Mordecai from the tribe of Binyamin is carrying on the war from generation to generation with Haman who is descended from Agag and from the people of Amalek. Amalek are the unique enemies of the Jews. They prey on the weak and weary, the stragglers in the back of the camp. Similarly Haman's decree of destruction of the Jewish people is not just for the Jewish men but for the women and children. He is uniquely called the "enemy of the Jews". 

What makes Amalek so unique? They use terror tactics. They prey on the weak to demoralize the Jewish people with the hope that the Jews will give up the possibility of a fight and back off. Idolatry is using moral standards from a local perspective. One worships a god of one locale who sets rules for that place. Amalek does not adapt relative morality. They have no moral standards. In this way they are the antithesis of the Jewish belief system in one moral standard based on a universal God. Haman follows the Amalekites in his pursuit of power without limit and willingness to destroy all the Jewish people, "the young and old, children and women".

Yoram Hazony, God and Politics in Esther

Ironically, it is the very weakness of the Jews, their dispersion and lack of a government capable of defending their interests, that then becomes the basis for the paranoia with regard to them. That the Jews are "dispersed in all the provinces of your kingdom" implies that the degree of their subversion can be virtually infinite. Like the king's servants, the Jews are everywhere, and it is a small step from here to controlling the financial system, the press, hostile foreign powers, or the world. It is precisely the same sense of the mysterious powers of the Jews that Haman uses to convince the king that there is no choice but to eradicate the menace:

"There is a certain people, scattered and dispersed among the other peoples in all the provinces of your realm, whose laws are different from those of any other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; and it is not in Your Majesty’s interest to tolerate them. If it please Your Majesty, let an edict be drawn for their destruction."

It is interesting that Rashi conflates the two reasons mentioned by Chazal why the Jews were punished with the decree of Haman. They bowed down to the statue long ago during the time of Nebuchadnezzar and they benefited from the feast of Achashverosh. Rashi then seems to view this as a continuation of the first sin. Celebrating at Achashverosh's feast is tantamount to idolatry. Perhaps this explains the intertextuality in chapter 1 of Esther with the building of the mishkan from the Torah. The Jews at the feast were substituting worship of God at the Temple in Jerusalem with worship of the Persian dynasty at his seat of power in Shushan. Mordecai on the other hand by refusing to bow to Haman who was viewed as a god begins to reverse this sin which began which began with the bowing in the time of Achashverosh.

Here in chapter 4, Mordecai continues his public protest in the king's court by parading around the city in sackcloth. He does this to exert public pressure on the government by confronting everyone with the injustice and forcing them to choose whether they side with the royal decree or with Mordecai's protest of this decree. 

When Esther first hears of the decree against the Jews and Mordecai's demand that she intercede with the king, Esther hesitates. She gives a number of reasons why she cannot do it.

1) No, because it is against the law.

2) No, because I will die.

3) He will not forgive me because no one else behaves this way.

4) He will not forgive me because he does not care enough for me.

5) No, because my effort will change nothing.

Her hesitation makes sense since Mordecai is asking her both to repeat Vashti's crime by defying the king's command and to confirm Haman's charge that the Jews are insubordinate.

The lack of God's name in Megillat Esther is most apparent in Mordecai's response to Esther and then her call to the Jews. Mordecai says: "Relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another quarter" instead of saying deliverance will come from God. Then Esther calls for a 3 day fast obviously so the people will spend the time in reflection and prayer to God and yet there is no mention of God here. The Ibn Ezra quotes an interesting reason why God is missing in Esther from Rav Saadiah Gaon. The Megillah was written in Persian for the royal archive so if God name would appear, Persians would have substituted this for their gods.

Mordecai's response to Esther is two-fold. On the one hand, his belief in the eternity of the Jewish people means that ultimately Esther's actions will not make a difference. Salvation for the Jewish people will surely come, if not through Esther then from some other place. On the other hand, if Esther does not act she and her household will surely be lost. Salvation might come to the Jews but it could be at a great cost and great casualties for the Jewish people.

Consider the figures of Yosef vs. Moshe. Yosef worked within the system of Pharaoh's court. When the Jewish future enslavement and suffering became apparent while he was still a prince in Egypt, Yosef did nothing to stop it since it could harm his position with Pharaoh. Even though the Jews were ultimately saved many generations later, they endured countless suffering and many deaths because of this enslavement. Moshe on the other hand used his position as one raised in the royal court to challenge Pharaoh and ultimately free the Jews from slavery.

Esther had a similar choice. Should she do nothing since to act could risk her position in the Persian power structure or should she find a way to defy the decree against the Jews even at personal risk?

"Mordecai's certainty [that if Esther did nothing she and her family would be lost] comes from an understanding that the battle of the court Jew is ultimately the struggle to save, not the Jewish people, but himself. Exposing himself to the relentless encroachment of foreign values... perhaps, as Yosef claims, he will sometimes be able to achieve that good in the course of executing his assigned duties. But the proof that he lives as a Jew come not when he executes his assigned tasks on the path to worldly power.  It comes when he cannot pursue these tasks as expected- when the demands of power, expedience, and interest of the state are opposed to what is Jewish and what is right, when he stands to lose everything as Avraham lost everything in rejecting Mesopotamia. Only then does it become clear whether he is still fighting the battle of the Jew, or whether this cause has been sacrificed to the enslaving idol. In the rejection of the idol, only in the rejection of the idol, does the Jewish soul persist. 

That is why, while Esther may or may not succeed in saving numbers of Jews by interceding with the king, the only one who will be lost for certain with her silence is herself." Hazony, God and Politics in Esther

After fasting for 3 days, Esther is in a pitiful state but this works to her advantage. She almost faints which arouses Achashverosh's fear and he grabs her to save her from death. This is similar to Nehemiah when he appears before the Persian king Artaxerxes a few years later.

There are many reasons brought by Chazal why Esther would invite Haman and Achashverosh to the feast. Rashi cites the most straightforward reason. Esther needs to drive a wedge between Achashverosh and his most trusted advisor Haman who has been given total power over the kingdom. If she argues directly pleading her case, she will likely lose against Haman. She needs to find a way for Haman to appear flawed in judgement or suspect in the king's eyes. She does this by inviting both of them to the feast. She wants Achashverosh to suspect that something is going on between Esther and Haman. That there is plotting of sorts. However, when the banquet arrives so soon afterward, Esther suspects that her plan has not aroused in the king any suspicion. So she quickly changes course and invites them both to a second banquet on the following day, hoping that overnight Achashverosh will start to have second thoughts.

Haman leaves the feast happy and sees Mordecai continuing in his disobedience refusing even to acknowledge his presence. Haman realizes that there are still 11 months until the decree against the Jews. In that time, a political eternity, if Mordecai continues in his protest he could possibly get sympathizers to the Jewish plight. Something must be done quickly and decisively. Haman's advisors propose to publicly hang Mordecai on a high gallows which will not only neutralize the thread but serve as a public warning to anyone else who may want to resist Haman. However, Haman must get permission for this from Achashverosh. This puts Haman in a position of weakness since this is a personal request for Haman to knock off a rival which cannot be interpreted as helping the king. The king might not approve of this since he wants to appear magnanimous and giving to members of his court, not killing them off. 

The king can't sleep because he starts to wonder why Esther has invited him and Haman to two banquets. Perhaps Esther and Haman and plotting against him. He orders that the book of records be read to him. This could just be a pleasant diversion for him or it could be a part of his thinking process. Achashverosh wonders if there is a plot against him why hasn't any of his allies revealed it to him. He realizes how precarious a position he is in since he appointed Haman to be the only advisor with power and a voice and he has pushed away any other advisor who could help him. He is looking for allies who have helped in the past. Perhaps he did not pay them back for their favors for the king so they are not coming forward now. And he finds Mordecai's involvement saving him from the previous plot on his life.

The king asks his servant what was done for Mordecai. For the first time in the story since Haman was promoted to a position of authority, someone other than Haman responds to the king. The servant responds that nothing was done to repay Mordecai for saving Achashverosh's life.

The king thinks back to Haman's justification for killing the Jews. Haman had said that it was of no benefit to the king to keep the Jews. Why would Haman say this after what Mordecai had done? Perhaps Haman was involved in the plot with Bigtan and Teresh which Mordecai had foiled.

Achashverosh is up till early morning when he finds Haman in the courtyard. The king decides to take Haman down a notch by posing the question, what should be done for the man the king desires to honor. He knows Haman will naturally assume the king is talking about him. Haman's answer with its focus on the royal crown, garments and horse confirms Achashverosh's suspicions that Haman is hungry for the crown. He orders Haman to do everything he said to Mordecai. "The vizier, the paradigm of total power, seeks out the dissident Jew and publicly carries out the doom of submission to him - just as the other men in the court had humbled themselves before Haman in the preceding weeks."

After Haman's public humiliation, his wife Zeresh responds that Haman will never prevail over the Jew. Rashi explains that Jews are either as low as the dust of the earth or as high as the stars in the heaven. Zeresh's response is the claim that the Jews have almost unparalleled power and therefore they can never be vanquished.

When Esther reveals the plot to Achashverosh she avoids mentioning the Jews by name so as not to make it immediately clear to Achashverosh that he is directly responsible for the threat on her life. Achashverosh stammers repeating "and he said" twice. The Talmud says this is because Achashverosh starts to speak directly to Esther as he realizes that she is a Jew from royal stock. The more simple explanation is brought by Ibn Ezra. In his anger, Achashverosh starts repeating himself.

After the revelation, Achashverosh leaves the room since he is acting out of spirit and has lost control of himself. He does not wish to act when he has lost control. He realizes that he made the decree that every man should be in control in his house, married Esther after the grand beauty pageant, and appointed Haman as his sole advisor to gain control. But this very act has caused him to lose control of his wife at the hands of Haman.

When Achashverosh returns, Haman is prostrated on the couch by Esther. Contrast this with all the times the members of the court prostrated themselves to Haman and only Mordecai refuses to bow.

The king then responds, “Does he mean to ravish the queen in my own palace?” Chazal compare Haman to the snake in the Garden of Eden who tried to take what was not his and not only is he not allowed to acquire it but he loses what is his. Haman sought to take the queen from Achashverosh. It was not of a sexual nature but was close enough because it came from Haman's inability to keep his hands off what is not is. 

Harvona was mentioned in chapter 1 as one of Achashverosh's attendants but he disappeared from the story once Haman took power. Harvona however kept track of events and knew the details of Haman's plans for Mordecai, the height of the gallows for example. Harvona now turns the table on Haman. This could be for his own personal reasons, he wants to regain some power in Achashverosh's court once he perceives a weakness in Haman. But it is also a public move from the camp of Haman to the camp of Mordecai. For this reason, Chazal compare him to Eliyahu. Harvona at this moment brings salvation to the Jews whether that was his intention or not.

Harvona's move shows the political dictum that "strength attracts strength, and power attracts power". Once it is clear that Mordecai is gaining the power though the public demonstration in the streets of Shushan in the previous chapter and now through Esther's turning the tables on Haman, Harvona and others as well will change their allegiances to Mordecai.

Now Haman is gone and Mordecai has been elevated to a position of authority but the decree against the Jews still remains and this is when the real work will begin.

As far as Achashverosh is concerned everything is over with the killing of Haman and the elevating of Mordecai but the decree against the Jews remains So after waiting two months to see if Achashverosh would de anything about the decree, Esther has to interecede a second time.

Esther's appeal utilizes three forms of political pressure.

1) The king's interest

If it please Your Majesty...

if I have won your favor

2) Justice

The proposal seems right to Your Majesty...

If I am pleasing to you

3) Fear of Esther herself

For how can I bear to see the disaster which will befall my people...

How can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred

Esther starts with the formulaic requests to the king, if I please your majesty, and turns to a more personal appeal for favor, if I have won favor. She then honors the king by appealing to his objective sense of justice, if the proposal seems right, and then to the question if she is deserving of justice, if it is pleasing to you, even if the king has no interest. Finally she then appeals to Achashverosh's fear of rejection when she asks, how can I bear to see the disaster... befall my people... how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred.

Esther's appeal works but Achashverosh says that he cannot revoke a royal edict. This might or might not be true. (Rashi says it would be unseemly to do this.) But either way, politically it would be quite difficult to have people throughout the far reaches of the empire receive a decree of the Jew's destruction and then only two months later receive another decree revoking the first. (Luckily the people did not immediately act on the first decree since they are used to the king sending ridiculous edicts like the one in chapter 1 that every man should be the ruler in his home).  

Ibn Ezra says the king suggested to Mordecai to utilize the exact same wording against the enemies of the Jews in the second decree as was used in the first decree against the Jews, "destroy, massacre, and exterminate... women and children...". This would then suggest to the people that the first decree was made in error. Achashverosh gave Haman the signet ring to make a decree against the enemies of the Jews. Haman, on his own accord, changed it to be the opposite. Once Achashverosh finds out he immediately hangs Haman for his insubordination and, two months later, puts out a second decree correcting the first. This way the king saves face and there is some explanation, albeit not a truthful one, for the two contradictory edicts.

Hazony views that Mordecai's decree carefully mirrors Haman's decree to give the Jews confidence and strike fear into the hearts of the anti-Semites.

There are many parallels/contrasts between this moment towards the end of the Megillah and the beginning of the story. Mordecai is wearing royal robes of blue, white, gold, linen, and purple wool which parallels the curtains at the draperies and vessels at the feast in the beginning of the story. The people of Shushan shouted with joy when word came of the decree for the Jews to defend themselves contrasting with the reaction of the perplexing reaction of the people when the Haman's decree against the Jews was first promulgated. 

Mordecai does six acts to rally the Jews and cause the anti-Semites to despair. 1) Mordecai's decree permitting Jews to assemble and defend themselves. 2) Mordecai's public appearances in Shushan. 3) The public celebrations of the Jews. In the next chapter for the war, Mordecai does 3 more acts. 4) Organizing Jewish military power. 5) Rallying the support of provincial and local governments. 6) Building his own reputation. The first three efforts are aimed to raise the morale of Mordecai's own camp, the Jews. This counters Haman's decree against Jewish men, children and women, and property which were designed to make the Jews feel things were hopeless. Once Mordecai was successful with the Jews, his reputation spread to the non-Jews as well so he could get the help of the local governments to fight the Anti-Semites.  

One might argue that the Mordecai's Jewish war against the anti-Semites was unusually harsh with some 75,000 dead amongst the enemies of the Jews. Mordecai was following the playbook of Machiavelli. If one follows a minimalist approach against a threat one risks the enemy hoping for revenge and therefore continuing to be a threat. One also risks others following the example of the enemy due to the weak response and becoming a threat as well.

Finally and most importantly, Mordecai needed the king to be inclined towards him and the Jews. Achashverosh's position towards the Jews prior to this even after the execution of Haman was not that strong. Rather than rescind the original decree against the Jews, Achashverosh merely gave Mordecai the signet ring and do as is good in your eyes. He did not seem to be the least bit distressed which contrasts with the distress of Darius in Daniel chapter 6 when he is exceedingly distressed when he realizes he unwittingly made an irreversible decree to throw Daniel into the Lion's Den.

Strength attracts strength and power attracts power so Achashverosh is more attracted to the Jews when they take a position of strength against the Jews. We see this in Achashverosh's conversation with Esther. For the first time in the story, Achashverosh initiates the conversation because of his worry about the number of people being killed. Furthermore, he says, "What is your wish now? It shall be granted you. And what else is your request? It shall be fulfilled.” Earlier, he had always made an upper limit on his promises to Esther, up to half of the kingdom. Now Achashverosh offers Esther anything. With the Jewish strength, we have gone full circle. Esther, who was originally the helpless victim taken against her will to the king's harem is now the ruler in the house, calling the shots for Achashverosh to follow.

It is difficult to view the bloodshed of this war with our modern sensibilities. Mordecai lived in a different with different standards which Mordecai and the Jews had to follow as well to assure Jewish survival in this cruel period. One standard that the Jews did keep then which shows the purity of their fight is that they did not fight for plunder. Rather they never touched the spoils, but they did not lay hands on the spoil." This was despite the fact that Mordecai's decree specifically allowed the Jews to "plunder their possessions". This indicates that the Jews even in fighting a bloody war, held themselves to a higher standard than their enemies so they had a "purity of arms".

Mordecai appears to have been the first Jewish leader to establish a festival since Moshe. Why did these events warrant a holiday?

In Persia, for the first time in history, being Jewish became a matter of choice. Jews were not segregated in ghettos. They were dispersed throughout the empire and if they wished they could easily assimilate into the populace like the 10 tribes who became "lost" before them. This is why Rava in the Talmud says that until the Purim story, the Jews were "forced" to keep the Torah and only now during the Persian exile do the Jews renew their covenant of their own free will. Until now, dispersion and diaspora meant death for the Jewish people. Mordecai and Esther wanted to change this. 

Purim provided the opportunity for life in the exile to mean something different. The message of Purim is that if the Jew will stand up for himself and his faith then the diaspora can allow power for the Jews, not just the individual Jew but for the Jewish people. As the Midrash exclaims, "Was there ever in history such a miracle, that Israel should wreak vengeance on the other nations and do with their enemies as they pleased?" In establishing Purim, opened the way to an exile that although bitter could offer triumph and life to the Jews.