(ט) גַּ֚ם וַשְׁתִּ֣י הַמַּלְכָּ֔ה עָשְׂתָ֖ה מִשְׁתֵּ֣ה נָשִׁ֑ים בֵּ֚ית הַמַּלְכ֔וּת אֲשֶׁ֖ר לַמֶּ֥לֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרֽוֹשׁ׃ (ס) (י) בַּיּוֹם֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י כְּט֥וֹב לֵב־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ בַּיָּ֑יִן אָמַ֡ר לִ֠מְהוּמָן בִּזְּתָ֨א חַרְבוֹנָ֜א בִּגְתָ֤א וַאֲבַגְתָא֙ זֵתַ֣ר וְכַרְכַּ֔ס שִׁבְעַת֙ הַסָּ֣רִיסִ֔ים הַמְשָׁ֣רְתִ֔ים אֶת־פְּנֵ֖י הַמֶּ֥לֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרֽוֹשׁ׃ (יא) לְ֠הָבִיא אֶת־וַשְׁתִּ֧י הַמַּלְכָּ֛ה לִפְנֵ֥י הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ בְּכֶ֣תֶר מַלְכ֑וּת לְהַרְא֨וֹת הָֽעַמִּ֤ים וְהַשָּׂרִים֙ אֶת־יָפְיָ֔הּ כִּֽי־טוֹבַ֥ת מַרְאֶ֖ה הִֽיא׃ (יב) וַתְּמָאֵ֞ן הַמַּלְכָּ֣ה וַשְׁתִּ֗י לָבוֹא֙ בִּדְבַ֣ר הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּיַ֣ד הַסָּרִיסִ֑ים וַיִּקְצֹ֤ף הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ מְאֹ֔ד וַחֲמָת֖וֹ בָּעֲרָ֥ה בֽוֹ׃
Why is she called a nettle [sirpad]? Because she was the daughter of the son of the wicked Nebuchadnezzar, who burned the ceiling [saraf refidat] of the House of God, as it is written: “Its top [refidato] of gold” (Song of Songs 3:10).
Plutarch [Greece, 46-120 CE]: Advice to a Bride and Groom
16 1 BThe lawful wives of the Persian kings sit beside them at dinner, and eat with them. But when the kings wish to be merry and get drunk, they send their wives away, and send for their music-girls and concubines.9 In so far they are right in what they do, because they do not concede any share in their licentiousness and debauchery to their wedded wives. If therefore a man in private life, who is incontinent and dissolute in regard to his pleasures, commit some peccadillo with a paramour or a maidservant, his wedded wife ought not to be indignant or angry, but she should reason that it is respect for her which leads him to share his debauchery, licentiousness, and wantonness with another woman.
(שם, ט) גם ושתי המלכה עשתה משתה נשים בית המלכות בית הנשים מיבעי ליה אמר רבא שניהן לדבר עבירה נתכוונו היינו דאמרי אינשי איהו בקרי ואתתיה בבוציני
The verse states: “Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women, in the royal house, which belonged to King Ahasuerus” (Esther 1:9). The Gemara questions why she held the feast in the royal house, a place of men, rather than in the women’s house, where it should have been. Rava said in response: The two of them had sinful intentions. Ahasuerus wished to fornicate with the women, and Vashti wished to fornicate with the men. This explains the folk saying that people say: He with pumpkins and his wife with zucchinis, indicating that often a man and his wife engage in similar actions.
(1) Queen Vashti refused. Our Rabbis said because leprosy broke out on her,24Ibid. Vashti did not refuse out of modesty. She was as lewd as her husband and would have attended had she not broken out with leprosy. Another opinion is that the angel Gavriel caused her to grow a tail. so that she should refuse and be executed. Because she would force Jewish girls to disrobe and make them do work on Shabbos, it was decreed upon her to be stripped naked on Shabbos.25This punishment was in the form of מדה כנגד מדה, just as she had done, so it was decreed upon her. (Maseches Megillah 12b)
From 'Chabad.org'
The Other Side of Vashti
I did some digging-around. Here's what I found.
Vashti wasn't liberated at all; she was a fraudVashti wasn't liberated at all; she wasn't a proud woman who couldn't countenance exhibiting herself for the gratification of piggish men.
She was a fraud.
First, she had posed in the past clad in (just) a crown.
Second, she would gladly have done it again if not for an ugly rash which covered her body.
Thirdly, she had her Jewish maids sport birthday-suits when they worked, to humiliate them.
Three strikes. She's out.
No, Vashti was no feminist. She viewed herself exactly as men of her time did—as a beauty-object, not a person. She never went public looking less than picture perfect.
(יג) לְהָבִיא אֶת וַשְׁתִּי הַמַּלְכָּה לִפְנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ בְּכֶתֶר מַלְכוּת (אסתר א, יא), אָמַר רַבִּי אַיְּבוּ כַּפָּרָתָן שֶׁל יִשְׂרָאֵל, כְּשֶׁיִּשְׂרָאֵל אוֹכְלִין וְשׁוֹתִין וּשְׂמֵחִין, הֵן מְבָרְכִין וּמְשַׁבְּחִין וּמְקַלְּסִין לְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, וּכְשֶׁאֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם אוֹכְלִין וְשׁוֹתִין, מִתְעַסְּקִין הֵן בְּדִבְרֵי תִּפְלוּת, זֶה אוֹמֵר מָדִיּוֹת נָאוֹת, וְזֶה אוֹמֵר פַּרְסִיּוֹת נָאוֹת. אָמַר לָהֶם אוֹתוֹ טִפֵּשׁ, כְּלִי שֶׁאוֹתוֹ הָאִישׁ מִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בּוֹ אֵינוֹ לֹא מָדִית וְלֹא פַּרְסִית אֶלָּא כַּשְׂדִּית, מְבַקְּשִׁים אַתֶּם לִרְאוֹתוֹ, אָמְרוּ לוֹ הֵן וּבִלְבָד שֶׁתְּהֵא עֲרֻמָּה, אָמַר לְהוֹן הֵן וַעֲרֻמָּה. רַבִּי פִּנְחָס וְרַבִּי חָמָא בַּר גּוּרְיָא בְּשֵׁם רַב אָמַר בִּקְּשָׁה לִכָּנֵס אֲפִלּוּ בְּצִלְצוּל כְּזוֹנָה וְלֹא הִנִּיחוּ אוֹתָהּ, אֲמַר לוֹן וַעֲרֻמָּה, אָמְרָה אֶכָּנֵס בְּלֹא כֶתֶר הֵן אוֹמְרִים שִׁפְחָה הִיא זוֹ, תִּלְבַּשׁ בִּגְדֵי מַלְכוּת וְתִכָּנֵס, אָמַר רַב הוּנָא אֵין הֶדְיוֹט מִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בְּבִגְדֵי מַלְכוּת.
(יד) וַתְּמָאֵן הַמַּלְכָּה וַשְׁתִּי (אסתר א, יב), שָׁלְחָה וְאָמְרָה לוֹ דְּבָרִים שֶׁהֵן נוֹגְעִין בְּלִבּוֹ, אָמְרָה לוֹ אִם רוֹאִין אוֹתִי נָאָה, הֵן נוֹתְנִין עֵינֵיהֶם לְהִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בִּי וְהוֹרְגִים אוֹתְךָ, וְאִם רוֹאִין אוֹתִי כְּעוּרָה, אַתְּ מִתְגַּנֶּה בִּי. רְמָזַתּוּ וְלֹא נִרְמָז עֲקָצַתּוּ וְלֹא נֶעֱקָץ, שָׁלְחָה וְאָמְרָה לוֹ קוֹמִיס אִיסְטַבְּלָאטִי שֶׁל בֵּית אַבָּא הָיִיתָ וְהָיִיתָ לָמוּד לִהְיוֹת מַכְנִיס לְפָנֶיךָ נָשִׁים זוֹנוֹת עֲרֻמּוֹת, וְעַכְשָׁיו שֶׁנִּכְנַסְתָּ לַמַּלְכוּת לֹא חָזַרְתָּ מִקִּלְקוּלְךָ, רְמָזַתּוּ וְלֹא נִרְמָז עֲקָצַתּוּ וְלֹא נֶעֱקָץ, שָׁלְחָה וְאָמְרָה, אֲפִלּוּ אַנְדִּתִיקוּס שֶׁל בֵּית אַבָּא לֹא נִדּוֹנוּ עֲרֻמִּים, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (דניאל ג, כא): בֵּאדַיִן גֻּבְרַיָא אִלֵּךְ כְּפִתוּ בְּסַרְבָּלֵיהוֹן פַּטְּשֵׁיהוֹן. רַבִּי יוּדָן אָמַר בְּגוּלֵיהוֹן, וְרַבִּי הוּנָא אָמַר בְּמוֹקְסֵיהוֹן. רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בַּר אַבָּא אָמַר בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן, אֵין הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא דָּן אֶת הָרְשָׁעִים בַּגֵּיהִנֹּם אֶלָּא עֲרֻמִּים, וּמַה טַּעַם, דִּכְתִיב (תהלים עג, כ): בָּעִיר צַלְמָם תִּבְזֶה. אָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן הֵן דְּלִיסְטָאוֹת מְקַפֵּחַ תַּמָּן מִצְטְלֵב. אָמַר רַבִּי נָתָן אַף מִצְרִיִּים בְּרִידְתָּן בַּיָּם לֹא נִדּוֹנוּ אֶלָּא עֲרֻמִּים, מַה טַּעַם (שמות טו, ח): וּבְרוּחַ אַפֶּיךָ נֶעֶרְמוּ מַיִם. וְרַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי יוֹנָתָן אָמַר אֵין הָרָשָׁע יוֹצֵא מִן הָעוֹלָם עַד שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַרְאֶה קִנִיגִין דִּידֵיהּ הֵיאַךְ הֲוָה מִיתְּצֵיד.
(13) "To bring Queen Vashti before the king wearing a royal diadem (Esther 1:11)": Rabbi Aybo said: "Atonement of Israel! When Israel eats and drinks and celebrates, they bless and praise and glorify the Holy One Blessed Be He. But when the nations of the world eat and drink, they occupy themselves with tasteless words. This one says: "Median women are fair!", and this one says: "Persian women are fair!". The fool said to them: "The vessel that this man uses is neither Median nor Persian, rather Chaldean. Do you all desire to see her?" They said to him: "Yes, but only if she is naked". He said to them: "Yes, and naked"". Rabbi Pinchas and Rabbi Hama bar Guria said in the name of Rab: "She requested to enter even wearing bells like a prostitute, but they did not allow her. He said to them: "and naked". She said: "I will enter without my crown". They [will] say she is a maidservant. Put on royal garments and enter! [=Even in royal garments, they will say that a maidservant can masquerade as a queen.]" Rav Huna said: "A commoner does not make use of royal garments".
(14) "But Queen Vashti refused (Esther 1:12)": She sent and said to him words that touched his heart. She said to him: If they see that I am fair, they will try to make use of me and kill you. But if they see that I am ugly, you will be denigrated through me". She was speaking subtly to him but he did not understand her subtlety; she was pricking him but he was not pricked. She sent and said to him: "You were the comes estabularius, the stable master of my father's house and you were experienced in leading before yourself prostitutes naked and now that you have come into kingship you have not changed from your debauchery". She was speaking subtly to him but he did not understand her subtlety; she was pricking him but he was not pricked. She sent and said to him: "The ekdikus, one found guilty in court, of my father's house were not judged naked. See! It is written: "So these men, in their shirts, trousers, hats, and other garments (Daniel 3:21)"". Rabbi Yudan said: "In their robes", and Rabbi Huna said: "In their official uniforms". Rabbi Shimon son of Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: "The Holy One, blessed be He, does not judge the wicked regarding Gehinnom except naked. And how do we know that? It is written: "When You are aroused You despise their image (Psalm 73:20)"". Rabbi Samuel son of Nachman said: "Those of bandits are executed where he lies in ambush". Rabbi Nathan said: "But Egyptians in their descent into the sea they were not judged except naked. How do we know this? "At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up (Exodus 15:8)"". And Rabbi Samuel son of Nachman in the name of Rabbi Yonatan said: "The wicked does not go out of the world until the Holy One, blessed be He, reveals the net in which he is going to be snared".
The Jewish Study Bible commentary on Esther 1:19
Vashti refused to appear, and now she may never appear again. While the book is silent about what became of Vashti, many midrashim interpret her punishment as execution.
Cannot be abrogated, Generally understood to mean that a law cannot be revoked, but the Hebrew means "may not be broken" or "to which there is no exception...."
Rabbi Jeffrey M. Cohen, “Vashti – An Unsung Heroine,” The Jewish Bible Quarterly, April-June 1996, pp. 103-106
In that debauched society, sanity was suspended and marital relationships compromised. Queen Vashti, so missed by the king after he had disposed of her, notwithstanding the fact that he had innumerable women at his beck and call, must have been a rare woman to have retained her sense of dignity and morality to the extent that she was prepared to endanger her life by refusing her lord and master’s bidding to show off her body to the assembled throng... She demonstrated that moral conscience was the ultimate arbiter of human behavior, and that human freedom was not to be surrendered under any circumstances, even the most extreme.
(1) Some time afterward, when the anger of King Ahasuerus subsided, he thought of Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her. (2) The king’s servants who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for Your Majesty. (3) Let Your Majesty appoint officers in every province of your realm to assemble all the beautiful young virgins at the fortress Shushan, in the harem under the supervision of Hege, the king’s eunuch, guardian of the women. Let them be provided with their cosmetics. (4) And let the maiden who pleases Your Majesty be queen instead of Vashti.” The proposal pleased the king, and he acted upon it.
(5) In the fortress Shushan lived a Jew by the name of Mordecai, son of Jair son of Shimei son of Kish, a Benjaminite. (6) [Kish] had been exiled from Jerusalem in the group that was carried into exile along with King Jeconiah of Judah, which had been driven into exile by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.— (7) He was foster father to Hadassah—that is, Esther—his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The maiden was shapely and beautiful; and when her father and mother died, Mordecai adopted her as his own daughter. (8) When the king’s order and edict was proclaimed, and when many girls were assembled in the fortress Shushan under the supervision of Hegai, Esther too was taken into the king’s palace under the supervision of Hegai, guardian of the women. (9) The girl pleased him and won his favor, and he hastened to furnish her with her cosmetics and her rations, as well as with the seven maids who were her due from the king’s palace; and he treated her and her maids with special kindness in the harem. (10) Esther did not reveal her people or her kindred, for Mordecai had told her not to reveal it. (11) Every single day Mordecai would walk about in front of the court of the harem, to learn how Esther was faring and what was happening to her. (12) When each girl’s turn came to go to King Ahasuerus at the end of the twelve months’ treatment prescribed for women (for that was the period spent on beautifying them: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and women’s cosmetics, (13) and it was after that that the girl would go to the king), whatever she asked for would be given her to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. (14) She would go in the evening and leave in the morning for a second harem in charge of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch, guardian of the concubines. She would not go again to the king unless the king wanted her, when she would be summoned by name. (15) When the turn came for Esther daughter of Abihail—the uncle of Mordecai, who had adopted her as his own daughter—to go to the king, she did not ask for anything but what Hegai, the king’s eunuch, guardian of the women, advised. Yet Esther won the admiration of all who saw her. (16) Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, in his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. (17) The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she won his grace and favor more than all the virgins. So he set a royal diadem on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. (18) The king gave a great banquet for all his officials and courtiers, “the banquet of Esther.” He proclaimed a remission of taxes for the provinces and distributed gifts as befits a king. (19) When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai sat in the palace gate. (20) But Esther still did not reveal her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had instructed her; for Esther obeyed Mordecai’s bidding, as she had done when she was under his tutelage.
(יב) דבר אחר: פרי עץ הדר, אלו ישראל. מה אתרוג זה, יש בו טעם ויש בו ריח. כך ישראל, יש בהם בני אדם, שיש בהם תורה, ויש בהם מעשים טובים. כפות תמרים, אלו ישראל. מה התמרה הזו, יש בו טעם ואין בו ריח. כך הם ישראל, יש בהם שיש בהם תורה ואין בהם מעשים טובים. וענף עץ עבות, אלו ישראל. מה הדס, יש בו ריח ואין בו טעם.כך ישראל, יש בהם שיש בהם מעשים טובים ואין בהם תורה...
(12) Another explanation: "The fruit of a beautiful tree" - these are [referring to] Israel. Just like this citron (etrog), which has taste and has smell, so too Israel has among them people that have Torah and have good deeds. "The branches of a date palm" - these are [referring to] Israel. Just like this date, which has taste and has no smell, so too Israel has among them those that have Torah but do not have good deeds. "And a branch of a braided tree (a myrtle)" - these are [referring to] Israel. Just like this myrtle, which has smell and has no taste, so too Israel has among them those that have good deeds but do not have Torah...
Vashti and Esther : a feminist perspective (Wendy Amsellem)
By contrast, Esther is presented at first as the perfect foil to Vashti. Whereas Vashti was willful and independent, Esther is passive and submissive. The reflexive use of the Hebrew word “LaKaKH” is constantly applied to her. She is “taken” in by Mordechai as a foster daughter, “taken” to the king’s harem, and “taken” before the king. She does not reveal her identity at the palace, “for Mordechai had commanded her not to tell.” She requests nothing at the harem, only accepting whatever Hagai, the king’s eunuch, chooses to give her. Even after she is crowned queen, we are told that Esther continues to obey the commands of Mordechai as she had done under his care. It is no surprise that Ahasuerus loves Esther. She is the model of docility, an exact antidote to Vashti.
Aviva Zornberg, The Murmuring Deep (p. 123-125)
Throughout her marriage, Esther has remained silent about her origins (Esther 2:20). Now Mordecai, who commanded that silence, urges her to break it. That silence was for the sake of this moment. Now she must speak, take up a position, or else lose her voice forever. This moment is all she has, her chance to make herself heard.... In her crisis, she is alone.... By accepting Mordecai's challenge, Esther fully enters, for the first time, Ahasuerus's world.... With a voice of new authority, she charges Mordecai with assembling the people and having them fast for her. Fasting may seem a dubious preparation for the fateful encounter on which her life depends: her beauty will suffer. But perhaps she is removing her last and most basic source of worldly confidence, as though to acknowledge that even the king's favor is, in the end, in God's hands.... (123-124)
(1) When Mordecai learned all that had happened, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went through the city, crying out loudly and bitterly, (2) until he came in front of the palace gate; for one could not enter the palace gate wearing sackcloth.— (3) Also, in every province that the king’s command and decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing, and everybody lay in sackcloth and ashes.— (4) When Esther’s maidens and eunuchs came and informed her, the queen was greatly agitated. She sent clothing for Mordecai to wear, so that he might take off his sackcloth; but he refused. (5) Thereupon Esther summoned Hathach, one of the eunuchs whom the king had appointed to serve her, and sent him to Mordecai to learn the why and wherefore of it all. (6) Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square in front of the palace gate; (7) and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and all about the money that Haman had offered to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. (8) He also gave him the written text of the law that had been proclaimed in Shushan for their destruction. [He bade him] show it to Esther and inform her, and charge her to go to the king and to appeal to him and to plead with him for her people. (9) When Hathach came and delivered Mordecai’s message to Esther, (10) Esther told Hathach to take back to Mordecai the following reply: (11) “All the king’s courtiers and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any person, man or woman, enters the king’s presence in the inner court without having been summoned, there is but one law for him—that he be put to death. Only if the king extends the golden scepter to him may he live. Now I have not been summoned to visit the king for the last thirty days.” (12) When Mordecai was told what Esther had said, (13) Mordecai had this message delivered to Esther: “Do not imagine that you, of all the Jews, will escape with your life by being in the king’s palace. (14) On the contrary, if you keep silent in this crisis, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another quarter, while you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows, perhaps you have attained to royal position for just such a crisis.” (15) Then Esther sent back this answer to Mordecai: (16) “Go, assemble all the Jews who live in Shushan, and fast in my behalf; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens will observe the same fast. Then I shall go to the king, though it is contrary to the law; and if I am to perish, I shall perish!” (17) So Mordecai went about [the city] and did just as Esther had commanded him.
Rachel E. Adelman, The Female Ruse: Women's Deception and Divine Sanction in the Hebrew Bible (p. 76)
The Megillah concludes with Esther, the eponymous heroine of our story, writing the scroll (9.29, cf. v. 32). Uniquely, she becomes the one female author in the biblical canon, engaging in writing as a mode of reflexivity, the means by which the self is reclaimed as subject, free from the view of male ogle, released from the husband’s rule in palace or home. She moves from silence to author-ity, not only as author of the Megillah, but also as a maker of laws and customs incumbent upon her people ever after.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, THE WOMAN'S BIBLE (1895)
Vahsti had exercised heroic courage in asserting womanly dignity and the inherent human right never recognized by kingship, to choose whether to please and to obey the king. Esther, so as to save her people from destruction, risked her life... Women as queenly, as noble, and as self-sacrificing as was Esther, as self -respecting and as brave as was Vashti, are hampered in their creative office by the unjust statutes of men.