Yael and Esther- Tanach and Gender Roles

(1) And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead. (2) And the LORD gave them over into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth-goiim... (4) Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time...(6) And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said unto him: ‘Hath not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded, saying: Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? (7) And I will draw unto thee to the brook Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thy hand. (8) And Barak said unto her: ‘If thou wilt go with me, then I will go; but if thou wilt not go with me, I will not go.’ (9) And she said: ‘I will surely go with thee; notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thy honour; for the LORD will give Sisera over into the hand of a woman.’ And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh...(16) But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth-goiim; and all the host of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; there was not a man left. (17) Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. (18) And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him: ‘Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not.’ And he turned in unto her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. (19) And he said unto her: ‘Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.’ And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. (20) And he said unto her: ‘Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say: Is there any man here? that thou shalt say: No.’ (21) Then Jael Heber’s wife took a tent-pin, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground; for he was in a deep sleep; so he swooned and died... (24) And the hand of the children of Israel prevailed more and more against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

She gave him milk because it brings drowsiness upon him.

The milk of a woman.

In hiding.

Hurry yourself.

(24) Blessed above women shall Jael be, The wife of Heber the Kenite, Above women in the tent shall she be blessed.

(25) Water he asked, milk she gave him; In a lordly bowl she brought him curd. (26) Her hand she put to the tent-pin, And her right hand to the workmen’s hammer; And with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote through his head, Yea, she pierced and struck through his temples. (27) At her feet he sunk, he fell, he lay; At her feet he sunk, he fell; Where he sunk, there he fell down dead.

(5) And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not down, nor prostrated himself before him, then was Haman full of wrath. (13) And letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.

(15) Then Esther bade them return answer unto Mordecai: (16) ’Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day; I also and my maidens will fast in like manner; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.’ (17) So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

(1) Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put in her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s house; and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the entrance of the house. (2) And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight; and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.

(9) Then said Harbonah, one of the chamberlains that were before the king: ‘Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman hath made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman.’ And the king said: ‘Hang him thereon.’ (10) So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath assuaged.

“Now it came to pass on the third day that Esther put on royalty” (Esther 5:1). Surely it should say, “royal clothing”? R. Elazar said in the name of R. Hanina: This tells us that the holy spirit clothed her.

(14) כאשר שכולתי שכלתי, an expression parallel to Esther’s saying when she risked her life appearing uninvited before the king, saying: כאשר אבדתי אבדתי, “if I have forfeited my life, so be it.” (Esther 4,16)

(25)...Megilla (15a): “‘If I am lost, I am lost’ (ka’asher avadeti avadeti; Esther 4:16): just as I lost my father’s house, so too I will lose you. Until now I have been compelled, but now I am willing.” We learn from this that from that time, she became forbidden to Mordechai. Now, it is clear that Esther did nothing prohibited, and there was not even a smidgen of transgression. Rather, she performed a great mitzva, for she saved all of Israel. Clearly that this is the case, for when she came before the king, the divine spirit rested upon her. But even so, she became forbidden to her husband, Mordechai, as a result of that willing act. Now we may reason a fortiori: if in that case, where there was not a smidgen of transgression, and, on the contrary, she did a mitzva....

(26) For this reason, Beit Shmuel states in §178: “If she willingly committed adultery to save lives, as in the case of Esther with Ahasuerus, she is forbidden to her husband, as the intercourse was willing.”

(27) In my humble opinion, there is a rebuttal to this. Although Maharik offers sound reasoning—even if she did not betray God, but still betrayed her husband, she is forbidden to him—in my opinion this only applies when she willingly committed adultery and intended to enjoy it, but was not aware that it is forbidden, because the nevertheless had intention to betray her husband. However, if she committed adultery for the sake of a mitzva, and her intent was solely for the sake of heaven, how can this be considered a betrayal of her husband? This would be especially challenging for Mordechai’s case, since he himself ordered her, against her will, to go to the king. How can this be considered a betrayal of him?

(29) Therefore, it seems to me, in my humble opinion, that if her actions were definitely necessary to save Israel, then there is no greater compulsion than that.

(30).... But with regard to the question of whether she remains permitted to her husband, the uncertainty remains, since indeed, it may have been possible to save them another way, so perhaps she committed adultery willingly and unnecessarily. Thus, Esther said “If I am lost, I am lost,” that now she was going willingly, and due to the uncertainty, she would be forbidden to her husband...