1. Opening Question: What advice would you give someone who wants to improve their self-esteem?
Illustration by Uri Pinchasi
Source: https://www.929.org.il/page/823/post/22036
2. Group Learning: Esther 4
Responding to the First Decree
Questions:
- What do we learn about Mordecai and Esther in this chapter?
- Have they changed from chapters 2-3? If so, how?
- Why do you think Mordecai mourns in public?
- How do you understand the many references in this chapter to:
- knowing (or not knowing), showing, and telling/informing
- commanding, instructing, summoning (tz.v.h. as in "mitzvah")
- Mordecai will refer to help coming from "another quarter" (makom acher). What do you think he is referring to?
- How does this chapter fit into the arc of the story of the Megillah so far?
- How do descriptions of clothing/coverings in this chapter compare to what we have seen previously?
- Keep these descriptions in mind for chapter 5 and beyond.
- As always: What stands out for you in this chapter?
(א) וּמׇרְדֳּכַ֗י יָדַע֙ אֶת־כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר נַעֲשָׂ֔ה וַיִּקְרַ֤ע מׇרְדֳּכַי֙ אֶת־בְּגָדָ֔יו וַיִּלְבַּ֥שׁ שַׂ֖ק וָאֵ֑פֶר וַיֵּצֵא֙ בְּת֣וֹךְ הָעִ֔יר וַיִּזְעַ֛ק זְעָקָ֥ה גְדוֹלָ֖ה וּמָרָֽה׃ (ב) וַיָּב֕וֹא עַ֖ד לִפְנֵ֣י שַֽׁעַר־הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ כִּ֣י אֵ֥ין לָב֛וֹא אֶל־שַׁ֥עַר הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ בִּלְב֥וּשׁ שָֽׂק׃ (ג) וּבְכׇל־מְדִינָ֣ה וּמְדִינָ֗ה מְקוֹם֙ אֲשֶׁ֨ר דְּבַר־הַמֶּ֤לֶךְ וְדָתוֹ֙ מַגִּ֔יעַ אֵ֤בֶל גָּדוֹל֙ לַיְּהוּדִ֔ים וְצ֥וֹם וּבְכִ֖י וּמִסְפֵּ֑ד שַׂ֣ק וָאֵ֔פֶר יֻצַּ֖ע לָֽרַבִּֽים׃ (ד) (ותבואינה) [וַ֠תָּב֠וֹאנָה] נַעֲר֨וֹת אֶסְתֵּ֤ר וְסָרִיסֶ֙יהָ֙ וַיַּגִּ֣ידוּ לָ֔הּ וַתִּתְחַלְחַ֥ל הַמַּלְכָּ֖ה מְאֹ֑ד וַתִּשְׁלַ֨ח בְּגָדִ֜ים לְהַלְבִּ֣ישׁ אֶֽת־מׇרְדֳּכַ֗י וּלְהָסִ֥יר שַׂקּ֛וֹ מֵעָלָ֖יו וְלֹ֥א קִבֵּֽל׃ (ה) וַתִּקְרָא֩ אֶסְתֵּ֨ר לַהֲתָ֜ךְ מִסָּרִיסֵ֤י הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הֶעֱמִ֣יד לְפָנֶ֔יהָ וַתְּצַוֵּ֖הוּ עַֽל־מׇרְדֳּכָ֑י לָדַ֥עַת מַה־זֶּ֖ה וְעַל־מַה־זֶּֽה׃
Mordecai in sackcloth
(1) When Mordecai learned/yada` (y.d.`) 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/mekom asher ('(any) place 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/vayaggidu (n.g.d.) 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/va-tetzavvehu (tz.v.h.) Hathach, one of the eunuchs whom the king had appointed to serve her, and sent him to Mordecai to learn/lada`at (y.d.`) the why and wherefore of it all.
(ו) וַיֵּצֵ֥א הֲתָ֖ךְ אֶֽל־מׇרְדֳּכָ֑י אֶל־רְח֣וֹב הָעִ֔יר אֲשֶׁ֖ר לִפְנֵ֥י שַֽׁעַר־הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ (ז) וַיַּגֶּד־ל֣וֹ מׇרְדֳּכַ֔י אֵ֖ת כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר קָרָ֑הוּ וְאֵ֣ת ׀ פָּרָשַׁ֣ת הַכֶּ֗סֶף אֲשֶׁ֨ר אָמַ֤ר הָמָן֙ לִ֠שְׁק֠וֹל עַל־גִּנְזֵ֥י הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ (ביהודיים) [בַּיְּהוּדִ֖ים] לְאַבְּדָֽם׃ (ח) וְאֶת־פַּתְשֶׁ֣גֶן כְּתָֽב־הַ֠דָּ֠ת אֲשֶׁר־נִתַּ֨ן בְּשׁוּשָׁ֤ן לְהַשְׁמִידָם֙ נָ֣תַן ל֔וֹ לְהַרְא֥וֹת אֶת־אֶסְתֵּ֖ר וּלְהַגִּ֣יד לָ֑הּ וּלְצַוּ֣וֹת עָלֶ֗יהָ לָב֨וֹא אֶל־הַמֶּ֧לֶךְ לְהִֽתְחַנֶּן־ל֛וֹ וּלְבַקֵּ֥שׁ מִלְּפָנָ֖יו עַל־עַמָּֽהּ׃ (ט) וַיָּב֖וֹא הֲתָ֑ךְ וַיַּגֵּ֣ד לְאֶסְתֵּ֔ר אֵ֖ת דִּבְרֵ֥י מׇרְדֳּכָֽי׃ (י) וַתֹּ֤אמֶר אֶסְתֵּר֙ לַהֲתָ֔ךְ וַתְּצַוֵּ֖הוּ אֶֽל־מׇרְדֳּכָֽי׃ (יא) כׇּל־עַבְדֵ֣י הַמֶּ֡לֶךְ וְעַם־מְדִינ֨וֹת הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ יֹֽדְעִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר כׇּל־אִ֣ישׁ וְאִשָּׁ֡ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר יָבֽוֹא־אֶל־הַמֶּ֩לֶךְ֩ אֶל־הֶחָצֵ֨ר הַפְּנִימִ֜ית אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹֽא־יִקָּרֵ֗א אַחַ֤ת דָּתוֹ֙ לְהָמִ֔ית לְ֠בַ֠ד מֵאֲשֶׁ֨ר יֽוֹשִׁיט־ל֥וֹ הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ אֶת־שַׁרְבִ֥יט הַזָּהָ֖ב וְחָיָ֑ה וַאֲנִ֗י לֹ֤א נִקְרֵ֙אתִי֙ לָב֣וֹא אֶל־הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ זֶ֖ה שְׁלוֹשִׁ֥ים יֽוֹם׃
What Esther needs to know
(6) Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square in front of the palace gate; (7) and Mordecai told/vayyagged (n.g.d.) 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/lehaggid (n.g.d.) her, and charge/le-tzavvot (tz.v.h.) 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/vayyagged (n.g.d.) Mordecai’s message to Esther, (10) Esther told Hathach to take back to Mordecai the following reply/va-tetzavvehu (tz.v.h.): (11) “All the king’s courtiers and the people of the king’s provinces know/yode`im (y.d.`.) 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.”
(יב) וַיַּגִּ֣ידוּ לְמׇרְדֳּכָ֔י אֵ֖ת דִּבְרֵ֥י אֶסְתֵּֽר׃ {פ} (יג) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר מׇרְדֳּכַ֖י לְהָשִׁ֣יב אֶל־אֶסְתֵּ֑ר אַל־תְּדַמִּ֣י בְנַפְשֵׁ֔ךְ לְהִמָּלֵ֥ט בֵּית־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ מִכׇּל־הַיְּהוּדִֽים׃ (יד) כִּ֣י אִם־הַחֲרֵ֣שׁ תַּחֲרִ֘ישִׁי֮ בָּעֵ֣ת הַזֹּאת֒ רֶ֣וַח וְהַצָּלָ֞ה יַעֲמ֤וֹד לַיְּהוּדִים֙ מִמָּק֣וֹם אַחֵ֔ר וְאַ֥תְּ וּבֵית־אָבִ֖יךְ תֹּאבֵ֑דוּ וּמִ֣י יוֹדֵ֔עַ אִם־לְעֵ֣ת כָּזֹ֔את הִגַּ֖עַתְּ לַמַּלְכֽוּת׃ (טו) וַתֹּ֥אמֶר אֶסְתֵּ֖ר לְהָשִׁ֥יב אֶֽל־מׇרְדֳּכָֽי׃ (טז) לֵךְ֩ כְּנ֨וֹס אֶת־כׇּל־הַיְּהוּדִ֜ים הַֽנִּמְצְאִ֣ים בְּשׁוּשָׁ֗ן וְצ֣וּמוּ עָ֠לַ֠י וְאַל־תֹּאכְל֨וּ וְאַל־תִּשְׁתּ֜וּ שְׁלֹ֤שֶׁת יָמִים֙ לַ֣יְלָה וָי֔וֹם גַּם־אֲנִ֥י וְנַעֲרֹתַ֖י אָצ֣וּם כֵּ֑ן וּבְכֵ֞ן אָב֤וֹא אֶל־הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹֽא־כַדָּ֔ת וְכַאֲשֶׁ֥ר אָבַ֖דְתִּי אָבָֽדְתִּי׃ (יז) וַֽיַּעֲבֹ֖ר מׇרְדֳּכָ֑י וַיַּ֕עַשׂ כְּכֹ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־צִוְּתָ֥ה עָלָ֖יו אֶסְתֵּֽר׃ {ס}
Esther makes a resolution
(12) When Mordecai was told/vayyaggidu (n.g.d.) 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/mi-makom acher ('from another place'), while you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows/yodei`a (y.d.`.), 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/tzivv'ta (tz.v.h.) him.
3. Commentaries and Sources for Chapter 4
3a. Fasting 4:3 and 4:16
(5) The people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast, and great and small alike put on sackcloth. (6) When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes. (7) And he had the word cried through Nineveh: “By decree of the king and his nobles: No man or beast—of flock or herd—shall taste anything! They shall not graze, and they shall not drink water! (8) They shall be covered with sackcloth—man and beast—and shall cry mightily to God. Let everyone turn back from his evil ways and from the injustice of which he is guilty.
3b. Where will help come from? (4:14)
The Place/HaMakom (adapted from https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/214412.2?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en)
We use the name, Hamakom (המקום) when we comfort a mourner during shiva.
It is traditional to say:
הַמָּקוֹם יְנַחֵם אֶתְכֶם בְּתוֹךְ אֲבֵלֵי צִיּוֹן וִירוּשָׁלַיִם
Hamakom yenachem etchem b'toch aveilei Tzion viYrushalayim
May God comfort you among the rest of the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem
Adele Berlin, commentary to 4:14
...God...is called "Ha-makom," i.e. "Omnipresent," in rabbinic writings.
4. Chavruta: Chapter 5
Esther's First Feast
Questions to consider:
- What do we learn about Esther, Ahasuerus, and Haman in this chapter?
- How do you understand Esther's strategy in this chapter?
- Why doesn't she make her request when the king invites her to do so?
Esther appears unbidden
(1) On the third day, Esther put on royal apparel and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, facing the king’s palace, while the king was sitting on his royal throne in the throne room facing the entrance of the palace. (2) As soon as the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won his favor. The king extended to Esther the golden scepter which he had in his hand, and Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. (3) “What troubles you, Queen Esther?” the king asked her. “And what is your request? Even to half the kingdom, it shall be granted you.” (4) “If it please Your Majesty,” Esther replied, “let Your Majesty and Haman come today to the feast that I have prepared for him.” (5) The king commanded, “Tell Haman to hurry and do Esther’s bidding.” So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared.
Esther's First Feast
(6) At the wine feast, the king asked Esther, “What is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to half the kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” (7) “My wish,” replied Esther, “my request— (8) if Your Majesty will do me the favor, if it please Your Majesty to grant my wish and accede to my request—let Your Majesty and Haman come to the feast which I will prepare for them; and tomorrow I will do Your Majesty’s bidding.”
Haman after the Feast
(9) That day Haman went out happy and lighthearted. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the palace gate, and Mordecai did not rise or even stir on his account, Haman was filled with rage at him. (10) Nevertheless, Haman controlled himself and went home. He sent for his friends and his wife Zeresh, (11) and Haman told them about his great wealth and his many sons, and all about how the king had promoted him and advanced him above the officials and the king’s courtiers. (12) “What is more,” said Haman, “Queen Esther gave a feast, and besides the king she did not have anyone but me. And tomorrow too I am invited by her along with the king. (13) Yet all this means nothing to me every time I see that Jew Mordecai sitting in the palace gate.” (14) Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a stake be put up, fifty cubits high, and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai impaled on it. Then you can go gaily with the king to the feast.” The proposal pleased Haman, and he had the stake put up.
5. Commentaries to Chapter 5
5a. A Half-way Point (5:7)
Masoretic Note to 5:7
Middle verse of the book
חצי הספר בפסוקים
5b. "The Prayer of Queen Esther" (She does not pray in the Book of Esther)
Septuagint
Addition C 25-29 / 14:14-18
The Greek Additions to Esther, which appear in the Septuagint, are considered to be part of the Apocrypha. The following addition appears between chapters 4 and 5 of Esther:
17τ But deliver us by thine hand, and help me [who am] destitute, and have none but thee, O Lord. 17υ Thou knowest all things, and knowest that I hate the glory of transgressors, and that I abhor the couch of the uncircumcised, and of every stranger. 17φ Thou knowest my necessity, for I abhor the symbol of my proud station, which is upon my head in the days of my splendour: I abhor it as a menstruous cloth, and I wear it not in the days of my tranquillity. 17χ And thy handmaid has not eaten [at] the table of Aman, and I have not honoured the banquet of the king, neither have I drunk wine of libations. 17ψ Neither has thy handmaid rejoiced since the day of my promotion until now, except in thee, O Lord God of Abraam.
(source: https://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/septuagint/chapter.asp?book=20&page=4)
Mary Joan Winn Leith, Commentary to Esther (The Greek Version Containing Additional Chapters) in the Apocrypha section of The New Oxforde Annotated Bible with the Apocrypa, comment to Addition C 15
Wicked, uncircumcised, alien, non Jews. Unlike the Hebrew text, Greek Esther generally takes a negative view of Gentiles.
5c. Third Day - "On the third day, Esther put on royal apparel..." (5.1)
The Binding of Isaac
(4) On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place from afar.
Revelation at Mount Sinai
(16) On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder, and lightning, and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the horn; and all the people who were in the camp trembled.
5d. Esther's First Banquet 5:6-8
Mary Joan Winn Leith, New Oxford Annotated Bible, Esther, comment to 5:4
Banquet. Food, reassuring and nurturing, often figures in stories of women confronting powerful men alone; Esther works indirectly to achieve her goal.
Yael (Jael) feeds and then kills the Canaanite general Sisera
(25) He asked for water, she offered milk;
In a princely bowl she brought him curds.
5e. Haman Enraged 5:9-14
One of several verses in the book of Proverbs that are quoted in connection with Haman's reactions and planning in chapter 5
NJPS
(18) Pride goes before ruin,
Arrogance, before failure.
JPS 1917
Pride goeth before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.
King James Version (https://biblehub.com/purple/proverbs/16.htm)
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
(8) Haman then said to King Ahasuerus, “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/ ein shoveh (it is not profitable) to tolerate them.
(13) Yet all this means nothing/einenu shoveh (is not profitable) to me every time I see that Jew Mordecai sitting in the palace gate.”
Carol Dweck (b. 1946), Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
Fixed and Growth Mindsets
"What are the consequences of thinking that your intelligence or personality is something you can develop, as opposed to something that is a fixed, deep-seated trait?"
"If you have only a certain amount of intelligence, a certain personality, and a certain moral character— well, then you’d better prove that you have a healthy dose of them. It simply wouldn’t do to look or feel deficient in these most basic characteristics."
"I’ve seen so many people with this one consuming goal of proving themselves— in the classroom, in their careers, and in their relationships. Every situation calls for a confirmation of their intelligence, personality, or character. Every situation is evaluated: Will I succeed or fail? Will I look smart or dumb? Will I be accepted or rejected? Will I feel like a winner or a loser?"
"There’s another mindset in which these traits are not simply a hand you’re dealt and have to live with, always trying to convince yourself and others that you have a royal flush when you’re secretly worried it’s a pair of tens. In this mindset, the hand you’re dealt is just the starting point for development. This growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts."
Cited by Farnam Street at https://fs.blog/carol-dweck-mindset/. Visited 2/19/2023
6. Summary and Next Class
Session 4
Esther Chapters 6-7
- Chapter 6 - The Book of Records
- Chapter 7 - Esther’s Second Feast