Scroll of Esther by Moshe ben Avraham Pascarol, Ferrara, Italy, 1617
National Library of Israel, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
1. Opening Question:
What are your thoughts about how best to respond to Anti-Semitism?
2. The narrative of Esther so far with main characters (A, M, E, H), dates
- Ch1 Ahasuerus' feasts - demotion of Vashti (A). Year 3 of A.
- Ch 2 Mordecai the Jew; Esther is chosen to be queen (M, E, A) Year 7
- Ch 3 Haman becomes vizier and decrees destruction of the Jews (H, M, A) Year 12
- Ch 4 Mordecai urges Esther to intercede with the king (M, E) 13th of Nisan
- Ch 5 Esther initiates her strategy to intercede and hosts Ahasuerus and Haman at a feast; Haman plots to kill Mordecai (E, A, H) ~16th of Nisan
- Ch 6 Ahasuerus orders Haman to publicly honor Mordecai (A, M, H) ~16th of Nisan
- Ch 7 At a second feast, Esther names Haman as enemy of her people. Haman is hanged at the order of Ahasuerus (A, E, H) ~16th of Nisan
3. Questions to consider for Chapter 8
- What echoes do we hear in this chapter of things we have heard before?
- How do you understand the support shown for the Jews in this chapter (and in 9:3)?
- When do events occur in this chapter?
4. Learning Together: Chapter 8 The Second Decree
Esther helps Mordecai rise to power
(1) That very day King Ahasuerus gave the property of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Mordecai presented himself to the king, for Esther had revealed how he was related to her. (2) The king slipped off his ring, which he had taken back from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther put Mordecai in charge of Haman’s property.
Esther works to overturn Haman's decree
(3) Esther spoke to the king again, falling at his feet and weeping, and beseeching him to avert the evil plotted by Haman the Agagite against the Jews. (4) The king extended the golden scepter to Esther, and Esther arose and stood before the king. (5) “If it please Your Majesty,” she said, “and if I have won your favor and the proposal seems right to Your Majesty, and if I am pleasing to you—let dispatches be written countermanding those which were written by Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, embodying his plot to annihilate the Jews throughout the king’s provinces. (6) For how can I bear to see the disaster which will befall my people! And how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred!” (7) Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “I have given Haman’s property to Esther, and he has been impaled on the stake for scheming against the Jews. (8) And you may further write with regard to the Jews as you see fit. [Write it] in the king’s name and seal it with the king’s signet, for an edict that has been written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet may not be revoked.”
The Second Decree
(9) So the king’s scribes were summoned at that time, on the twenty-third day of the third month, that is, the month of Sivan; and letters were written, at Mordecai’s dictation, to the Jews and to the satraps, the governors and the officials of the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces from India to Nubia: to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language. (10) He had them written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet. Letters were dispatched by mounted couriers, riding steeds used in the king’s service, bred of the royal stud,-a (11) to this effect: The king has permitted the Jews of every city to assemble and fight for their lives; if any people or province attacks them, they may destroy, massacre, and exterminate its armed force together with women and children, and plunder their possessions— (12) on a single day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, namely, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar. (13) The text of the document was to be issued as a law in every single province: it was to be publicly displayed to all the peoples, so that the Jews should be ready for that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. (14) The couriers, mounted on royal steeds, went out in urgent haste at the king’s command; and the decree was proclaimed in the fortress Shushan.
Mordecai's royal garb and the Jews' joy
(15) Mordecai left the king’s presence in royal robes of blue and white, with a magnificent crown of gold and a mantle of fine linen and purple wool. And the city of Shushan rang with joyous cries. (16) The Jews enjoyed light and gladness, happiness and honor. (17) And in every province and in every city, when the king’s command and decree arrived, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many of the people of the land professed to be Jews, for the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.
5. Commentaries to Chapter 8
5a. Commentaries: Comparing Esther's petitions
(5) “If it please/טוב/tov Your Majesty,” she said, “and if I have won your favor/חן/hein and the proposal seems right/כשר/kasher to Your Majesty, and if I am pleasing/טובה/tovah to you—let dispatches be written countermanding those which were written by Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, embodying his plot to annihilate the Jews throughout the king’s provinces.
Esther's very first request
(8) if Your Majesty will do me the favor/חן/hein, if it please/טוב/tov 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.”
Esther's request at her Second Banquet
(3) Queen Esther replied: “If Your Majesty will do me the favor/חן/hein, and if it pleases/טוב/tov Your Majesty, let my life be granted me as my wish, and my people as my request.
5b. Commentaries: Comparing the Two Decrees
Second Decree (dat דת)
(11) to this effect: The king has permitted the Jews of every city to assemble and fight for their lives; if any people or province attacks them, they may destroy, massacre, and exterminate its armed force together with women and children, and plunder their possessions—
First Decree
(13) Accordingly, written instructions were dispatched by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy, massacre, and exterminate all the Jews, young and old, children and women, on a single day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month—that is, the month of Adar—and to plunder their possessions.
Carey A. Moore (Anchor Bible) Comment to 8:11
...to wipe out, slaughter, and annihilate every armed force of any people or province that was hostile to them, along with their children and women and to plunder their personal property.
"it is the Wisdom doctrine of retributive justice which best explains the parallel between the phrase under discussion here and in [3:13], that is, Haman and his suppoters are to receive what they had intended to give. Mordecai's letter confirms the adage 'as a man sows so shall he reap.'" [Christian Bible, Galatians 6:7]
[5c. Commentaries: Mordecai's robes]
(15) Mordecai left the king’s presence in royal robes of blue and white, with a magnificent crown of gold and a mantle of fine linen and purple wool. And the city of Shushan rang with joyous cries.
(42) And removing his signet ring from his hand, Pharaoh put it on Joseph’s hand; and he had him dressed in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck.
(29) Then, at Belshazzar’s command, they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a golden chain on his neck, and proclaimed that he should rule as one of three in the kingdom.
(6) [There were hangings of] white cotton and blue wool, caught up by cords of fine linen and purple wool to silver rods and alabaster columns; and there were couches of gold and silver on a pavement of marble, alabaster, mother-of-pearl, and mosaics.
5d. Commentaries: Mourning turns to Joy for the Jews of Sushan...and for us
When Mordecai appears in his courtly robes
(15) ... And the city of Shushan rang with joyous cries. (16) The Jews enjoyed light and gladness, happiness and honor. (17) And in every province and in every city, when the king’s command and decree arrived, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many of the people of the land professed to be Jews, for the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.
Reactions to the First Decree: In Shushan
(15) The couriers went out posthaste on the royal mission, and the decree was proclaimed in the fortress Shushan. The king and Haman sat down to feast, but the city of Shushan was dumfounded.
Reactions to the First Decree: the Jews of the Persian Empire
(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.—
(א) הִנֵּה אֵל יְשׁוּעָתִי אֶבְטַח וְלֹא אֶפְחָד כִּי עָזִּי וְזִמְרָת יָהּ ה' וַיְהִי לִי לִישׁוּעָה:
(ב) וּשְׁאַבְתֶּם מַיִם בְּשָׂשׂוֹן מִמַּעַיְנֵי הַיְשׁוּעָה:
(ג) לַה' הַיְשׁוּעָה עַל עַמְּךָ בִרְכָתֶךָ סֶּלָה:
(ד) ה' צְבָאוֹת עִמָּנוּ מִשְׂגָּב לָנוּ אֱלֹקֵי יַעֲקֹב סֶלָה:
(ה) ה' צְבָאוֹת, אַשְׁרֵי אָדָם בֹּוטֵחַ בָּךְ:
(ו) ה' הוֹשִׁיעָה, הַמֶּלֶךְ יַעֲנֵנוּ בְיוֹם קָרְאֵנו:
(ז) לַיְּהוּדִים הָיְתָה אוֹרָה וְשִׂמְחָה וְשָׂשֹׂן וִיקָר:
(ח) כן תהיה לנו:
(ט) כּוֹס יְשׁוּעוֹת אֶשָּׂא וּבְשֵׁם ה' אֶקְרָא:
In Ashkenazi tradition, the Havdalah ritual at the end of Shabbat begins with a series of verses about redemption, trust, and joy.
See English translation from Birnbaum Siddur, below:
הסדור השלם (אשכנז) | HaSiddur HaShalem, a bilingual Hebrew-English prayerbook translated and annotated by Philip Birnbaum (1949)
[5e. Commentaries: If it is proper/seems right/if it is kasher/kosher!]
(ה) וַ֠תֹּ֠אמֶר אִם־עַל־הַמֶּ֨לֶךְ ט֜וֹב וְאִם־מָצָ֧אתִי חֵ֣ן לְפָנָ֗יו וְכָשֵׁ֤ר הַדָּבָר֙ לִפְנֵ֣י הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וְטוֹבָ֥ה אֲנִ֖י בְּעֵינָ֑יו יִכָּתֵ֞ב לְהָשִׁ֣יב אֶת־הַסְּפָרִ֗ים מַחֲשֶׁ֜בֶת הָמָ֤ן בֶּֽן־הַמְּדָ֙תָא֙ הָאֲגָגִ֔י אֲשֶׁ֣ר כָּתַ֗ב לְאַבֵּד֙ אֶת־הַיְּהוּדִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּכׇל־מְדִינ֥וֹת הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃
(5) “If it please Your Majesty,” she said, “and if I have won your favor and the proposal seems right/kasher (k.sh.r.) to Your Majesty, and if I am pleasing to you—let dispatches be written countermanding those which were written by Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, embodying his plot to annihilate the Jews throughout the king’s provinces.
(ה) כָּל הַיּוֹם כָּשֵׁר לִקְרִיאַת הַמְּגִלָּה, וְלִקְרִיאַת הַהַלֵּל, וְלִתְקִיעַת שׁוֹפָר, וְלִנְטִילַת לוּלָב, ...
The word "כשר/kasher" in rabbinic literature
(5) Although it is preferable to fulfill a particular day’s mitzva at the earliest possible hour, the entire day is a valid time/kol hayyom kasher/כל היום כשר for reading the Megilla; for reciting hallel; for sounding the shofar on Rosh HaShana; for taking the lulav and the other species on Sukkot;...
6. Questions for Chavruta study, chapter 91-10
- How do you understand the behavior of the Jews and of the government officials in this passage?
- What do you notice in the graphic presentation of verses 6-10 (see the text as well as the photograph from the Paris manuscript)?
7. Chavruta Study: Esther 91-10
The Jews defend themselves
(1) And so, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month—that is, the month of Adar—when the king’s command and decree were to be executed, the very day on which the enemies of the Jews had expected to get them in their power, the opposite happened, and the Jews got their enemies in their power. (2) Throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the Jews mustered in their cities to attack those who sought their hurt; and no one could withstand them, for the fear of them had fallen upon all the peoples. (3) Indeed, all the officials of the provinces—the satraps, the governors, and the king’s stewards—showed deference to the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them. (4) For Mordecai was now powerful in the royal palace, and his fame was spreading through all the provinces; the man Mordecai was growing ever more powerful. (5) So the Jews struck at their enemies with the sword, slaying and destroying; they wreaked their will upon their enemies.
The sons of Haman
(6) In the fortress Shushan the Jews killed a total of five hundred men. (7) They also killed Parshandatha,
Dalphon,
Aspatha, (8) Poratha,
Adalia,
Aridatha, (9) Parmashta,
Arisai,
Aridai,
and Vaizatha, (10) the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the foe of the Jews. But they did not lay hands on the spoil.
Esther 9:7-10 from Bible 1494 (Paris, hebr. 29), found at
https://www.thetorah.com/article/purimfest-1946-the-nuremberg-trials-and-the-ten-sons-of-haman
8. Commentaries on 91-10
8a. Commentaries: End of the Line for Haman / Amalek
Adele Berlin, Jewish Study Bible, Comment to 9:7-10.
The killing of Haman's sons is one more way that Haman's glory is diminished. It also brings his line to an end; no future threat to the Jews will come from him. Amalek is at last wiped out.
8b. Commentaries: Taking none of the spoil (9:10)
Adele Berlin, Comment to 9:10
The notice that the Jews did not take spoil (also vv. 15, 16) reinforces the connection with I Samuel 15, where Saul took the Amalekite spoil, contrary to God's command. The Jews of Persia, led by Mordecai, apparently a descendent of Saul, replay, as it were, the battle against Amalek and 'correct' Saul's error, enabling the descendants of Saul to triumph at last over the descendants of Agag.
(2) “Thus said the LORD of Hosts: I am exacting the penalty for what Amalek did to Israel, for the assault he made upon them on the road, on their way up from Egypt. (3) Now go, attack Amalek, and proscribe all that belongs to him. Spare no one, but kill alike men and women, infants and sucklings, oxen and sheep, camels and asses!”
(9) but Saul and the troops spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the second-born, the lambs, and all else that was of value. They would not proscribe them; they proscribed only what was cheap and worthless.-b
8c. Commentaries: Vengeance? (Nekamah/נ.ק.מ./n.k.m.)
"Av Harachamim / Father of Mercy"
Consider the strong call for Divine vengeance against the enemies of the Jewish people in the Ashkenazi "Av Harachamim" prayer, written in response to the devastation of Jewish communities in Franco-Germany caused by participants in the First Crusade. The second half of this prayer consists of verses from the three sections of Tanach (including Deuteronomy 32 and Psalms 79) asserting that God will take vengeance on behalf of the Jews. The prayer begins:
The Father of mercy who dwells on high
in His great mercy
will remember with compassion
the pious, upright and blameless
the holy communities, who laid down their lives
for the sanctification of His name.
They were loved and pleasant in their lives
and in death they were not parted.
They were swifter than eagles and stronger than lions
to carry out the will of their Maker,
and the desire of their steadfast God.
May our Lord remember them for good
together with the other righteous of the world
and may He redress the spilled blood of His servants
(Source of translation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Av_HaRachamim)
(מג) הַרְנִ֤ינוּ גוֹיִם֙ עַמּ֔וֹ כִּ֥י דַם־עֲבָדָ֖יו יִקּ֑וֹם וְנָקָם֙ יָשִׁ֣יב לְצָרָ֔יו וְכִפֶּ֥ר אַדְמָת֖וֹ עַמּֽוֹ׃ {פ}
(43) O nations, acclaim God’s people!
For He’ll avenge the blood of His servants,
Wreak vengeance on His foes,
And cleanse His people’s land.
(י) לָ֤מָּה ׀ יֹאמְר֣וּ הַגּוֹיִם֮ אַיֵּ֢ה אֱֽלֹהֵ֫יהֶ֥ם יִוָּדַ֣ע (בגיים) [בַּגּוֹיִ֣ם] לְעֵינֵ֑ינוּ נִ֝קְמַ֗ת דַּֽם־עֲבָדֶ֥יךָ הַשָּׁפֽוּךְ׃
(10) Let the nations not say, “Where is their God?”
Before our eyes let it be known among the nations
that You avenge the spilled blood of Your servants.
8d. Commentaries: Purim 1946
Purimfest 1946: The Nuremberg Trials and the Ten Sons of Haman
Dr. Emmanuel Bloch, Dr. Rabbi Zvi Ron
https://www.thetorah.com/article/purimfest-1946-the-nuremberg-trials-and-the-ten-sons-of-haman
Accompanying caption: "The three small letters and the large vav in the ten sons of Haman, with the Nuremberg trial in the background."
Note the presence of several small letters, circled in the graphic. The authors of the article note: "The use of small letters, unmentioned in the Talmud, begins to appear in medieval times."
Streicher and the Nuremberg “Purimfest”
Twenty-four defendants were tried at the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals (Nov 20, 1945–Oct 1, 1946). Two were acquitted, eight were given prison sentences, and twelve were condemned to death. Of these twelve, Martin Bormann was tried in absentia, and Herman Goering committed suicide before he could be executed. Given their military status, the ten men asked for the firing squad, but to underscore that their crimes went beyond mere military offenses, the court decided on the more common death by hanging.
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Kingsbury Smith of the International News Service was chosen by lot to represent the American press at the executions. He reported Streicher’s final moments and last words as follows:
As the guards stopped him at the bottom of the steps for identification formality he uttered his piercing scream: “Heil Hitler!” The shriek sent a shiver down my back… As he reached the platform, Streicher cried out, “Now it goes to God.” He was pushed the last two steps to the mortal spot beneath the hangman’s rope. The rope was being held back against a wooden rail by the hangman. Streicher was swung suddenly to face the witnesses and glared at them. Suddenly he screamed, “Purim Fest 1946.”…