He [Ahashverosh] said: He (Belshazzar) calculated and made a mistake, I will calculate and make no mistake. Is it written, “seventy years for the kingdom of Babylon?” It is written, “Seventy years for Babylon.” What is meant by Babylon? The exile of Babylon. How many years [is this counting] less [than the other]? Eight. So in place of them he inserted one of Belshazzar, five of Darius and Cyrus, and two of his own, which made seventy. When he saw that seventy had been completed and they were not redeemed, he brought out the vessels of the Temple and used them.
Jeremiah foretold that the Jewish people would be redeemed from their Babylonian exile after 70 years. “For thus said G‑d: ‘When 70 years are completed for Babylon, I shall remember you...to return you to this place’”(Jeremiah 29:10). However, Jeremiah did not clarify how those 70 years were to be calculated.
Achashverosh, too, miscalculated the end of the 70 years, figuring them from 3327, the date that Nebuchadnezzar exiled the 1,000 Jewish sages. In the year 3395, the third year of his reign, believing that the 70 years had passed without Jewish redemption, Achashverosh made his famous feast. (Although only 68 years elapsed from 3327, Achashverosh counted partial years of previous kings as full years. That was not an error, as the Talmud reckons the reign of monarchs in a similar way. His mistake was the starting point for the 70 years.)
Acoording to this anyone who participated in this celebration was actually celebrating the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash...
(ו) אדריאנוס אמר לרבי יהושע גדולה הכבשה העומדת בין שבעים זאבים, אמר ליה גדול הוא הרועה שמצילה ושומרה ושוברן לפניה,
(יג) . אבל בהסיר מחשבתו מהאלוה אשר הוא אז נבדל מהאלוה והאלוה נבדל ממנו והוא אז מזומן לכל רע שאפשר שימצאהו כי הענין המביא ההשגחה ולהמלט מים המקרה הוא השפע ההוא השכלי.והנה התאמתה אצלי זאת האמונה גם כן מדברי ה'תורה' - אמר ית' "והסתרתי פני מהם והיה לאכול ומצאוהו רעות רבות וצרות ואמר ביום ההוא הלא על כי אין אלוקי בקרבי מצאוני הרעות האלה". ומבואר הוא ש'הסתרת הפנים' הזאת אנחנו סיבתה ואנחנו עושים זה המסך המבדיל בינינו ובינו - והוא אמרו "ואנכי הסתר אסתיר פני ביום ההוא על כל הרעה אשר עשה" - ואין ספק כי דין היחיד כדין הציבור
(13) ... when he is separated from God, then God is also separated from him; then he is exposed to any evil that might befall him;
its stated in the Torah "And I will hide my face them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them: so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?" (Deut. 31:17). It is clear that we ourselves are the cause of this hiding of the face, and that the screen that separates us from God is of our own creation. This is the meaning of the words: "And I will surely hide my face in that day, for all the evils which they shall have wrought" (ibid. ver. 18). There is undoubtedly no difference in this regard between one single person and a whole community.
Even though we were ordered to attend his party, and as part of honoring a king we needed to attend the party, never-the-less our BIG mistake was enjoying the party.
Enjoying what we felt was the wolf's natural protection.
| YEAR OF ACHASHVEROSH | MAJOR EVENTS OF MEGILLAT ESTHER | DAY OF MONTH (IF APPLICABLE) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Megillah begins | |
| 3 | Ahasuerus makes his parties | |
| 7 | Esther becomes queen | |
| 12 | Haman makes decree to kill the Jews | 13 Nisan |
| 12 | Jews fast for 3 days | 13,14,15 Nisan (another opinion: 14,15,16 Nisan) |
| 12 | Esther goes to Achashverosh and invites him to her first party | 15 Nisan |
| 12 | Achashverosh cannot sleep, Haman builds gallows | Night of 16 Nisan |
| 12 | Mordechai rides on horse, Esther’s second party, Haman is hanged | Day of 16 Nisan |
| 13 | Jews all over the realm, including the capital Shushan, kill their enemies | 13 Adar |
| 13 | Jews in Shushan kill their enemies | 14 Adar |
| 13 | Jews outside Shushan rest and celebrate | 14 Adar |
| 13 | Jews in Shushan rest and celebrate | 15 Adar |
| 14 | Mordechai and Esther establish Purim as an official holiday. |