1. Opening Question: What is the purpose of celebration?
1b. 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
- Ch 8 Mordecai rises to power and Esther beseeches the King to revoke Haman's decree (A, E, M) ~16th of Nisan; Mordecai issues a decree permitting Jewish self-defence (M) 23rd of Sivan
- Ch 91-10 The Jews successfully beat back their enemies (M) 13 Adar
Esther and Mordecai Writing the First Purim Letter by Aert de Gelder, c.1685. Google Art Project, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38504653
2. Learning together: Esther 911-19
Questions to consider
- According to this passage, how does Purim become a holiday?
- How does the celebration match the event it commemorates?
Review of 13 Adar; 14th of Adar
(11) When the number of those slain in the fortress Shushan was reported on that same day to the king, (12) the king said to Queen Esther, “In the fortress Shushan alone the Jews have killed a total of five hundred men, as well as the ten sons of Haman. What then must they have done in the provinces of the realm! What is your wish now? It shall be granted you. And what else is your request? It shall be fulfilled.” (13) “If it please Your Majesty,” Esther replied, “let the Jews in Shushan be permitted to act tomorrow also as they did today; and let Haman’s ten sons be impaled on the stake.” (14) The king ordered that this should be done, and the decree was proclaimed in Shushan. Haman’s ten sons were impaled: (15) and the Jews in Shushan mustered again on the fourteenth day of Adar and slew three hundred men in Shushan. But they did not lay hands on the spoil.
Aftermath of the battles in the provinces and in Shushan
(16) The rest of the Jews, those in the king’s provinces, likewise mustered and fought for their lives. They disposed of their enemies, killing seventy-five thousand of their foes; but they did not lay hands on the spoil. (17) That was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar; and they rested on the fourteenth day and made it a day of feasting and merrymaking. ( (18) But the Jews in Shushan mustered on both the thirteenth and fourteenth days, and so rested on the fifteenth, and made it a day of feasting and merrymaking.) (19) That is why village Jews, who live in unwalled towns, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and make it a day of merrymaking and feasting, and as a holiday and an occasion for sending gifts to one another.
3. Commentary to Esther 911-19
Adele Berlin, Jewish Study Bible, Commentary to 9:18-19
These verses reflect where the festival was observed on Adar 14 and where on Adar 15. According to rabbinic tradition, Jews, in all cities that had been walled since the time of Joshua, are to celebrate Purim on Adar 15--Shushan Purim--and Jews elsewhere were to celebrate on Adar 14. Thus, following rabbinic tradition, Purim is celebrated on Adar 15 in Jerusalem.
4. Chavruta Learning, Esther 920-32, 101-3
Questions to Bear in Mind
- How does Ahasuerus' decree in 925 compare to his statements in 87-8?
- How does Purim become a holiday according to 920-32?
- What are the observances of Purim according to this 922? How do they compare with the description in 919?
- What rationales are provided for the holiday of Purim here?
- What are the purposes of the two "letters of Purim" here?
- What is the function of the final three verses of the book?
The first Purim letter, of Mordecai
(20) Mordecai recorded these events. And he sent dispatches to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, near and far, (21) charging them to observe the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar, every year— (22) the same days on which the Jews enjoyed relief from their foes and the same month which had been transformed for them from one of grief and mourning to one of festive joy. They were to observe them as days of feasting and merrymaking, and as an occasion for sending gifts to one another and presents to the poor. (23) The Jews accordingly assumed as an obligation that which they had begun to practice and which Mordecai prescribed for them.
Retelling of the central story of the Book of Esther
(24) For Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the foe of all the Jews, had plotted to destroy the Jews, and had cast pur—that is, the lot—with intent to crush and exterminate them. (25) But when [Esther] came before the king, he commanded: “With the promulgation of this decree,-b let the evil plot, which he devised against the Jews, recoil on his own head!” So they impaled him and his sons on the stake. (26) For that reason these days were named Purim, after pur.
In view, then, of all the instructions in the said letter and of what they had experienced in that matter and what had befallen them,
The Jews commit to celebrating Purim
(27) the Jews undertook and irrevocably obligated themselves and their descendants, and all who might join them, to observe these two days in the manner prescribed and at the proper time each year. (28) Consequently, these days are recalled and observed in every generation: by every family, every province, and every city. And these days of Purim shall never cease among the Jews, and the memory of them shall never perish among their descendants.
The second Purim letter, of Esther
(29) Then Queen Esther daughter of Abihail wrote a second letter of Purim for the purpose of confirming with full authority the aforementioned one of Mordecai the Jew. (30) Dispatches were sent to all the Jews in the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the realm of Ahasuerus with an ordinance of “equity and honesty:” (31) These days of Purim shall be observed at their proper time, as Mordecai the Jew—and now Queen Esther—has obligated them to do, and just as they have assumed for themselves and their descendants the obligation of the fasts with their lamentations. (32) And Esther’s ordinance validating these observances of Purim was recorded in a scroll.
The ending: Ahasuerus and Mordecai
(1) King Ahasuerus imposed tribute on the mainland and the islands. (2) All his mighty and powerful acts, and a full account of the greatness to which the king advanced Mordecai, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Media and Persia. (3) For Mordecai the Jew ranked next to King Ahasuerus and was highly regarded by the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brethren; he sought the good of his people and interceded for the welfare of all his kindred.
5. Commentaries
5a. "Equity and honesty" (9:30) - Purim's relationship to Fast Days
(ל) וַיִּשְׁלַ֨ח סְפָרִ֜ים אֶל־כׇּל־הַיְּהוּדִ֗ים אֶל־שֶׁ֨בַע וְעֶשְׂרִ֤ים וּמֵאָה֙ מְדִינָ֔ה מַלְכ֖וּת אֲחַשְׁוֵר֑וֹשׁ דִּבְרֵ֥י שָׁל֖וֹם וֶאֱמֶֽת׃ (לא) לְקַיֵּ֡ם אֶת־יְמֵי֩ הַפֻּרִ֨ים הָאֵ֜לֶּה בִּזְמַנֵּיהֶ֗ם כַּאֲשֶׁר֩ קִיַּ֨ם עֲלֵיהֶ֜ם מׇרְדֳּכַ֤י הַיְּהוּדִי֙ וְאֶסְתֵּ֣ר הַמַּלְכָּ֔ה וְכַאֲשֶׁ֛ר קִיְּמ֥וּ עַל־נַפְשָׁ֖ם וְעַל־זַרְעָ֑ם דִּבְרֵ֥י הַצּוֹמ֖וֹת וְזַעֲקָתָֽם׃
(30) Dispatches were sent to all the Jews in the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the realm of Ahasuerus with an ordinance of “equity and honesty/shalom ve'emet:” (31) These days of Purim shall be observed at their proper time, as Mordecai the Jew—and now Queen Esther—has obligated them to do, and just as they have assumed for themselves and their descendants the obligation of the fasts with their lamentations.
(ה) אֱמֹר֙ אֶל־כׇּל־עַ֣ם הָאָ֔רֶץ וְאֶל־הַכֹּהֲנִ֖ים לֵאמֹ֑ר כִּֽי־צַמְתֶּ֨ם וְסָפ֜וֹד בַּחֲמִישִׁ֣י וּבַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י וְזֶה֙ שִׁבְעִ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה הֲצ֥וֹם צַמְתֻּ֖נִי אָֽנִי׃
(5) Say to all the people of the land and to the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months all these seventy years, did you fast for my benefit?
(יט) כֹּֽה־אָמַ֞ר ה' צְבָא֗וֹת צ֣וֹם הָרְבִיעִ֡י וְצ֣וֹם הַחֲמִישִׁי֩ וְצ֨וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֜י וְצ֣וֹם הָעֲשִׂירִ֗י יִהְיֶ֤ה לְבֵית־יְהוּדָה֙ לְשָׂשׂ֣וֹן וּלְשִׂמְחָ֔ה וּֽלְמֹעֲדִ֖ים טוֹבִ֑ים וְהָאֱמֶ֥ת וְהַשָּׁל֖וֹם אֱהָֽבוּ׃ {פ}
(19) Thus said the LORD of Hosts: The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth month, the fast of the seventh month, and the fast of the tenth month shall become occasions for joy and gladness, happy festivals for the House of Judah; but you must love honesty and integrity/ha'emet ve'ha'shalom.
(Note in NJPS translation)
Fast of the 4th, 5th, 7th, and 10th months: "Commemorating, respectively, the events of 2 Kings 25.3 ff. (Jer. 52.6 ff.);
2 Kings 25.8 ff. (Jer. 52.12 ff.);
2 Kings 25.25 ff. (Jer. 41);
2 Kings 25.1 ff. (Jer. 52.4 )."
DR: 4th =Fast of 17th of Tammuz
5th = Fast of the 9th of Av
7th = Fast of Gedaliah
10th = Fast of the 10th of Tevet
5b. The Megillah in traditional Jewish practice
- Reading the Megillah
- A festive meal ('Purim Se'udah')
- Sharing portions - Mishloach Manot, 'Shalachmones'
- Gifts to the poor - Mattanot la'evyonim
(כב) ... לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת אוֹתָ֗ם יְמֵי֙ מִשְׁתֶּ֣ה וְשִׂמְחָ֔ה וּמִשְׁלֹ֤חַ מָנוֹת֙ אִ֣ישׁ לְרֵעֵ֔הוּ וּמַתָּנ֖וֹת לָֽאֶבְיֹנִֽים׃
(22) ... They were to observe them as days of feasting and merrymaking, and as an occasion for sending gifts/mishloach manot to one another and presents to the poor.
(9) Nehemiah the Tirshatha, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were explaining to the people said to all the people, “This day [=Rosh Hashanah] is holy to the LORD your God: you must not mourn or weep,” for all the people were weeping as they listened to the words of the Teaching. (10) He further said to them, “Go, eat choice foods and drink sweet drinks and send portions/ve'shilchu manot to whoever has nothing prepared, for the day is holy to our Lord. Do not be sad, for your rejoicing in the LORD is the source of your strength.”
(28) Consequently, these days are recalled/nizkarim (z.k.r. ז.כ.ר.) and observed/na`asim in every generation: by every family, every province, and every city. And these days of Purim shall never cease among the Jews, and the memory of them shall never perish among their descendants.
The Gemara comments: We found a source for observing the holiday of Purim on the fourteenth of Adar in unwalled towns and on the fifteenth of Adar in walled cities; from where do we derive that remembering/זכירה/zechirah the story of Purim through the reading of the Megilla takes place on these days? The Gemara explains that the verse states: “That these days should be remembered and observed” (Esther 9:28), from which it is derived that remembering [DR: that is, reading] is compared to observing.
(יח) כָּל סִפְרֵי הַנְּבִיאִים וְכָל הַכְּתוּבִים עֲתִידִין לִבָּטֵל לִימוֹת הַמָּשִׁיחַ חוּץ מִמְּגִלַּת אֶסְתֵּר וַהֲרֵי הִיא קַיֶּמֶת כַּחֲמִשָּׁה חֻמְּשֵׁי תּוֹרָה וְכַהֲלָכוֹת שֶׁל תּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל פֶּה שֶׁאֵינָן בְּטֵלִין לְעוֹלָם. וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁכָּל זִכְרוֹן הַצָּרוֹת יְבֻטַּל שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה סה טז) "כִּי נִשְׁכְּחוּ הַצָּרוֹת הָרִאשׁוֹנוֹת וְכִי נִסְתְּרוּ מֵעֵינִי". יְמֵי הַפּוּרִים לֹא יִבָּטְלוּ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (אסתר ט כח) "וִימֵי הַפּוּרִים הָאֵלֶּה לֹא יַעַבְרוּ מִתּוֹךְ הַיְּהוּדִים וְזִכְרָם לֹא יָסוּף מִזַּרְעָם":
(18) All the books of the Prophets and all the Holy Writings will be nullified in the Messianic era, with the exception of the Book of Esther. It will continue to exist, as will the five books of the Torah and the halachot of the Oral Law, which will never be nullified.
Although all memories of the difficulties endured by our people will be nullified, as Isaiah 65:16 states: "For the former difficulties will be forgotten and for they will be hidden from My eye," the celebration of the days of Purim will not be nullified, as Esther 9:28 states: "And these days of Purim will not pass from among the Jews, nor will their remembrance cease from their seed."
5c. The Redemption of Haman?
תנו רבנן נעמן גר תושב היה נבוזר אדן גר צדק היה מבני בניו של סיסרא למדו תורה בירושלים מבני בניו של סנחריב לימדו תורה ברבים ומאן נינהו שמעיה ואבטליון מבני בניו של המן למדו תורה בבני ברק ואף מבני בניו של אותו רשע ביקש הקב"ה להכניסן תחת כנפי השכינה ...
The Sages taught in a baraita: Naaman the Aramean (see II Kings, chapter 5) was a ger toshav, meaning that he accepted upon himself to refrain from idol worship but did not convert to Judaism. Nebuzaradan was a completely righteous convert. Among the descendants of Sisera (see Judges, chapter 4) were those who studied Torah in Jerusalem. Among the descendants of Sennacherib were those who taught Torah in public. The Gemara asks: And who are they? The Gemara answers: They were Shemaya and Avtalyon. The baraita continues: Among the descendants of Haman were those who studied Torah in Bnei Brak. And even among the descendants of that wicked person, Nebuchadnezzar, were those whom the Holy One, Blessed be He, sought to bring beneath the wings of the Divine Presence and have them convert. ...
6 Review of Esther
Prof. Jonathan Grossman and Rabbi Yehoshua Reiss, "The Structure of Megillat Esther," Herzog College. Chart available at https://www.hatanakh.com/node/24426
An Analysis of the Book of Esther What do you think? Pay careful attention to the characters and the chapters referenced in this chart
Adele Berlin, Comment to 9:29-32
There is some tension in the book regarding whether to highlight Mordecai or Esther. The book is called the "scroll of Esther" and she certainly plays a pivotal role, but Mordecai is introduced before Esther (ch 2) and figures prominently at the end, where Esther is absent entirely (ch. 10).
Mary Joan Winn Leith, Oxford Annotated Bible, Comment to 9:32
Queen Esther is the only woman in the Bible credited with establishing a religious observance.
The Epilogue to Esther in the Greek (Septuagint)
10:[4] And Mordecai said: "These things have come from God." (Translation: The New Oxford Annotated Bible with The Apocrypha).
(יז) מוּטָב לָאָדָם לְהַרְבּוֹת בְּמַתְּנוֹת אֶבְיוֹנִים מִלְּהַרְבּוֹת בִּסְעֻדָּתוֹ וּבְשִׁלּוּחַ מָנוֹת לְרֵעָיו. שֶׁאֵין שָׁם שִׂמְחָה גְּדוֹלָה וּמְפֹאָרָה אֶלָּא לְשַׂמֵּחַ לֵב עֲנִיִּים וִיתוֹמִים וְאַלְמָנוֹת וְגֵרִים.
שֶׁהַמְשַׂמֵּחַ לֵב הָאֻמְלָלִים הָאֵלּוּ דּוֹמֶה לַשְּׁכִינָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה נז טו) "לְהַחֲיוֹת רוּחַ שְׁפָלִים וּלְהַחֲיוֹת לֵב נִדְכָּאִים":
(17) It is preferable for a person to be more liberal with his donations to the poor than to be lavish in his preparation of the Purim feast or in sending portions to his friends. For there is no greater and more splendid happiness than to gladden the hearts of the poor, the orphans, the widows, and the converts.
One who brings happiness to the hearts of these unfortunate individuals resembles the Divine Presence, which Isaiah 57:15 describes as having the tendency "to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive those with broken hearts."
Next Class: Session 7. Ruth 1
- Introduction to Ruth
- Ch. 1 - Back to Bethlehem