esther final

why do big tan and geresh plot against the king? mid rash, 3 reasons.

because they were angry 1. - they are angry about the new queen- esther, stress is on the words bayamim hahem- refers to the story that we just finished of esther being appointed 2. - mordechai yoshev bshaar hamelech- mordehcai was elevated to their role, or they weren't elevated 3. - compares story to story of yosef: the slaves are angry at the king- the king was angry at the 2 servants o in both stories one word repeats- katzaf, that's how yosef came to paroh, bc he was angry at 2 of his servants o author is telling us that hashem is orchestrating both of this cases

commentaries link mordehcias response to haman decree with yaakovs preparations for his encounter with esav. what common elements are present in each of these situations?

compare mordechai to Yaakov when he is preparing to fight esav: - prepared himself for o sends gifts o prayer o battle- divides camp - maybe what mordechai is doing is a type of tefila - yoel: in jewish thought tearing clothing is a sign of tefillah - but couldn't say it out right bc couldn't mention god under the empire - the gift that mordecha already gave is saving the kings life - prepares for war: by going to gate of palace, its like going to war - and he is really screaming to the people to get ready for war - only other place we have let out a great cry: when esav comes ready to serve Yaakov and get bracha but yakov had already taken it - why does the narrator want to connect the two? o Narrator wants you to see a midah kineged midah, Yaakov caused esav to cry out and in shushan the descendants of esav, amalek/haman cause the jews to let out the same cry o What Yaakov did to esav is wrong and bnei yisroel are paying the price many years later - Now we know the content of mordechais words - open your eyes to the deceit going on, haman is deceiving the king, the jews etc. this is part to prepare for confrontation - He hope to communicate to esther by going to the gate

rabinical sources link haman and another character in the megilla bc they each committed the same political/judgemental mistake. who was that person and what was the mistake? cite the case in which the mistake was made by each of them

compared to memuchan. - when king consulted advisors about vashti memuchan was the least important yet the first to speak - he is stupid and ready for violence! - - since haman is in charge haman decides to kill all of the jews- basis for that haman is memuchan, he acts the same way

what are esters 2 names? what do they mean and why does the text need to present them?

haddasah- hebrew name esther- persian name - esther is a name that doesn't identify her with any nationality which is good for the king, this way every nation can think she is from them and this will prevent jealousy - esther was name given to her by achashverosh- it means like a star - esther to hint to hester panim esther: hasteret- she keeps a secret - nations of the world called her esther: a goddess - hadasah: haddasim are a symbol of righteousness, also describing her heigh, like myrtle

in considering mordechai as redeemer to whom does the mid rash compare him? how is he similar, how is he different and what is the mid rash suggesting by drawing this comparison?

he is compared to moshe, shall and david. - hashem chose all of these people for a certain purpose - mordechai's role here is a leader/redeemer when bnei yisroel are in trouble - difference: in other examples god chooses them to be redeemers this is not true by mordechai - he is a redeemer just like them but on a higher level because he took his own initiative - point mid rash trying to make:even though god isn't mentioned you should conclude that just as these 3 others were elected by hashem for the role so was mordechai- he chose to do what god was palnning all along

what is the narrators view of mordechais refusal to bow down? how does he convey that?

what does narrator think about mordehcia's behavior? - midrash compares yosef and mordechai - it compares the language used in the two stories - their trial was the same and their elevation was the same - trial- everyday eshet potifar would speak to yosef (yom yom- everyday) and aske to sleep with him, mordechai: same language, mordechai is told he has to bow to haman (yom yom). In both of them it says vlo shamah aleha/alehem - elevation- paroah takes off tabat for yosef, by mordecha achasverosh gave him his tabaat. Yosfe was put on chariot and man called out in front of him, the same happened for mordechai - so mordechai clearly did the right thing according to eyes of narrator he shows this by comparing it to story of mordechai - both sotries of someone who getls elevated outside of eretz yisroel (also Daniel, and moshe)

what do we learn from the proximity of these 2 events: mordechai saving the kings life and hamans elevation to power? 3 reasons

1. - this is yad hashem, hashem created the medicine (mordecha and esther being in position of power) and now he is going to give the maka- bad news coming up about haman 2. o Theme vnahofuchu- we expect mordecha to be elvated but haman is 3. - Haman gets the credit for esther (but really it should be mordecahi) 4. - The king completely closes himself off after this incident, no one is allowed to come in - new rule in kingdom no one can go into castle unless he was called and cleared in advance, including the queen. So he appoints haman to protect the king, he is the head of security

what textual supports can you offer for and against the suggestion that mordechias refusal to bow to ham an was based on national consideration

3. national pride a. Persians were very tolerant in giving each nation autonomy and letting them keep their practices b. Mordehcai is representative of jews and haman is representative of amalek - mordechai saw himself c. The authorities will respect my jewish pride, and I don't have to bow down to somebody from another nation d. Midrash: e. Binyamin is only one not born when Yaakov and sons bow dow to esav - so mordechia says I never bbowed down to haman f. Anyone who fights amaelk is from Binyamin and mordechai is form Binyamin g. When haman goes home and tlells zeresh mordechai is not bowing down she says f moredchai is acutally a jew you are going to lose- even his wife sees this struggle btw hamana and mordechai as a national struggle btw amalke and jews h. Theres no prohibition of bowing down to amalketie in tanach i. So to say mord, is picking fight bc he is from amalek has a lot going agisnt it

How does esther succeed in being chosen as queen? Support your view with sources from the text and our sage.

How does esther succeed in being chosen as queen? Support your view with sources from the text and our sage. - god was the one who orchestrated it - her and mordechai took active steps to ensure that she was going to be the queen o mordechai told her not to say where she is from or to which nation she belonged (she goes by esther when her Hebrew name is Hadassah) o esther played into hagai ego, and by letting him decide she gained his expertise in what the king liked and didn't like - they were not passive, human initiative is very important and yad hashem is seen through human action - she was very modest which none of the other women were o she comes from a lineage of modest people, from Rachel to shaul to her. Rachel- she gave leah signal and let her go first o Shaul- he hid when he was getting anointed - Esther also found favor in all of the other women. - Midrash- shes compared to beautiful painting, everyone looks at and likes her and you don't know where shes from so shes not competition - Everybody thought she may be form their nation so that's great if she gets elected

mordechai is describes both as ish yemini and yehudi, what do these terms signify? are they terms of praise or condemnation?

Rashi- all jews were called yehudim in galut no matter what sheet they were from - the author uses the word yehudi to refer us to zecharia to give us a message, you would think he should be in yerushalyim bc the yehudi in zecharia is there, but he is not he is in shushan. its a criticism of mordechai by the narrator, he should be in shushan if he wasn't there he would be in israel building the bhmk and there would be no problem, - yemini, he is from sheet binyamin. his father is from binyamin, his mother is from yehudah - both yehuda and binyamin want to take credit for mordechai: o Yehuda- david didn't kill shimi and therefore allowed mordechai to be born o Binyamin- his from binyamon so they can take credit - Each one doesn't want to be associated with mordechai - hes called yehudi bc Yehuda (who david comes form) could've killed shimi and then mordechai wouldn't have been born, bc he didn't we have mordechai who made the whole problem of haman - bnei yisroel are blaming Binyamin- shaul had to kill all of amalke- haman, but he didn't if he did we would have no problem - at the end of the day mordechai is just like haman - problems staretd because of them

what terms are used to describe the relationship between mordechai and esther? explain the various possible meanings of these terms

bat- he adopted her, whoever adopts its as if they gave birth to them, so she is called his daughter - bat can also mean wife, author is talking in an ambiguous way because he can't say it overtly - bat dodo- his cousin, this is in the megillah- esther bat avichayil dodo mordechai. - this can also mean beloved -

haman presents his plan differently to the king, the ministers and to the public. explain the different presentations

king- he says leabdam, to have them be lost. - the king may think he wants to exile them or just to change them this is vary ambiguous minister- - he tells them to lehashmid and leharog uleabed- he is very clear what he wants to do to the jews and you can take everything that belongs to them public- all of the nations should be ready for the 13th of adar. doesn't actually tell them whats going to happen on that day

how does esters plan of approaching the king differ from mordehcais in terms of its goals, tactics and timetable?

unlike mordechais plan where he wanted esther to just go to the king and outright tell him hamans plan and ask him to save the jews, she didn't say outright what was happening. - he wanted it to be immediate, she took more time with her plan - she doesn't beg the king like mordechai said and she includes haman in her plan - she becomes very queenlike in putting on the royal hard where as mordechai was wearing sackcloth - she doesn't violate any laws like mordechai suggested for her to go to the king uninvited

why does esther not make her request of the king at the first soiree, was this her plan all along? or did something cause her to change her plan? cite the text's method of indicating this

- by the text showing that esther kept on repeating her words in her request of the king it shows that it was not her original plan to have 2 parties - she doesn't make her request at the first party because she sense that the moment is not right and the king won't agree - she recognizes that hashed hasn't made any changes since the jews fasted - so she makes a second party for the moment to be right to ask

what steps does mordechai want esther to take in response to hamans decree? how does he understand her initial response and what arguments does he offer in support of his demand?

- for esther to go to the king and tell him the whole story and say you have to save my nation - esthers reaction to this: you cant just go to the king! Hell kill whoever does that, I wasn't called to the kingin the last 30 days - but mordechai knows about this rule! Shes basically telling him no - trying to says shes not so close to the king - mordecahi tells her don't think you can just hide in the castle and that you fait will be different than all the jews - if you keep quiet, the jews will be saved from other place and your familys house will be destroyed - the worst thing yu can do is not do anything bc it will take more time to save the jews and your family will not survive

what are the kings hot buttons that haman tries to push in promoting his scheme to the king? how does he do this?

- haman describes to the king o am echad- he doesn't say which nation • they are so insignificant that I don't even have to give their name • the jews were known as being very smart people/advisers to the king- so if haman said the jews the king wouldn't have listened to him • he doesn't say the name to protect the king, so the king can claim later that he didn't know who the order was against o mefuzar- scattered: this is true o scattered btw the nations: this is true • this sounds threatening, maybe they want to take over o there religion is different from every other religion: this is true o they don't follow what the king tells them to do: thye may violate some of the rules of the king if it contradicts their own religion, but they are not acting against the king • ex: not dirnking wine that non jew touches • we have a different calendar than the other nations - we have different rules that may be different then the kings o its not good to just leave them alone/its not benefcial for the king o these things are truthful but he says it in a way that pushes the king to think that they are acutally working against him

how does esters invitation affect haman and the king? what steps does each of them take in response?

- haman now feels like he has the power to kill mordechai bc he has a very inflated ego, he acts like a king by consulting with advisors..he can no longer wait to act agsint mordechai he is very sure of humself - which is one of the resons for estehrs invitation! - Affect on the king: he cant sleep! Causing him to open his book, he is suspicious of haman and esther - look sat his book bc maybe someone did something for him and he didn't repay them so they don't want to help him again.

why does haman seek the kings approval to destroy the jews? cite support from the text.

- king is only one in empire who can order killing o ex: vashti, the gaurds - he asks permission in a way that th eking will acutally give it to him

what change does esther make in the wording of the invitation to the second soiree vs the first invitation? why is this significant?

- lo changes to lahem- king is going to think that haman has been elevated to the kings position - shes doing this in a very calculated way to make the king more jelous than before

how does mordechia try to demonstrate to esther the trickery used by ham an when making his proposal to the king?

- she points out that he says a nation, not which one - points out that he says lab dam, not actually that he wants to destroy them - he has different forms of the letter for the king, the leaders and the public.

why does mordechai report the plot to the king through esther and not directly?

- to help strengthen relationship btw esther andking - if she asks something he will likely return the favor - maybe king will more likely believe esther than him

why does esther report the plot to the king in mordechias name?

- wants mordechai to get rewarded - wants king to start trusting mordechai and elevate his position - she believes mordechai is a righteous man and if he is the one who is mentioned hahsem will be more likely to reward him - she want ahc. To recognize this too. -Anyone who brings something in the name of who said it bring the geulah to the world If you don't you will end up killing ppl

why did achashverosh choose to marry esther although she had no known nationality? 3 reasons

1. - he doesn't want another yichus, someone with lineage like vashti 2. - it doesn't discriminate against other nations 3. - he doesn't want to threaten his queen, if she doesn't want to talk he just ignores her 4. - her mystery makes her more desirable

why does mordechai instruct esther not to reveal her nationality? bring at leas 3 reasons.

1. - the fact no one knows where shes from and she has Persian name, this enables her to be regarded from any place, this maybe made it easier for her to become queen 2. mordechai is hoping that they will think she is from undistinguished family bc if they know shes from royal family they will keep her 3. Ezra- mordechai wanted her to become queen ( so he wanted to make it easier for her to be chosen- this is like what the midrash says) Others: he had nevuah Israel would be saved through her - political, and this is also something mordechai does himself by becoming an officer of the king

what textual supports can you offer for and against the suggestion that mordechias refusal to bow to ham an was based on religious considerations

1. he had a religious reason that prevented him from bowing down a. haman made himself a god b. in megillah it says you have to be korim oomishtachavim- mordechia wont do this kind of bowing down i. this bowing down is only reserved for yom kippur to hashem ii. haman demandd ppl to treat him like god c. rashi- he treats himself like a god and therefore mordechai wont bow down d. mord. Says hes not bowing down bc he is jewish e. has to do with all of bnei yisroel- it says he know mord.'s nation f. halachichally for avodah zarah you should die and not do it, he is willing to risk his life g. he wanted to be example to all not to assimilate reasons why it cant be a religious reason: - esther bows down to achashverosh - haman bows down to ach. So he doesn't think he is a god! - Until now he didn't tell anybody he was a jew, and did let esther say, its not something he was proud of and trying to put out there - If hes sucha frum jew why is he called the name of an idol? - Hahamn may be against the jews bc he is against the nation, not the religion - Exception to when you can do avodah zarah: when youre putting entire nation in danger! You cant refuse to do avodah zarah in this case. (ex: chanaya, misha and azarya, yechezkel tells them to bow down bc cant endager all of bnei yisroel)

haman uses the art of ambiguity in promoting his scheme to the king. cite at least 2 examples of this.

1. he says a nation, does say which one. • the jews were known as being very smart people/advisers to the king- so if haman said the jews the king wouldn't have listened to him 2. leabdam. Leabdam- to have them be lost - the king may think he wants to exile them or just to change them

hamans proposal to the king employs a number of themes commonly used by anti semites throughout the ages. cite at least 3 examples and show how ham an uses them.

1. he says am echad. he doesn't say which nation- they are so insignificant that i don't even have to give their name. he doest say the name to protect the king, so the king can later claim that he didn't know wh it was 2. that they are scattered between nations, this is true and it can sound threatening 3. their religion is different from every other religion- they may violate what the king tells them to do if it contradicts their religion. so he says its not good to just leave them alone, it won't be beneficial to the king

why was haman promoted? 3 reasons

1. if haman is memuchan maybe that's a payment for him causing the king to replace vashti, who brought a queen that saved his life 2. he got the credit for esther 3. he is ready for violence, so he is a good person to be in charge of keeping king safe.

why does mordehcai eve the kings life?

1. mordechai thinks the plot is to kill esther 2. he wants to position esther better and make her connection to the king stronger 3. they would maybe blame mordehcai for his death 4. maybe the king will later help the jews because he saved hime

why did mordehcai refuse to bow to haman? cite at least 3 opinions and their basis in the text

1. religious reasons- on the face of it halacha doesn't say shouldn't bow down to people - korim u mishtachavim:this is what we do only on yom kippur - only to god but this is what haman was asking - rashi- he treats himself like a god and therefore mordechai wont bow down - mordehcai says he is not bowing down because he is a jew 2. mordechai didn't bow down because of his own ego/ it wasn't against ham an himself a. maybe he thinks haamn took his position, bc he save the life of the king! So he should be elevated b. also thinks he should be elevated bc esther grew up by him c. hes an advisor to the king d. if haman isn't memuchan, then he is no one. If he his emmuchan then hes an idiot e. mordechai Is looking down at haman f. midrash: mordecahi feels like haman should be his slave. 3. it was apolitical reason a. had to do with universal rights of human beings b. you have to look at the change in the king, b4 the attempted assassination and after (before he was open to everyone, let everyone come to the castel, after he closes himself in castle and no one cancome close with out permission. Before attempt he has advisors and he cares about the law and what pplthink about him. After attempt, he is disconnected formthe ppl- no more advisors, only person in charge is haman and he could convince the king to do whatever he wants even kill all of the kews) c. ach. Loss his ability to be the king- its now a tyrant in charge d. midrash: mordehcai knew everything, he knew the king isn't ruling anymore. 2nd view- the king below is over the king above-god meaning haman is not only above ach. He thinks he is above god, he will do whatever he wants. e. This reminds us of amalek- it's a war against god. Haman is going to act and lead this place with out giving any rights to the people.

faced with humans decree what steps does mordechai take and what does he hope to accomplish?

1. rips his clothing , and wears sackcloth and ash 2. he went in the middle of the city and let out a bitter cry 3. goes to the gate of the king - makes a statement bc it is against the law to go to the gate of the king in that clothing, which usually rsults in death, he wanted to gain peoples attention

what is the basis in the megillah for claiming that esther and mordechai were married? 3 source, what message are the sages trying to convey with this claim?

1. the megillah says lakach- which can mean to take as a wife. 2. there are parallels btw this story and the story of avraham and sarah when avraham tells her not to tell the king that he is her husband. just like mordechia tells esther not to say she is jewish or where she is from. and in both cases it discusses their beauty. both women are taken to the king. paroh does good for avraham and also mordehcai is put in charge of humans property. maybe these similarities are suggesting that esther was mordehcias wife. 3. esters beauty is discussed in the middle of her description to mordechai, showing its important so it could be hinting at a romantic relationship. message: o You have to value the sacrifice of mordecha and esther even more so o To save bnei yisroel you can even violate the most sever sins

cite at least 5 reasons offered in the gemara for why esther invited haman to her soiree, explaining what issue she was trying to address

1. to have haman admit his plan, maybe if he is drunk he will actually admit his plan 2. so haman won't have time to make a plan and retaliate if he hears what esther is trying to do 3. to make achashverosh jelous and maybe he will kill her and haman 4. the jews will think that she is not helping them so this will get them to raven more 5. the king is fickle so once she gets him to decide to kill haman it has to be able to be immediate

what political purpose was mordechai trying to achieve by refusing to bow to haman? whats basis in the text?

4. it was apolitical reason a. had to do with universal rights of human beings b. you have to look at the change in the king, b4 the attempted assassination and after (before he was open to everyone, let everyone come to the castel, after he closes himself in castle and no one cancome close with out permission. Before attempt he has advisors and he cares about the law and what pplthink about him. After attempt, he is disconnected formthe ppl- no more advisors, only person in charge is haman and he could convince the king to do whatever he wants even kill all of the kews) c. ach. Loss his ability to be the king- its now a tyrant in charge d. midrash: mordehcai knew everything, he knew the king isn't ruling anymore. 2nd view- the king below is over the king above-god meaning haman is not only above ach. He thinks he is above god, he will do whatever he wants. e. This reminds us of amalek- it's a war against god. Haman is going to act and lead this place with out giving any rights to the people.