a. By merit of this, Mordecai(Esth. The Jewish festival ofPurimcelebrates this event. Mordecai was elevated to second-in-command in the kingdom. Vintage colour lithograph from 1882 of Esther standing in the Inner Court of the King's House. "scroll." assassinated with her husband (which was likely), or if she was In the biblical book named after her, Esther is a young Jewish woman living in the Persian diaspora who finds favor with the king, becomes queen, and risks her life to save the Jewish people from destruction when the court official Haman persuades the king to authorize a pogrom against all the Jews of the empire. She was compared to a hind, for just as a hind has a narrow womb and is as desirable to her mate at all times as at the first time, so, too, was Esther as desirable to Ahasuerus at all times as at the first time. She was alone, alone with her grief and trauma. As a result of her mother's death . Have an update or correction? It seems unlikely that Esther was ever Queen of Persia, so we can not say at what age Xerxes married her. Warrior-kings tend to figure largely as models of leadership in the Western imagination. She had one son with 22:1: For the leader; onayelet ha-shahar[literally, the hind of the dawn], which the Rabbis apply to Esther. They were in no way penalized for being ruled over by a queen rather than a king.[5]. Read a brief summary of this topic. I'm going to guess that Esther probably died with her husband in old, non-virgin wife. The Rabbis were concerned about the question of Esthers marital status. Seeing the Letter Tet in a Dream: 9th Anniversary, Study the Torah with Academic Scholarship, By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use, Jewish Queens: From the Story of Esther to the History of Shelamzion, https://thetorah.com/article/jewish-queens-from-the-story-of-esther-to-the-history-of-shelamzion. Perhaps there is room for a role model of the leader who advocates peace, piety, and diplomacy as well. does not give many details of Esther's life, Persian records do. The Queen ascended to the throne in 1952 at the tender age of 25, and was on a royal tour of Kenya when Philip delicately broke the news that her father, King George VI, had died. "order." The moral of the story of Esther is to stay true to yourself and never give up on your beliefs. Esther wanted to speak with Xerxes about Haman's hatred toward the Jews. Princess Margaret, the Queen's younger sister, was born in 1930. The enraged King ordered Haman's hanging, elevated Mordecai to prime minister and gave Jews the right to defend themselves against any enemy. Rabbah6:11). In spite of its origins it soon became the basis of the Jewish festival of Purim.According to the book, Vashti, Esther's predecessor as queen of Persia, was divorced by her husband, King Xerxes (Ahasuerus), who then sought a suitable virgin for his wife, finally choosing Esther. She reigned in the first century BCE, sixty years after the Hasmoneans achieved independence from the Seleucid Empire and a few decades before King Herod. Esther had [1] As shall be discussed further below, much of what we know about Shelamzion Alexandra comes from Josephuss two accounts of her reign inJewish War1.107-119 andJewish Antiquities13.398-432. Ahasueruss intimates attempted sorcery, so that her hands and feet would look like leather hides, but a miracle was performed for her and they began to shine like sapphires (Midrash Tehilim, onPs. Esther replaced Queen Vashti, who had been sentenced to death because she had refused to display her beauty to the King's feast attendants. This means she had been married to the king for approximately 40 years at the time of her death. Haman (the bad guy) represented the Jews' first enemy Ernest Normand/Wikipedia Esther's story is full of symbolism, which really helped the case for being accepted into the Bible. She was expressing her inner strength and her ability to survive and even to thrive in difficult circumstances. ), or her strength wanedPirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer[ed. Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. Esther had been made queen to save her people; her mission and her faith shaped her character and inspired her to act and succeed. Nonetheless, it is clear that Esthers mental state was severely compromised and debilitating. That day, Esther told the king about Haman's plan to massacre all Jews in his kingdom, and she acknowledged her own Jewish ethnicity. TheA type of non-halakhic literary activitiy of the Rabbis for interpreting non-legal material according to special principles of interpretation (hermeneutical rules).Midrash adds that Esthers father died during her mothers pregnancy, and the latter died during childbirth (Esth. The outraged king ordered that Haman be hanged on the gallows built for Mordecai and that Mordecai be named to fill Hamans position. Mordecai was Esthers cousin and guardian, having adopted her as his daughter when her parents died. When Esther pointed and declared(Esth. The king held a party in his honor one day. The Bible; the Pentateuch; Tanakh (the Pentateuch, Prophets and Hagiographia)Torah scholars. We just don't know. This, then, is the meaning of(Esth. How can we explain Esther's abrupt change in behavior from deep despair to determined action and from passiveness to leadership? In a 1957 Christmas Broadcast, the Queen promised the United Kingdom she would give her . 9:23): The Jews accordingly assumed an obligation [ve-kibel] that which they had begun to practice.Ve-kibelis written in the singular, thus alluding to God(Ruth Rabbah4:1; BT Megillah 7a). The grave of Mordecai and Esther still stands in Hamadan; and the Jews of Iran, to this day, are referred to as "the children of Esther.". Commenting on Deuteronomy 11:13-14, which describes rain falling in its season as a reward for keeping the commandments, Sifre Deuteronomy writes (42): In other words, Rabbi Nathan observes that in the days of Queen Shelamzion, the people actually obeyed the commandmentsthey were all good for a change!and God rewarded the Israelites with plentiful rain from heaven. Queen Esther is an orphan raised by her uncle Mordecai and is eventually married to King Ahasuerus. She was living there as part of the harem of the king, but was singled out by the King who was so taken with her beauty that he chose her to be his queen. The courtiers hoped that she would be executed like Vashti and that they would be able to apportion her clothing and jewelry among themselves; those close to Ahasuerus encircled her and harassed her on her way to the king, while Hamans sons awaited her downfall. Esther must have been a "teenager" based on the historical and Biblical facts above. Esther asked Mordecai to fast for three days, even though the third day was the first day of the holiday ofA seven-day festival to commemorate the Exodus from Egypt (eight days outside Israel) beginning on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan. And You, O Lord, bring success to this, Your poor handmaiden. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'coalitionbrewing_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_3',146,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-coalitionbrewing_com-medrectangle-3-0'); Queen Esther was a brave and courageous woman who risked her life many times to save the Jewish people. At the meal she pleaded for the Jews, thus revealing herself as Jewish, and accused thiswickedHaman of plotting the annihilation of her people. The story of the underdog, of the weaker winning against the stronger, is the quintessential biblical and Jewish theme, but it is not often that Israel is figuredliterarily or in realityas a woman and still praised as pious, divinely appointed, and beloved.[13]. Instead, he anticipates Peter's thought in 1 Peter 2:17, before Peter ever wrote it: Fear God. In the Erez Israel tradition, she miscarried the fetus she bore in her womb (the offspring of Ahasuerus) (Esth. He was born in 518BC. Queen Esther is the reluctant heroine of the Purim story. She should know better to try to fool God who said to her, "No, but you did laugh . someone died doesn't mean they didn't exist. The hero of the Book of Esther is a Jewish woman who lived in Susa and became queen when she was chosen to be the wife of King . BC (he would have already been well over 90 years old at this He was a Jew living in the Persian city of Susa, and he became a prime minister in the Persian court of King Ahasuerus. Mordecai, the leader of the Jewish community in the city of Susa, heard the news of the decree and went to Queen Esther, his cousin, to plead with her to plead to the king on their behalf and to save them from the impending danger. She appears to be a loyal wife to Mordecai, as she supports him throughout his efforts to save the Jewish people from Hamans plot. Ecbatana, located in what is now western Iran. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The Rabbis perceived this going as having sexual connotations, which therefore had tragic consequences for Esther and for Mordecai(BTMegillah16a; see below: Esther Comes to the Rescue of Her People). Bruce Feiler says in Where God was Born that Queen Amestris was Xerxes' only known wife, and that she remained queen long after the third year of his reign, when Vashti was supposedly deposed by Xerxes.The story of Queen Esther is demonstrably non-historical, but she is portrayed as saving the Jews of the Persian Empire from destruction. Esthers jar was a tangible expression of her emotional devastation, her loss of hope, and her feelings of utter helplessness. King Ahasuerus, named Darius, who became King Darius II. We need to put the Book of Esther into an historical context to better understand Esther's choice. 2). What is the labour of cable stayed bridges? Another tradition has her eating only seeds in the harem, similar to Daniel and his fellows, in order to observe the laws ofThe Jewish dietary laws delineating the permissible types of food and methods of their preparation.kashrut (BT Megillahloc. Designation of the five scrolls of the Bible (Ruth, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther). When word of the planned massacre reachedEsther, she risked her life by going uninvited to the king to suggest a banquet that Haman would attend. Rabbah8:3). Along with Queen Shelamzion Alexandra, Queen Esther shows that skills at the negotiating table should be just as valued as skills in the field of war. In the midrashic reenactment, Esther sent a message to Mordecai in which she asked him whether Israel had transgressed one of the commandments of the Torah. Prince Charles, who is next in line for the throne, was by her side. 22:23). Furthermore, the Jewish people had a special holiday to commemorate their deliverance and celebrate the bravery of Mordecai. Esthers first husband was Mordecai. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Instead, Haman was hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai, and the Jews were given permission to destroy their enemies. Esthers story culminates when the beloved queen is faced with the decision to either continue to disguise her Jewish heritage and maintain her safety or jeopardize everything to advocate for her people. Just as the myrtle is sweet-smelling but has a bitter taste, so Esther was sweet to Ahasuerus, but bitter to Haman (Esth. The Scroll of Esther is read on Purim from a parchment scroll. Kings David and Solomon had many wives, some more influential than others, but they are never represented as ruling in their husbands stead. Upon realizing this, Mordecai subdued the enemy and turned the wickedness of Haman back onto himself and his family. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. For an analysis of these sources and their reliability, see Tal Ilan,Integrating Women into Second Temple History(Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1999), esp. She was the daughter of the infamous King Henry VIII and his second wife the illustrious Queen Anne Boleyn, who was executed when Elizabeth was just two years old. Esther stood in the middle of the fourth department; the guards of the first department could no longer touch her, while those of the last department could not yet approach her. In their commentary on the Book of Esther, the Rabbis expand upon and add details to the Biblical narrative, relating to her lineage and history and to her relations with the other characters: Ahasuerus, Mordecai, and Haman. He also appointed her as queen of the Persian Empire and gave her a royal medal of honor. Others have suggested an earlier date of translation, ca. Daniel probably died shortly after Darius took the throne in 521 In Esther Chapter 2, royal eunuchs advised Ahasuerus to look for a new queen. Am Yisrael Chai Though she may have been elderly at the time of her death, her legacy continues to live on. Buckingham Palace's website announces the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022. She was crowned about 55 years after the destruction of the First Temple, and fifteen years before the Second Temple was built. She had two grown sons (Aristobulus and Hyrcanus II), but she decided not to step aside for them; perhaps she foresaw that the rivalry between the younger and older son would not end well. 5). She was the second daughter of Laban, Rebekah's brother, making Jacob her first cousin. Queen Esther is a biblical figure from the Hebrew Bible who was the Jewish Queen of the Persian King Ahasuerus. The Jewish festival of Purim celebrates this event. She married her cousin Alexander of Judaea (died 48 BC), who was the son of Aristobulus II. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners.