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. Like many Jews today, she had two names, one Hebrew and one Greek. In various sources the Rabbis relate to the question of the Book of Esthers acceptance as Scripture and to the establishment of the holiday ofPurim. In post-Temple times, a small piece of dough set aside and burnt. Mordecai did not bow to Haman because he was a Jew and Haman was an Agagite, the enemies of Gods chosen people. These actions demonstrated the kings respect and admiration for Esther and earned her the loyalty of her people. A type of non-halakhic literary activitiy of the Rabbis for interpreting non-legal material according to special principles of interpretation (hermeneutical rules). In common parlance, the braided loaves blessed and eaten on the Sabbath and Festivals.hallah from dough,niddah, and the kindling of the Sabbath candle, even in the palace of Ahasuerus (Midrash Tehilim, onPs. The king wanted to honor Esther, so he showered her with gifts, including a crown and royal robes. Esther also spoke of her merit for observing the womens commandments of the taking ofDuring the Temple period, the dough set aside to be given to the priests. Rabbah15:6). During the . The Rabbis relate to Esther as the one responsible for the deliverance of Israel and compare her to the moon, which shone for Israel in the darkness of night. Sadly, Queen Elizabeth II passed away, aged 96, on September 8, 2022. The BT lists a number of possible reasons: (1) she wanted Haman to be near her (so that she could say what she wanted about him at the appropriate moment); (2) she wanted to set a trap for him; (3) she planned to act toward Haman in a way that would lead Ahasuerus to suspect that she had engaged in an improper relationship with the former and thus cause the king to kill them both. 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. The legal corpus of Jewish laws and observances as prescribed in the Torah and interpreted by rabbinic authorities, beginning with those of the Mishnah and Talmud. She stayed with Ahasuerus and sacrificed her personal happiness to complete her ultimate mission to enable the building of the Second Temple and the return to Zion. King Xerxes: King Xerxes married Esther when he was 41 years old. His father was Kish, who descended from the House of Benjamin. Esther had been made queen to save her people. With the kings consent, Haman set a date for the execution (the 13th day of the month of Adar) by casting lots and built a gallows specifically for Mordecai. They married in 478 BC after the former queen, Vashti, was banished for being unable to fulfill her husband's demands. The myrtle has a good smell, just like Esther, who performed good deeds; the myrtle does not dry out either in summer or in winter, just as the righteous dry up neither in this world nor in the World to Come (Midrash Panim Aherim, version B, para. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. cit.). Warrior-kings tend to figure largely as models of leadership in the Western imagination. Esther retorted, "Without Jews, who needs Passover?". According to the tradition that she was previously unmarried, she was now married to and lived with a non-Jewish king. holy Temple in Jersusalem. Esther gained even greater favour with Ahasuerus after she helped thwart an assassination plot against him that Mordecai overheard at the palace gate. Instead, he anticipates Peter's thought in 1 Peter 2:17, before Peter ever wrote it: Fear God. She was able to use the jar to communicate her innermost thoughts and feelings to those around hershowcasing her strength, resilience and defiance in the face of her oppression. // Javascript URL redirection Esther turns in prayer to God and compares the situation of the Jews of Persia to that of the Jews in Egypt: in Egypt the Jews cried out and were answered; and in Persia, they fasted, prayed and cried out over their tribulation and the decree that was harsher than that during the time of the Egyptian servitude. It was Mordecai who helped Esther win the favor of the King, who then chose her to be his queen. Launched Shavuot 5773 / 2013 | Copyright Project TABS, All Rights Reserved, script type="text/javascript"> 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. This also leads to a different understanding of Mordecais involvement, as he walks about in the royal courtyard out of concern for his wife. On March 30, 2002, the Queen Mother died aged 101 years and 238 days old. 20). Consequently, Esther was not considered to be a married woman who willingly engaged in adultery, and she was therefore permitted to Mordecai; indeed, the Rabbis maintain that she continued to live with the latter, at the same time that she was married to Ahasuerus (BT Megillah 13b). 2:7 ). 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. For today's Bible studies, we're going to discuss 10 characteristics of Esther in the Bible. There was no King Ahasuerus of Persia, but many Bible commentaries observe that Ahasuerus is likely the Hebraicised version of King Xerxes, the Achaemenid leader who ruled from 486 to 465 BCE.Historians say that Queen Amestris was Xerxes' only known wife and was definitely still queen at the time the biblical account says that Xerxes married Esther, casting doubt on the biblical story. An additional stratagem employed by Esther against Haman was connected with his leading Mordecai on the horse. Furthermore, because of her passivity, her life with Ahasuerus was not thought to entail illicit sexual intercourse (a grave sin, for which one should be killed rather than transgress")(BTSanhedrin74b). Esther is then remembered and celebrated in the annual festival of Purim. Updates? Lit. The book of Nehemiah begins in 444 BC, so they probably How old was Esther when she became queen of Persia? Instead, Haman was hanged, and the Jews were given permission to destroy their enemies. The king agreed, not knowing that Esther, his beloved queen, and Mordecai, the man to whom he owed his life, were both Jews. The Bible does not specify how old she was when her parents died. He wished Queen Vashti to be brought to the feast so that he may flaunt her wonderful beauty. The Jewish dietary laws delineating the permissible types of food and methods of their preparation. She overtook Queen Victoria as the longest reigning monarch in 2015 - Victoria had served for 63 years and lived to the age of 81. The Book of Esther, which does [11] Elias J. Bickerman, The Colophon of the Greek Book of Esther,Journal of Biblical Literature63.4 (1944): 339-62. even met her a few times when He was a young boy. The actual origins of the Purim festival, which was already long established by the 2nd centurybce, remain unknown. The best. The Scroll of Esther is read on Purim from a parchment scroll.Megillah13a). assassinated with her husband (which was likely), or if she was Rabbah6:5). Bibles] who ruled Persia from 486 to 465 BC. Horev], chap. Read a brief summary of this topic. He was blinded, but when he looked in her direction his vision was restored and he extended his scepter (Midrash Panim Aherim, version B, para. There, she was forced to prepare herself for her first night with the King by spending six months doused in oil of myrrh and another six in sweet odors ointments. Estimates vary, but she was most likely between 50 and 60 years old when she died. The Jewish festival ofPurimcelebrates this event. Esther was a teenager in 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.". She received her Ph.D. in religion from Princeton University. The Rabbis include Esther among the seven most beautiful women in the world (BT Megillah 15a). She was married to King Achashverosh, whom some identify as Artaxerxes (), 1 king of Persia. 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. Her loyalty to her people is admirable, as is . During Jacob's stay, he fell in love with Rachel . Is the singer Avant and R Kelly brothers? Esther was born about 492BC and was 14 when she became Queen. Am Yisrael Chai Mordecai held a position inside of the king's palace, and he went their every day to perform his duties. Until Esther was chosen, no woman could compare with Vashti in beauty. A day was set aside for the slaughter, and a decree issued to every corner of the empire. [6], Typical of his time period, Josephus was uncomfortable with the idea of a woman in charge of political affairs but admits that. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Sat 30 Mar 2002 15.27 EST Buckingham Palace announced today that the Queen Mother died peacefully in her sleep at 3.15 this afternoon at the age of 101. So, we know that Daniel was dead long before Esther was born and Mordechai had a cousin named Esther, who was the daughter of Abihail, a Benjamite. The regimen of rituals, songs and textual readings performed in a specific order on the first two nights (in Israel, on the first night) of Passover. As a result of her mothers death, Mordecai had to care for Esthers nursing. The bleeding jar in Esthers story is significant because of the deep symbolism behind it. During the Temple period, the dough set aside to be given to the priests. 4:16) and if I am to perish, I shall perish.". The beginning of the psalm: My God, my God, why have You abandoned me? is what Esther asks when she wants to know why the spirit of divine inspiration has left her: was this because she went to Ahasuerus of her own free will, or because she disparaged him, and called him a dog (following the text of the psalm)(BTMegillah15a)? We just don't know. She was compared to the dawn, for just as the dawn breaks at the end of each night, so, too, Esther [i.e., the miraculous delivery of the Jews] came after there had been no miracles [during the period of exile and darkness](BTYoma29a). Esth. Other sources say that the the woman "Esther" in the bible, married. Additionally, he decreed that anyone hostile to the Jews would be punished. Nonetheless, it is clear that Esthers mental state was severely compromised and debilitating. In Esther Chapter 2, royal eunuchs advised Ahasuerus to look for a new queen. This tradition results from the desire to equate Esthers age with that of Abraham when he left his native land forThe Land of IsraelErez Israel upon Gods command. does not give many details of Esther's life, Persian records do. Another view cites the verse (9:27): the Jews undertook and irrevocably obligated themselveswhat they took upon themselves below was confirmed above (BTMegillahloc. The document, published by National Records of Scotland on Thursday, says the late British monarch died at 3:10 p.m. UK time . One school of thought takes the numerical value ofHadassah= 74 (or 75, including the name itself as a unit) to determine Esthers age(Gen. Rabbah39:13; see below: Esthers Age). In a 1957 Christmas Broadcast, the Queen promised the United Kingdom she would give her . The king did not believe in God but Esther did. BC (he would have already been well over 90 years old at this Rabbah6:4). On returning, he found Haman falling on the couch where Esther was. The king mistook Hamans frantic pleas for mercy as an attack upon the queen. In response, Esther tells him that, like him, she is the offspring of royalty (Midrash Abba Gurion, para. What is the reflection of the story of princess urduja? This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. The recitation of Megillat Esther during the topsy-turvy holiday of Purim can distract us from the serious side of this story and Queen Esthers example. 49). Another tradition compares Esther, who ruled one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, toSarah, who died at the age of one hundred and twenty-seven(Gen. Rabbah58:3). The. old, non-virgin wife. 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. [1] In preparation for Purim and the reading of Megillat Esther, the story of this forgotten Jewish queen is worth recounting. Queen Esther by Edwin Long in 1878. Esther despaired throughout her first six years in the palace. The short answer is that we'll never know. She overtook Queen. When Esther pointed and declared(Esth. The historical reality of this biblical episode, and whether or not Esther actually existed, has often been questioned. i. Even after she becomes queen because of the disobedience of Queen Vashti, Esther remains modest and down-to-earth. And lest you think I am making an argument about gendered skills (i.e., what women do vs. what men do), the following from the late biblical scholar Tikva Frymer-Kensky is noteworthy: With these two queens, the Torah and Jewish history model another way of being successful in the world, both for men and women. The Bible; the Pentateuch; Tanakh (the Pentateuch, Prophets and Hagiographia)Torah scholars. The Book ofEsther (2:7)relates that Esther had two names: He was foster father to Hadassahthat is, Esther. The Rabbis take two interpretive directions as regards these names. According to one tradition, he could not find a wet nurse and he himself miraculously had milk and nursed her(Gen. Rabbah30:8). Later, when Queen Vashti refused to appear before Ahasuerus (in Esther ch.1), Memuchan, a Persian royal adviser, advised King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) to remove Vashti from being Queen of Persia, and King Ahasuerus agreed to his advice. was the wife of the Persian King Xerxes [aka "Ahasuerus" in many cit.). It is known that Esther was the daughter of Abihail, and she had married King Xerxes of Persia around the age of 18. Notably, Shelamzion maintained peace through defensive measures and diplomatic outreach rather than outright acts of aggression. Esther was the best-looking woman, and Ahasuerus picked her to replace Vashti as Queen. How Can a Torah Commentary Be Source-Critical and Jewish? Esther was the heroine and central figure in the Book of Esther, which is now recognised by Biblical scholars to have been a second-century-BCE Jewish novel. According to other traditions, her bowels were loosened (BTMegillahloc. How old was Queen Elizabeth II when she died? In the midrashic exposition, Ahasuerus tries to discover Esthers origins, explaining that this would be beneficial for her relatives, since he would appoint them to important positions (Midrash Panim Aherimloc. 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. She knew King Xerxes's love for merrymakingthat's how he first got in trouble with Queen Vashti (Es 1:10, 11, 12), how he celebrated Queen Esther's rise to the throne (Es 2:17, 18), and how he ended his day with Haman after issuing the edict for genocide (Es 3:15). 10:2). Sort by: Most popular. [12] Ilan, Esther, Judith and Susanna as Propaganda for Shelamzions Queenship,Integrating Women, 135. Esther becoming queen was a massive step up in the world, but that was probably because her husband was The King You Didn't Mess With. The verse (5:1) Esther put on royal apparel is interpreted as her assuming the spirit of prophecy (BTMegillahloc. Esther exposes Haman's evil plan. How old was The Queen Mother when she died? The Bible doesn't say how old Esther was when she married him, but if she was 17 this would make her born in 500BC. The Rabbis view this as self-sacrifice on Esthers part, since she was willing to die herself, provided that Haman would also perish; (4) Esther sought to turn Haman into her ally, so that he would not rebel against Ahasuerus the king (and thereby become even more dangerous); (5) Esther wanted to obscure her identity and prevent any suspicion of her being a Jew (since Haman was an antisemite); (6) Esther desired to arouse the Jews to pray and cry out to God, so they would not think that her presence in the royal palace sufficed to neutralize Hamans activity; (7) Esther sought to arouse Gods compassion, to show that the Jews did not oppose Haman, that no one stood in Hamans way, and therefore only He could deliver Israel; (8) Esther hoped that Ahasuerus, who was a capricious king, would change his opinion of Haman (BTMegillahloc. "scroll." Guy Siverson Graceful Touch | Massage Therapy Therapist (s) | Rapid City Author has 5.2K answers and 2.7M answer views 7 mo Esther 2:7 King James Version The Jews were well acquainted with the command of God, which stated that they must not bow down to false gods nor to those enemies of God who idolized them. She was Jewish but never revealed her nationality or family background as Mordecai had. 16 September 2012. According to the second direction, Esther was her real name, and she is so named throughout the Book of Esther; accordingly, the name Hadassah needs further explanation. The Queen described in the Book of Nehemiah is Queen Esther. "scroll." See Ilana Pardes,Countertraditions in the Bible: A Feminist Approach(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992), 126 ff. Rabbah6:5; BTLit. What is the answer punchline algebra 15.1 why dose a chicken coop have only two doors? How old was Esther when she became queen? As early as 1215, Rabbi Menachem Ha-Hevroni wrote that while visiting the Galilee, he came across the tomb of Queen Esther, "who, during her lifetime, had instructed her son Cyrus to bring her there [for burial]". Taken to the palace of King Ahasuerus of Persia, she exposed the plot of the evil Haman, who had convinced the king to allow the annihilation of all the Jews in his extensive empire. Similarly, Shelamzion had to succeed against all odds to maintain her queenship. Those were the good old days, the rabbis say, the days of Queen Shelamzion. He was a Jew living in the Persian city of Susa, and he became a prime minister in the Persian court of King Ahasuerus. A new decree to save the Jews. Additionally, Hamans royal throne and belongings were given to Mordecai, and he was honored by the people of the city. Esther was a Jewish woman who lived in Persia during the period following the destruction of the First Holy Temple, when many Jews had been taken as slaves to Babylonia, which was subsequently overtaken by Persia. Haman, too, was troubled by the question of Esthers origins. cit.). In a risky move, Esther reveals her Jewish heritage to Ahasuerus and pleads with him to spare her people, despite the risk of death. The Book ofEsther (2:11)relates that Mordecai would walk about in front of the court of the harem, to learn how Esther was faring. The Rabbis understood Mordecais escorting of Esther as his providing her withThe legal corpus of Jewish laws and observances as prescribed in the Torah and interpreted by rabbinic authorities, beginning with those of the Mishnah and Talmud.halakhic guidance, for he would rule for her in questions ofMenstruation; the menstruant woman; ritual status of the menstruant woman.niddah (the laws governing menstrual purity, and, more generally, family purity; see below: Esthers Personal Status"). Esther 4:11-16. . When Esther sought to deliver up Haman, she revealed her identity as a Jew in the act. 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. to be fictional. In contrast, the BT also cites a tradition that Esther had a greenish [sallow] complexion, and therefore was called Hadassah; according to this tradition, Ahasuerus was drawn to her because she was endowed with great charm (BTMegillahloc. point). The outraged king ordered that Haman be hanged on the gallows built for Mordecai and that Mordecai be named to fill Hamans position. The combined symptoms in Esther signify that she was suffering from a serious psychiatric illness, but the precise diagnosis remains unclear. There is support for this too in the Talmud (Yoma 29a).4) Esther comes from the Median "astra," meaning "myrtle." Yet another tradition maintains that she was eighty years of age(Gen. Rabbah39:13;MidrashAbba Gurion, para.
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