1 King Achashverosh levied a tax upon the mainland and the islands of the sea. 2 And the entire history of his power and strength, and the account of Mordechai's greatness, whom the king had promoted, are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia. 3 For Mordechai the Jew was second to King Achashverosh, a leader to the Jews, and loved by his many brethren. He sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace for all their descendants.
Yosef Marcus is director of the Chabad center in S. Mateo, California, where he lives with his wife and two daughters. He is a translator and adaptor of Judaic texts and a contributor to several websites including: Chabad.org, Askmoses.com and Kabbalaonline.com. He can be reached via his website www.chabadnp.com
Megillat Esther - The Book of Esther,
Compiled by Rabbi Yosef Marcus. Published by Kehot Publication Society, Brooklyn, NY
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Arnold Shuchat
Richmond
March 23, 2016
I find it fascinating that the Jews went from total fear of genocide to a mindset of "having the right to defend themselves" and dominating their adversaries simply with a decree by another human being. I think this is the message of Purim here, that the miracle lies within each one of us, just as the miracle is attributed to Esther who empowered herself to do what she needed to do. When we think of this whole story now, it is no wonder why everybody got and gets so drunk with joy on this holiday. They realize that the power to overcome adversity is a state of mind that lies within each of us. It's like we are just an "edict", or a few drinks away from realizing this.
The modern State of Israel is a testament to this continuing miracle, where its people daily, defend themselves from the edicts of their enemies!
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Rabbi Shaul Wolf
March 17, 2014
1) The meaning of the verse, "and to speak like the language of his people", is to be interpreted in context of the decree of Achashverosh, which was primarily to give dominating power to the man in his household. As an additional clause in the decree, Achashverosh added that a man may force his wife to adopt the language that he speaks, and that will become the household language, irrespective of the wife's nationality or background.
2) We know of one child that Esther had, who was named Darius, or Artachshasta. He ruled over Persia after his father Achashverosh, and commissioned the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.
3) Although Esther's true name was Hadassah, she was nevertheless referred to as Esther by her cousin Mordechai. One of the reasons for this is, because Mordechai sought to hide her true identity, so that they would not know that she was Jewish. He hinted to this in the name Esther, which comes from the Hebrew word, "Haster", meaning concealment.
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Renee
March 16, 2014
Isn't it interesting that the Herradi don't accept the idea of stopping Torah study,for a short period of time, in order to help their country, and do a great mitzvot. Reply
Stan Cohen
Suffern
March 15, 2014
Can you please tell me why the king passed a law in the beginning that all men had to speak in the language of their region? Seems a bit odd when it would be easier to mandate Persian. Also what happened to Esther's children? Lastly we give Esthers Hebrew name as Esther daughter of when it should be Hadassah daughter of. Reply
Rabbi Marcus
San Mateo
December 25, 2013
feminism and war
Thank you Jules for your comments. It is indeed sad that women were then treated like chattel. Sadly, this is still the case in large parts of the world. In our tradition, Vashti is not seen as a hero. Many tales are told of her cruelty towards her Jewish maids.
Esther on the other hand gives up her own physical and spiritual wellbeing in order to save her people.
Regarding the sons of Haman, they were killed because they were not just the biological children of Haman but ideological as well. They were not killed out of hate, just we do not kill Hamas terrorists today out of hate, but out of the obligation to defend ourselves from those who seek our destruction. They may have had innocent wives and children but so did the ten Nazis who were condemned to death in the Nuremberg trials.
Hate may beget hate, but justice begets peace, as did the destruction of Nazi Germany in our time.
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Jules Bernstein
Washington, D.C.
December 21, 2013
So sad that this was an age when women were treated like chattels and had to demean themselves to win the support of men and monarchs. Esther gained her power by submitting to the King after her predecessor refused to demean herself at the command of her husband, the King. That she was able to defeat Haman was admirable but were all of the sons of Haman equally evil as their father. Did they not have innocent wives and children. Hate begets hate. What can we do to end it is the question. Reply
Anonymous
Taunton, Ma
February 24, 2013
Happy Purim May G-d bless us all and happy Purim to every one!!! Reply
Lusia
West Hills
February 23, 2013
Thank you very much for the wonderful story! I didn't know all about. I knew about Purim but not as I learned now.
Happy Purim!
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malka gila
ny, ny
March 20, 2011
Thank you so much I cannot translate hebrew and really appreciated your translation! it was so nice to be able to know what i was reading! happy Purim to you and yours Reply
Rabbi Marcus
March 10, 2009
Thanks and "his many brethren"
Thanks, Anonymous, glad you enjoyed it.
Once I'm here, here's a comment regarding the words "For Mordechai the Jew was ...loved by his many brethren."
The word for "many" is "rov."
Another interpetation for rov in this verse is "the majority."
I.e., the verse is read to mean that Mordechai was beloved by most of his brethren, but not all of them....
Why? Who could find fault with Mordechai. Well, some of the rabbis felt that should have left politics and gone back full time to Torah study....
Although we should go with the positive spin on Mordechai, since the pejorative interpretation is part of Torah, we must learn from it as well.
One lesson we can take from it is that sometimes we have a good excuse to suspend our Torah study to fulfill mitzvot, especially helping others. But we have to be vigilant not to abuse this suspension and get too comfortable with not studying and jump back into Torah study as soon as it is once again appropriate....
Happy Purim! Lchaim!
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Steven Mozeson
Denville, NJ, USA
March 2, 2018
in response to Rabbi Marcus:
Thoughts about the Story of Purim We can benefit by exchanging our individual interpretations about what can be learned by this story: Food for Thought! People in control of the fates of others are always to be challenged. Controllers of groups of people can sometimes be convinced to change their minds, often in return for favors which delight them. Also, those in control can be killed. Whomever prevails thereafter will assume that this has been intended, and has happened for the best; however among the people that are now placed theoretically under the rule of their leader, there will surely be descent. And so, the story of Purim does not end at the conclusion of chapter 10. Anti-Semitism is now rearing it’s ugly head among many peoples all over the world. Reply
Anonymous
March 10, 2009
Thank you This was a huge help thank you so much. Reply
I love how G-d blessed Mordechai for taking care of the orphan Esther.
Since Esther was obedient to the man who raised her as if she was his own child, she too was blessed. She became the Queen who saved her people from total destruction.
Esther reminds me of Joseph.