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. 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. Esther was a young Jewish girl taken into the palace of the king of Persia, King Ahasuerus. We may assume, therefore, that she was about 14 years of age when she succeeded to the throne. See Ilana Pardes,Countertraditions in the Bible: A Feminist Approach(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992), 126 ff. Jewish Women's Archive. . 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 orphan raised by her uncle, young Esther was taken against her will as a beautiful virgin to Persian King Ahasuerus's harem. [9] For more on Esthers diplomacy and its place in theMegillahand in understanding female biblical characters, see Michael Foxs TABS essayThe Women in Esther.. Torah and history converge in a remarkable way in the life of Shelamzion. According to the view that Esther was Hadassahs second name, the Rabbis explain that she was given this name because she concealed (histirah) her origins. "the written Torah." No, Esther and Mordecai were not married. I told her not to tell anyone she was an Israelite, though, because a lot of people still didn't like Israelites and I thought King Xerxes might not pick her to be the new queen if he knew she was an . In post-Temple times, a small piece of dough set aside and burnt. Esther was given seven maids to serve her in the harem; the Rabbis comment that she used them in order to count the seven days of the week [to know when the Sabbath fell, so that she could observe it even in the harem]. The BT presents this in the opposite way: the king first talked with her by means of an interpreter, but when she told him that she was descended from King Saul, he spoke with her directly, out of respect (Lev. In the Book of Esther, Mordecai plays a major role in the events leading up to the deliverance of the Jewish people from their enemies. (Viewed on March 4, 2023)
. The Rabbis were concerned about the question of Esthers marital status. 7:5states: Thereupon King Ahasuerus demanded [va-yomerliterally, and he saidwritten twice in the verse] of Queen Esther, Who is he. The midrash is of the opinion that the verbva-yomeris repeated here because Ahasuerus initially spoke directly to Esther, but when he discovered that she was a Jew, he spoke to her through an interpreter. Mordecai was Esthers cousin and guardian, having adopted her as his daughter when her parents died. Esther may or may not have reflected the historical reality of the Persian period, but her story provided a model for a new reality in Shelamzions lifetime. Esthers secret was that she was a Jew, which she was able to hide from her adoptive family and community. Esther understood that this action would require her to commit a grave transgression, and even lose all possibility of returning to her husband Mordecai. What is the reflection of the story of princess urduja? 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). Esther risked her life to save the Jews, thus, she became an example of unselfishness and faithfulness. When Esther's parents died, I adopted Esther and took care of her like she was my daughter. Queen Esther is an orphan raised by her uncle Mordecai and is eventually married to King Ahasuerus. During Jacob's stay, he fell in love with Rachel . For today's Bible studies, we're going to discuss 10 characteristics of Esther in the Bible. Esther retorted, "Without Jews, who needs Passover?". Abraham, "fell on his face and laughed" while Sarah, "laughed to herself" and even tried to deny it. Help JWA continue to lift up Jewish womens stories, this month and every month, by. 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. She was 96 years old. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. This book therefore has the same sanctity as the other books of Scripture. He killed Haman in 473BC, when he was 45 ( Esther 3:7 ). Nonetheless, it is clear that Esthers mental state was severely compromised and debilitating. She was crowned about 55 years after the destruction of the First Temple, and fifteen years before the Second Temple was built. Queen Vashti has been banished and an edict goes out for all qualified young virgins throughout the empire to be taken to the palace as he searches for a new queen. It is known that Esther was the daughter of Abihail, and she had married King Xerxes of Persia around the age of 18. 6:6), or the definite statement, that could be known only to God: but they did not lay hands on the spoil (9:10). We read that: "The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. Esther was born about 492BC and was 14 when she became Queen. Hearing the horror of the planned genocide, the light went on: Esther connected with her inner self and understood why she had been made queen. Esther then initiated a covert plan to defeat Haman using her grace and beauty. [11] According to the colophon to Greek Esther, a delegation of Jews from Jerusalem went to Egypt with the translation of the story of Megillat Esther and asked the Jews of Alexandria to begin celebrating the festival of Purim. Queen Esther and Mordecai were given Haman's estate. According to one tradition, Esther was responsible for Mordecais being seated at the palace gate, since she told Ahasuerus that all the great kings seated a Jewish advisor at the gate (Midrash Abba Gurionloc. The combined symptoms in Esther signify that she was suffering from a serious psychiatric illness, but the precise diagnosis remains unclear. When the king saw his queen, Xerxes lowered his golden scepter to invite Esther into his presence. Bibles] who ruled Persia from 486 to 465 BC. "Esther: Midrash and Aggadah." Most people have never heard of Queen Shelamzion Alexandra. 16 September 2012. They did not have the riches that Esther had. assassinated with her husband (which was likely), or if she was This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Plath famously battled depression and other mental illnesses, and the same is true of Esthers condition in the novel. The. After an exhilarating victory, they declared the following day a holiday and (alluding to the lots Haman had cast) named it Purim, which is Hebrew for lots.. Even though Esther and Mordecai werent directly related, their close relationship was very strong and continued throughout their lives. In common parlance, the braided loaves blessed and eaten on the Sabbath and Festivals. Esther replaced Queen Vashti, who had been sentenced to death because she had refused to display her beauty to the King's feast attendants. Rabbah6:5; BTLit. She is the author of several books, including On My Right Michael, On My Left Gabriel: Angels in Ancient Jewish Culture (University of California Press, 2021). You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. 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 was ready to endanger herself and even to give her life to save her people, who therefore are called her people (4:8): to plead with him for her people(Ex. After she tested positive for . The Jews, said Haman, must be eliminated for the good of the kingdom. Esther 5:2-3; 7:4-6 Image Mordecai and Esther respond to this that the story in the Book of Esther was already recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Media and Persia(Esth. Esther and Mordecai then obtained a royal edict allowing Jews throughout the empire to defend themselves on the day set for their extermination. The book of Nehemiah begins in 444 BC, so they probably Esther is also compared to a wolf, to the moon (see below: Esther as the Deliverer of Israel) and to a stove on which everyone places his pots (Midrash Tehilim, onPs. Esther must have been a "teenager" based on the historical and Biblical facts above. cit.). For an analysis of these sources and their reliability, see Tal Ilan,Integrating Women into Second Temple History(Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1999), esp. Until Esther was chosen, no woman could compare with Vashti in beauty. Esther herself observed the commandment of searching for thehamez(Esth. Elizabeth I is one of England's most well-known monarchs. To hide her identity as a Jew, he tells her to go by the name of Esther. [2] See Ilan,Integrating women, 127, commenting onJewish War1.71 andJewishAntiquities13.302. Rabbah10:13). 28 BC) was the daughter of Hyrcanus II (died 30 BC), who was the son of Alexander Jannaeus. Jacob had traveled a great distance to find Laban. After she came to the fourth department, Ahasueruss ire was aroused and he remembered Vashti, who did not come into him despite his repeated requests, while Esther came into him without permission, like a harlot. Part of HuffPost Religion. Esther's Origins and Her Adoption by Mordecai. She invited both Haman and Ahasuerus to a private banquet, stirring up jealousy in the King's mind. 5). The Scroll of Esther is read on Purim from a parchment scroll. cit.). Although the Bible Esthers jar is a visual representation of her emotional turmoil and her suffering. This exegesis casts the Biblical narrative in a different light. 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)? They were honored with royal garments and a decree was written to protect all Jews. 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. 4:11): Now I have not been summoned to visit the king for the last thirty days(Ex. Princess Elizabeth ascended to the throne on February 6, 1952, following the death of her father, King George VI. At that banquet, she heightened the tension between the two by inviting both men to a second banquet. 10:3) was able to have interceded for the welfare of all his kindred (Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer, chap. In a 1957 Christmas Broadcast, the Queen promised the United Kingdom she would give her . Queen Esther is a biblical figure from the Hebrew Bible who was the Jewish Queen of the Persian King Ahasuerus. The Queen Mother lived to the grand age of 101 years and 238 days old. A seven-day festival to commemorate the Exodus from Egypt (eight days outside Israel) beginning on the 15. Mordecai is mentioned inEsth. Elizabeth reigned for almost forty-five years and was the last monarch of the Tudor Dynasty, having died childless. [4] Tal Ilan devotes a chapter to discussing the name Shelamzion inSilencing the Queen, 259ff. We rely on the support of readers like you. 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. 20). The king held a party in his honor one day. 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 Rabbis even find proof that God concurred with the activity of Mordecai and Esther, since it is written(Esth. guessing that Nehemiah was probably not around when the events of Furthermore, he commanded all the provinces of his realm to provide special favors and tax exemptions to Esther and her people, the Jews. [7] See Elsie Sterns reading of Megillat Esther as a cautionary tale for Jews living in the Diaspora in her TABS essay, Megillat Esther: A Godless and Assimilated Diaspora.. Sort by: Most popular. It is a remarkable moment in Jewish history, in which we can see one of the times when Jews were connecting to each other from Jerusalem to the Diaspora and establishing the holidays that we take for granted today. Queen Esther and Bella Abzug: Costumes, Leadership, and Identity, The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women, Copyright 19982023, Jewish Women's Archive. Just as a wolf seizes its spoils, so did Esther seize the throne; similarly, Mordecai and Esther divided Hamans spoils among them (Gen. Rabbah[ed. 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. That being said, Fortunately, the king was able to get to the bottom of the plot and expose the would-be assassins before any harm came to Mordecai or the king. The Book of Esther reports that when Esther learned that Mordecai was wearing sackcloth, the queen was greatly agitated (4:4). The situation was even more serious according to the tradition that Esther was married to Mordecai (the Babylonian tradition), for then, as a married woman, she committed adultery. The night of their union, Ahasuerus loved Esther "above all women" and made her the Persian Empire's Queen. When she relayed Mordecais information to the king, she attributed it to Mordecai(Esth. The matter became known to Mordecai, who told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king: Mordecai's attitude wasn't "I'm a Jewish man in exile under a pagan king, so I do not care if he is killed.". Additionally, Hamans royal throne and belongings were given to Mordecai, and he was honored by the people of the city. She overtook Queen. Nonetheless, in the very same document in which the rabbis rule out the possibility of Jewish queens, the rabbis remember Queen Shelamzion Alexandra quite favorably. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[336,280],'coalitionbrewing_com-box-4','ezslot_5',147,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-coalitionbrewing_com-box-4-0');In the biblical book of Esther, Queen Esther is a young Jewish woman who becomes queen of the Persian Empire, thanks to the intervention of King Ahasuerus advisor, Mordecai. Some may have stumbled upon the street named after her in downtown Jerusalem, but otherwise, she is generally only briefly mentioned, marginalized, and almost written out of the historical record.
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