Esther HaMalkah
The orphaned Jewish queen of Persia who risked her life before Achashveirosh to save her people, and asked that Purim be kept for all generations.
Biography
An Orphan Named Hadassah
Esther HaMalkah a"h, the queen through whom Hashem saved the Jewish people from Haman's decree, was the daughter of Avichayil, the uncle of Mordechai. Her family belonged to the tribe of Binyamin and lived among the exiles in Shushan, the capital of Persia. Chazal teach that she never had a father or a mother for even a single day: her father passed away while her mother was expecting her, and her mother passed away when she was born.
Her cousin Mordechai, son of Yair son of Shimi son of Kish, took her into his home and raised her as his own daughter. Mordechai was one of the great men of his generation. Chazal relate that he sat on the Sanhedrin and knew seventy languages, and that he had chosen to go into exile so that he could care for the needs of his people.
The Megillah gives her two names, Hadassah and Esther, and Chazal found meaning in both. The tzaddikim are compared to myrtles, hadassim, and she was of moderate height, like the myrtle tree. The Midrash adds that the myrtle has a sweet fragrance and a bitter taste: so Esther was sweet to Mordechai and bitter to Haman. The name Esther speaks of hester, concealment, for she hid her family and her people. The Gemara teaches that she was a descendant of Shaul HaMelech, who merited her as a reward for his modesty, just as Shaul had come from Rachel Imeinu in reward for hers.
A Hidden Queen in Shushan
After Achashveirosh removed Queen Vashti, young women were gathered from all his provinces to the palace in Shushan, and Esther was taken among them. While the others asked for every adornment, she asked for nothing beyond what Hegai, the keeper of the women, advised. Yet she found favor in the eyes of all who saw her; Chazal say that each person who looked at her saw her as one of his own nation. In the tenth month, the month of Teves, in the seventh year of his reign, she was brought before the king, and he set the royal crown on her head.
Mordechai had told her not to reveal her people, and she kept silent. The Midrash sees in this the quiet strength of her family line: Rachel was silent when she saw her sister receive what had been meant for her, Binyamin was silent, Shaul kept his anointing to himself, and Esther did not reveal her people. Every day Mordechai walked before the courtyard of the palace to learn how she was. The Midrash says Hashem told him: you went to ask after the welfare of one person; in the end you will seek the welfare of an entire nation.
Inside the palace, Esther held fast to the mitzvos. Chazal relate that she had a different maid serve her each day of the week, so that she could always count the days and know when Shabbos had come. She continued to follow Mordechai's words as she had when she was growing up in his home. When Mordechai discovered that two guards, Bigsan and Seresh, were plotting to poison the king, he told Esther, and she reported it to the king in Mordechai's name. The deed was written in the royal chronicles, and it waited there for its time.
For Such a Time as This
When Haman obtained the king's decree to destroy every Jew, Mordechai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth. Esther sent Hasach, the attendant the king had assigned her, whom Chazal identify as Daniel, to learn the reason. Mordechai sent back a copy of the decree and urged her to plead with the king. She answered that anyone who entered the inner court unsummoned faced death, and she had not been called for thirty days. Mordechai replied: if you keep silent now, relief will come to the Jews from somewhere else, and who knows whether it was for a time like this that you reached royalty. The Midrash explains his warning: one who is silent when she can do good will have nothing to say in the future.
Esther asked all the Jews of Shushan to fast for her three days, and on the third day she went before the king, and he held out his golden scepter to her. Instead of making her request, she invited the king and Haman to a feast, and then to a second one. Chazal offer many reasons for her plan: to set a trap for Haman, to keep the Jews from relying on a sister in the palace and neglecting their tefillos, and to stir the king's jealousy against him. When Rabba bar Avuh asked Eliyahu HaNavi which reason was right, Eliyahu answered that she had all of them in mind.
At the second feast she spoke. We have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed. Until then, Chazal say, the king spoke to her through an interpreter, but once she told him that she came from the house of Shaul, he spoke to her himself. She named Haman as the enemy, and he was hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordechai. The king gave Haman's estate to Esther, and she placed Mordechai over it. Then she fell at the king's feet in tears and begged him to undo Haman's letters, and new letters went out to every province. For the Jews there was light and gladness, joy and honor.
Her Enduring Legacy
Esther and Mordechai wrote to all the Jews of the hundred and twenty-seven provinces, establishing the days of Purim for every generation, and Esther's own decree confirmed them and was written in a book. She asked the chachamim to fix the reading of the Megillah for all time and to include her book among the Kisvei HaKodesh, and in the end they agreed. The Gemara counts her among the seven prophetesses of Israel, together with Sarah, Miriam, Devorah, Chanah, Avigayil and Chuldah, for when she clothed herself in royalty, she was clothed in ruach hakodesh.
Rebbi Akiva once saw that his listeners were dozing, and to rouse them he asked why Esther merited to rule over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces. Let Esther, he answered, the descendant of Sarah who lived a hundred and twenty-seven years, come and reign over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces. Chazal compare her to the dawn: just as the dawn ends the whole night, Esther's miracle was the last of the miracles to be written in the Tanach.
The Megillah does not tell of her passing, and no yahrzeit is recorded. An old tradition of Persian Jewry holds that Esther and Mordechai are buried together in Hamadan, in the land of Media, where Jews long came to daven and to read the Megillah on Purim. But her truest memorial is the one she asked for herself. Every year, in every Jewish community in the world, men, women and children gather to hear her story read aloud from a parchment scroll, and to remember that Hashem's hand was at work even when it was hidden.
Stories
Elder of Israel, Why Pesach
Esther asked the Jews to fast through the days of Pesach, and when Mordechai hesitated, her answer showed what was truly at stake.
When Mordechai's message reached her, Esther knew she would have to go before the king unsummoned. She sent back her reply: Go, gather all the Jews in Shushan, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night and day. My maids and I will fast as well. Then I will go in to the king, against the law, and if I perish, I perish.
The Midrash relates that the three days she chose were the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth of Nissan. Mordechai sent back to her in surprise: but the first day of Pesach falls among them. Esther answered him: Elder of Israel, why is there a Pesach? Her meaning was plain: if the decree stood, there would be no Jews left to keep it. Mordechai heard her, agreed, and did everything Esther had told him.
Then the Midrash describes how the queen herself prepared. She took off her royal garments and her jewels, put on sackcloth, loosened her hair and covered it with dust and ashes, and fasted. She fell on her face before Hashem and davened. Hashem, God of Israel, she said, help Your maidservant, for I have been left an orphan without father or mother, like a poor woman going from house to house. So I go from window to window in this palace, asking for Your mercy. You are the Father of orphans; stand at the right hand of this orphan who trusts in You, and let this man see me with compassion.
Source: Esther 4:15–17; Midrash Esther Rabbah 8:7 (the fast in Nissan and Esther's prayer); Gemara, Megillah 15a; English: The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah (2022) and The William Davidson Talmud (Koren–Steinsaltz).
Esther's prayer did not list her achievements. She told Hashem plainly that she had no one else, and asked Him to stand at her right hand. When you face something frightening this week, a hard conversation, a medical test, a decision you cannot undo, take two minutes before it alone. Say to Hashem in your own words: I cannot do this without You; please stand beside me. And if someone you know is facing a decree of their own, ask a few friends to daven or say Tehillim with you, as Esther asked her people to fast with her.
Alone in the Inner Court
On the third day of the fast, Esther walked uninvited into the king's court, and Heaven surrounded her with help.
On the third day of the fast, the Megillah says, Esther clothed herself in royalty. Chazal teach that this was more than a royal gown: she was clothed in ruach hakodesh. The Midrash relates that she took two of her maids, leaning on one as royal custom required while the other held up the hem of her jeweled garments. She put on a cheerful face, hid the fear in her heart, and walked toward the inner court.
The Gemara tells that as she passed through the chamber of the idols in the inner court, she felt the Shechinah leave her. At once she cried out the words of Tehillim: Keili, Keili, lamah azavtani, my God, my God, why have You forsaken me? She asked whether she was being judged for what she had been forced to do as if she had chosen it.
Then she stood before the throne. The Midrash says the king's eyes blazed with anger at the breach of his law, and when Esther saw his face, her strength gave way and she rested her head on the maid beside her. Hashem saw the orphan who had trusted in Him and had pity on His people. Rebbi Yochanan teaches that three angels came to her side at that moment: one lifted her head so she could stand upright, one surrounded her with grace, and one stretched out the king's scepter toward her. The king held out the golden scepter, and Esther came near and touched its tip.
Source: Esther 5:1–2; Gemara, Megillah 14b–15b (Talmud Bavli); Midrash Esther Rabbah 9:1; English: The William Davidson Talmud (Koren–Steinsaltz) and The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah (2022).
Esther did not wait until she felt brave. She walked in afraid, and when she felt alone she called out to Hashem in the middle of the corridor. Think of the room you are dreading this week: the office you must enter, the call you must make, the person you must face. Go in anyway. If you feel your courage slip, say a short line silently, such as Hashem, do not leave me now, and keep walking. Help often arrives only after the first step through the door.
Write Me for the Generations
After the miracle, Esther asked the chachamim to set Purim and her book for all time, and would not accept their first refusal.
The Gemara relates that once the danger had passed, Esther turned to the future. She sent a request to the chachamim: establish me for the generations. She wanted the days of Purim and the reading of her story to become a permanent obligation for all of Israel.
The chachamim hesitated. If the story of the Jews' victory over their enemies is read in public every year, they answered, it will stir up the anger of the nations against us. Esther sent back a reply: I am already written in the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia. The world knows the story; reading it will reveal nothing new.
She made a second request: write my book for the generations, as one of the Kisvei HaKodesh. Again the chachamim answered with a verse. Shlomo HaMelech wrote, Have I not written for you three times? The war with Amalek, they explained, is meant to be recorded three times in Tanach, and it already was. The chachamim did not grant her request until they found a verse in the Torah itself: Write this as a memorial in the book. Write this, they explained, is what is written in the Torah; a memorial is what is written in the Neviim; and in the book is the Megillah. Esther's book was the third, not a fourth, and her request was granted. The Megillah itself records that Esther's decree confirmed the days of Purim and was written in a book.
Source: Gemara, Megillah 7a (Talmud Bavli); Esther 9:29–32; English: The William Davidson Talmud (Koren–Steinsaltz translation), Megillah 7a.
Esther knew that a salvation which is not remembered is easily lost. Think of a time Hashem helped you or your family in a way you could not have arranged yourself: a recovery, a rescue, a door that opened at the last moment. This week, write it down in a few honest paragraphs and put it where your family will find it, or tell it at the Shabbos table. If it fits, choose a small way to mark the day each year, such as a seudah of thanks or extra tzedakah, so that your children's children will know.
Teachings
The Miracle Hidden Within Nature
The Kedushas Levi teaches that there are two kinds of miracles. At the Yam Suf, nature itself was overturned for all to see. In the days of Mordechai and Esther, nature stayed exactly as it was, and the miracle came about inside it. His master, the Maggid of Mezritch, said that this is why she is called Esther: the miracle was hester, hidden within nature. The Berditchever adds a parable. When a king wins a battle at the head of his whole army, it is no great wonder; but when he goes into the forest alone, without his armor or soldiers, and still prevails, that is truly marvelous. When Hashem's rule, usually covered by nature, was revealed through natural events, Israel was so moved that they accepted the Torah anew out of love. That is why it is called a megillah: what had been hidden was revealed.
Kedushas Levi, Kedushos for Purim, Kedushah Rishonah
Most of the help we receive from Hashem looks like ordinary life: a parking spot, a job lead from a chance conversation, a delay that kept us out of trouble. Tonight, before you go to sleep, think back over your day and name one event that looked like coincidence. Say quietly, This was from You, and thank Hashem for it. Over a week, keep a short list. You will begin to read your own life the way we read the Megillah, seeing the hidden hand behind every turn.
In the Name of Mordechai
When Mordechai uncovered the plot of Bigsan and Seresh, he told Esther, and she brought the warning to the king. The Megillah takes care to add that she told the king in Mordechai's name. Chazal draw a lasting lesson from this: whoever repeats something in the name of the person who said it brings redemption to the world. Her honesty seemed a small thing at the time. But the deed was written in the king's chronicles under Mordechai's name, and on the sleepless night when the king had the chronicles read to him, it was that entry which led to Mordechai's honor and to the downfall of Haman.
Gemara, Megillah 15a (on Esther 2:22)
Today, when you share a good idea, a vort, a tip or a solution, say where you got it: My friend taught me this, or I heard this from my Rav. At work, mention by name the colleague whose suggestion helped. At home, tell your spouse in front of the children which good thing was his or her idea. It costs you a moment of credit, and Chazal teach that it brings redemption into the world.
Like the Dawn
Chazal teach that Esther recited the psalm titled For the morning hind, ayeles hashachar, as she prepared to enter the king's court. Rav Asi explains why she is likened to the dawn: just as the dawn is the end of the entire night, so Esther was the end of all the miracles written in the Tanach. Her miracle came at the darkest hour, when the decree was signed and sealed, and it brought the morning. The Gemara adds a second comparison. The prayers of the righteous are likened to a hind, whose antlers keep branching out as long as they grow; so too, the more the righteous pray, the more their prayer is heard. Esther did not pray once and stop. She fasted, she cried out, and she kept going until the light came.
Gemara, Yoma 29a (on Tehillim 22:1)
When a hardship drags on, it is natural to stop asking. Esther teaches the opposite: keep praying, and expect the dawn. Choose one situation you have been davening about for a long time. This week, add one new line about it in your own words in Shema Koleinu, or say one chapter of Tehillim for it each day. When you feel discouraged, remember that the sky is darkest just before the morning, and that Esther's dawn came at the very end of the night.
Seforim
- Megillas Esther: The book of Esther, one of the Kisvei HaKodesh, read every Purim. The Megillah itself records that Esther's decree confirmed the days of Purim and was written in a book.
Family & talmidim
Teachers: Mordechai HaTzaddik (her cousin, who raised her)
Historical sources
- Megillas Esther 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 (Sefaria)
- Megillah 7a (Sefaria)
- Megillah 10b–11a (Sefaria)
- Megillah 12b–13b (Sefaria)
- Megillah 14a–16b (Sefaria)
- Yoma 29a (Sefaria)
- Esther Rabbah 6, 8, 9 (Sefaria, The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah 2022)
- Bereishis Rabbah 58:3 (Sefaria)
- Kedushas Levi, Kedushos for Purim, Kedushah Rishonah 6–7 and 13–14 (Sefaria, Munkatch 1939 Hebrew)
- Tomb of Esther and Mordechai – English Wikipedia