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“Hangings of white [ḥur], green [karpas] and blue [tekhelet], fastened with cords of fine linen and purple wool on silver rods and marble pillars, couches of gold and silver, on a ...
“Couches of gold and silver” – Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya: Rabbi Yehuda said: For one [for whom] silver was fitting, silver, and for one [for whom] gold was fitting, gold. Rabb...
“On a floor of alabaster, marble, mother-of-pearl, and onyx.” Rav Naḥman said: Come and see what the comfort of that wicked one was like. His house was paved with precious stones a...
“Drink was served in vessels of gold and vessels of diverse kinds, and abundant royal wine, in keeping with the king’s bounty” (Esther 1:7).“Drink was served in vessels of gold” – ...
“And vessels of diverse kinds” – he brought his vessels and vessels of Elam, and his were more beautiful than those from Elam. He brought his vessels and the Temple vessels, and th...
“And abundant royal wine.” Later it is written: “[King Belshazzar made a great banquet for his thousand nobles,] and before the thousand he drank wine” (Daniel 5:1); however, here ...
“The drinking was as customary, without coercion, for so did the king establish with all the stewards of his house, to do as every man desired.” (Esther 1:8). “The drinking was as ...
“To do as every man desired.” The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘I do not fulfill the wishes of all My creatures, and you seek “to do as every man desired?”’ The way of the world is...
Rav began: “Woe! He gives drink to his neighbor, amplifies your wrath, and intoxicates him, so that you may look upon their nakedness” (Habakkuk 2:15). “Woe! He gives drink” – that...
“Also, Vashti the queen made a women’s banquet in the royal palace of King Aḥashverosh” (Esther 1:9). Rabbi Yehuda son of Rabbi Simon began: “My people, its oppressors are babes an...
Another interpretation: “Also, Vashti the queen” – Shmuel began: “When they are inflamed, I will set out their banquet [and get them drunk, that they revel and then sleep an endles...
Rabbi Yitzḥak began: “But you did not call Me, Jacob, for you wearied of Me, Israel” (Isaiah 43:22). Rabbi Yoḥanan understood it [the verse in (Isaiah 43:22)] from this, as it is w...
It is written: “You have seen, for You behold mischief and spite; to requite is in Your hand: the helpless man commits himself to You; You are the helper of the orphans” (Psalms 10...
It is written: “From people by Your hand, O Lord, from people from the world [meḥeled ], their portion is in life; Your hidden treasures will fill their bellies; their sons will be...
Another interpretation: “From people [mimtim] by Your hand” – who are these courageous men who took theirs from under the hand of God? And who was that? That was the generation of ...
Another interpretation: “From people by Your hand, O Lord” – how mighty are they who took dominion from under the hand of God. Who is that? That is Nebuchadnezzar. “From people fro...
Another interpretation: “Also, Vashti the queen made a women’s banquet.” Why did Scripture see fit to publicize the banquet of Vashti? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa said: Why to that ex...
“[Also [gam], Vashti the queen] made a women’s banquet,” she fed them kinds of soup [gema’in]. Rabbi Yitzḥak said: She fed them kinds of sweets. “In the royal palace” – she situate...
“On the seventh day, when the king was merry with wine, he said to Mehuman, Bizzeta, Ḥarvona, Bigta, and Avagta, Zetar, and Kharkas, the seven officials who attended King Aḥashvero...
“He said to Mehuman, Bizzeta, Ḥarvona” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: At that moment, the Holy One blessed be He called the angel who is appointed over fury16A reference to the verse: “Quee...
“To bring Queen Vashti before the king with a royal crown, to display her beauty to the peoples and the princes, for she was of fair appearance” (Esther 1:11).Rabbi Aivu said: The ...
“Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's word by means of the officials, and the king was very angry, and his fury burned within him” (Esther 1:12).She sent and said to him thin...
“The king was very angry and his fury burned within him.” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: At that moment, The Holy One blessed be He said to the angel appointed over fury: Descend and blow win...
“The king said to the wise men, those knowledgeable about the times, for so was the practice of the king before those learned in custom and law” (Esther 1:13).Who were they? Rabbi ...
“Those close to him” (Esther 1:14) – they brought the calamity close to themselves. “Karshena” – who was appointed over the vetch3A plant used as animal feed. [karshinin]; “Shetar”...
“The seven princes of Persia and Media” – Rav and Shmuel, Rav said: Scripture is referring to the kingdom of Aḥashverosh, and Shmuel said: Scripture is referring to the kingdom of ...
“Who viewed the face of the king” – there were two families [who had permission] to appear before Rabbi Yehuda haNasi; that of Rabbi Hoshaya, and that of the household of Rabbi Yeh...
“According to the law, what shall be done to Vashti the queen, who has not done the bidding of Aḥashverosh the king [conveyed] by the officials?” (Esther 1:15).Rabbi Yitzḥak said: ...
“Memukhan said before the king and the princes: It is not against the king alone that Vashti the queen has sinned; rather, it is against all the princes and all the peoples who are...
“For the queen’s deed will get out to all the women, making their husbands contemptible in their eyes; that King Aḥashverosh said to bring Queen Vashti before him, but she did not ...
“This day, the ladies of Persia and Media, who have heard of the queen’s deed, will tell it to all the king’s princes, and there will be no end [kedaiy] of humiliation and wrath” (...
“If it please the king, let a royal edict be issued before you, and let it be written into the laws of Persia and Media, so that it cannot be abrogated, that Vashti shall never [ag...
“The king’s decree about what he will do will be heard throughout his entire kingdom, vast as it is, and all wives will give honor to their husbands, from great to small” (Esther 1...
“The matter was pleasing in the eyes of the king and the princes, and the king did as Memukhan had said” (Esther 1:21).He issued the decree and brought in her head on a platter.
“He sent scrolls to all the king’s provinces, to each province in its script, and to each people in its language; for every man to be the ruler in his house, and speak the language...
Rabbi Azarya began: “Do not see wine in its redness, for one who sets his eye on the cup will walk the straight path” (Proverbs 23:31). Rabbi Azarya said: “Do not see wine in its r...
“After these matters, when the fury of king Aḥashverosh had abated, he remembered Vashti and what she had done, and what was decreed against her” (Esther 2:1).“After [aḥar] these m...
“Have the king appoint officials in all the provinces of his kingdom and they will gather every virgin young woman of fair appearance to the Shushan citadel, to the harem, to the c...
“The young woman who will please the king will reign in place of Vashti. The proposal pleased the king and he did so” (Esther 2:4).“The young woman who will please the king” – who ...
“Happy are those who observe the law, who act with righteousness at all times” (Psalms 106:3). They were counted1They assembled to vote to decide matters of halakha. in the loft of...
“There was a Judean man in the Shushan citadel, and his name was Mordekhai, son of Ya'ir, son of Shimi, son of Kish, a Benjamite” (Esther 2:5).“There was a Judean man [ish] in the ...
“Was [haya] [a Judean man in the Shushan citadel]….” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Everyone about whom “haya” is stated, it is he at the beginning and it is he at the end.9 He was righteous ...
“Who had been exiled from Jerusalem with the exile that was exiled with Yekhonya king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylonia exiled” (Esther 2:6).“Who had been exiled from...
“He fostered Hadassa, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother, and the girl was fair and beautiful; and with the death of her father and her mo...
It is written: “And set it in the ears of Joshua” (Exodus 17:14), this is one of four righteous people to whom a portent was given; two sensed it and two did not sense it. A porten...
Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Levi: The Holy One blessed be He said to them, to Israel: You wept and said: “We have become orphans, fatherless” (Lamentations 5:3). By yo...
“On each day, Mordekhai would walk before the courtyard of the harem, to find out how Esther was, and what would be done with her” (Esther 2:11). “On each day, Mordekhai would walk...
“With the arrival of the turn of Esther, daughter of Aviḥayil uncle of Mordekhai, who had taken her as his daughter, to go to the king, she did not request anything except that whi...
