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Michael Lifts Esther's Hand to the Scepter

Gabriel threw the king of Persia out of his own bed three hundred and sixty-five times in one night, whispering the same sentence into his ear each time.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Hand That Would Not Rise
  2. Half the Kingdom, and One Thing Not in It
  3. God Broke the Seal
  4. Michael Took the King's Sleep
  5. Three Hundred and Sixty-Five Times on the Floor

Esther had gone three days without bread and three days without water, and now she had to walk into a room where the wrong step killed people.

Michael Lifts Esther's Hand to the Scepter Click for full size

She put on the royal clothes. Silk covers a lot. It does not put anything back.

The Hand That Would Not Rise

The inner court of Ahasuerus had one law and everyone in Susa knew it. You do not come in uncalled. The exception was the golden scepter. If the king held it out, you lived, and to live you had to reach it and touch the tip.

Esther crossed the floor. The king looked up and did not call the guards. He extended the scepter.

She could not lift her arm.

The fast had taken it. Not her nerve, which had carried her the length of the room, but the plain muscular business of raising a hand, which requires food. The court had a queen standing very still in front of it. It had no idea what was happening inside her sleeve. A few inches of gold, a decree against her whole people, and an arm that would not answer.

Michael answered instead.

He did not split the ceiling. He drew her near it, near enough that her fingers came down on the gold. The scepter did what scepters do. She lived.

Half the Kingdom, and One Thing Not in It

The king spoke first, and he was not stupid about it. "I see thou must have a most important request to prefer, else thou hadst not risked thy life deliberately." Nobody walks into that room starving to discuss the household accounts.

"I am ready to give it thee," he said, "even to the half of the kingdom."

Then he named the one thing that was not in the half.

"There is but one petition I cannot grant, and that is the restoration of the Temple." He had sworn it, he said, to Geshem the Arabian, Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the Ammonite. Three men had gotten to him first, and what they had bought with that oath was his fear. If the Jews had that house again, he said, they would rise up against him.

So the offer was half a kingdom minus the only acre that mattered. Esther heard it and did not spend her turn. She asked for a dinner, and she asked that Haman be brought to it.

God Broke the Seal

The decree against the Jews had been fixed above as well as below. Sealed, and filed.

What moved it was not an argument. It was the children. God looked at the innocent little ones standing inside the sentence, and compassion came, and He broke the seal that held the heavenly decree shut and tore the decree itself into pieces.

Nothing in Susa changed that night. The couriers had already ridden. Haman still had the king's ring on his hand and a gallows going up in his yard. The only difference was that the thing which had been fastened was now loose, and it had to work its way down.

Michael Took the King's Sleep

It came down as insomnia.

God sent Michael, who leads the hosts of Israel, and gave him a small assignment for so large an angel. Keep sleep off Ahasuerus. Not forever. One night.

The most comfortable bed in the empire, in the most heavily guarded room in the empire, and the man in it could not go under. Every time the dark started to close, it opened again.

Three Hundred and Sixty-Five Times on the Floor

Then Gabriel came down and stopped being subtle.

He threw the king out of his bed onto the floor. Ahasuerus climbed back in. Gabriel threw him out again. Three hundred and sixty-five times in one night the king of Persia and Media hit the boards of his own bedchamber, and every single time, close against his ear, the same sentence.

"O thou ingrate. Reward him who deserves to be rewarded."

He never learned whose voice it was. He learned only that lying down had stopped working. Somewhere before morning he gave up and called for the book of records to be read aloud to him, because a sleepless king will listen to anything, and the scribe reading aloud came to a page about a man named Mordecai who had reported a plot against the throne and been given nothing for it.

Haman was already outside in the court, waiting for the doors to open, with a request about a gallows.

EstherAngelsPurimRedemptionAhasuerus
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From the tradition

Sources

2 sources

The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Legends of the Jews 12:196Legends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909) · Public Domain

After Haman's wicked plot to annihilate the Jews was set in motion, sealed with a heavenly decree, things seemed pretty bleak. But the Almighty, blessed be He, wasn't about to let that happen.

The Megillah, the Scroll of Esther, tells us the story of Esther and Mordechai, but it only hints at the celestial drama unfolding behind the scenes. It just says that the king couldn’t sleep. But the midrashim (rabbinic interpretive commentary), those beautiful rabbinic interpretations and expansions of the biblical text, fill in the gaps and show us the full picture.

In Legends of the Jews, drawing from various midrashic sources, God’s compassion was stirred by the plight of Israel, especially thinking of the innocent children who would suffer. And so, God intervened. The text says He broke the seal on that terrible decree of annihilation and tore it to shreds.

How to set things in motion on Earth? That’s where the angels come in. Michael, the leader of the heavenly host of Israel, was dispatched to keep sleep far from Ahasuerus’s eyes. Imagine trying to get some shut-eye with Michael the Archangel standing guard, making sure you stay awake!

But that’s not all! Gabriel, another powerful archangel, descended as well. And, get this, he threw the king out of his bed – not once, not twice, but a whopping three hundred and sixty-five times! As Ginzberg retells it in Legends of the Jews, Gabriel continually whispered in the king's ear, "O thou ingrate, reward him who deserves to be rewarded."

Talk about divine intervention! It’s like a cosmic wake-up call, designed to shake Ahasuerus out of his complacency and make him realize the injustice that was about to be perpetrated.

Now, we might ask: why such dramatic measures? Why not just tell the king directly? Well, the midrashim often highlight the idea that God works in mysterious ways. Sometimes, the most effective way to change someone's heart is to create a situation where they are forced to confront the truth themselves. And a king deprived of sleep, tormented by nagging whispers and being tossed from his bed, is certainly in a state ripe for a change of heart!

This story reminds us that even when things seem hopeless, there might be unseen forces working on our behalf. The Megillah focuses on the actions of Esther and Mordechai, their courage and cleverness. But behind their efforts, according to the tradition, was a divine hand, arranging events in ways we can only begin to imagine.

So, the next time you have a sleepless night, remember Ahasuerus. Maybe, just maybe, there's an angel whispering in your ear, nudging you towards a better path. Or perhaps it's simply a reminder that even in the darkest of times, hope remains.

Full source
Legends of the Jews 12:184Legends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909) · Public Domain

The familiar story centers on Purim. But have you ever stopped to think about the sheer physical and emotional toll it must have taken on her?

In Legends of the Jews, Ginzberg's masterful retelling of rabbinic lore, Esther was so weakened by her extended fast – a fast undertaken in solidarity with her people and in preparation for this fateful meeting – that she literally lacked the strength to even reach out and touch the king's scepter. You've built up all your courage, you've prepared yourself spiritually, but your body just… fails.

So, how did she manage? Did she collapse in despair? Not quite.

The archangel Michael himself intervened. Michael, one of the most powerful angels, had to actually draw her closer to the scepter. Think about the imagery there! It wasn't just about physical strength; it was a moment of divine assistance, a reminder that even when we're at our weakest, we are not alone.

And what of Ahasuerus? He recognizes the gravity of the situation. He sees Esther's distress, her sacrifice. "I see," he says, "thou must have a most important request to prefer, else thou hadst not risked thy life deliberately." He’s even willing to give her half his kingdom! That’s some serious royal generosity… or maybe just a sign of how captivated he was by Esther.

But then comes the kicker. There's one thing, just one thing, he can't grant: the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem. Why? Because he made a promise – an oath – to Geshem the Arabian, Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the Ammonite. He feared that a rebuilt Temple would incite the Jews to rebel against him.

It highlights the complex political landscape of the time, the delicate balance of power, and the ever-present tension between the Jewish people and the surrounding empires. It also emphasizes that even the most powerful rulers are often bound by their own commitments and fears.

So, what does this little story within the bigger Purim story tell us? Maybe it’s about the power of perseverance, even when we feel utterly depleted. Maybe it’s about the importance of divine assistance in our moments of greatest need. Or maybe it's a reminder that even the most powerful people are constrained by their own limitations.

Whatever your takeaway, it's a powerful reminder that even in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, hope – and a little help from above – can make all the difference.

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