“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 customary, without coercion” – in accordance with the custom of each place. There is a place where people wish to eat and then to drink, and there is a place where one drinks and then eats. According to the custom of every nation; like those Kutites, who do not drink wine from wineskins, they brought them wine in earthenware vessels. “Without coercion” – undiluted wine; Rav said: “Without coercion” – [no one was coerced] to drink wine of libation. Rabbi Binyamin Bar Levi said: There was no coercion [to drink] with a large goblet, because there [in Persia] they would drink excessively; therefore, there was no coercion to drink from a large goblet.15It was customary for Persians to drink from an unusually large cup. “For so did the king establish [yissad]” – Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: Come and see the comfort of that wicked one, as his house was ornamented [meyusad] with jewels and pearls. “With all the stewards of his house” – to arrange for the prominent subjects of the kingdom, so each and every one of them would be able to enjoy himself with his children and the members of his household.