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“Our fathers have sinned, and are no more; and we have suffered their iniquities” (Lamentations 5:7).“Our fathers have sinned, and are no more.” The Holy One blessed be He said to ...
“Our skin burns like an oven due to fear of famine” (Lamentations 5:10).“Our skin burns like an oven.” Two amora’im, one said: Like those sun-withered dates; and one said: Like an ...
“Princes were hanged by their hand; the elders were not shown deference” (Lamentations 5:12).“Princes were hanged by their hand.” There was a government steward who entered the cit...
“The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music” (Lamentations 5:14).“The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music.” They ceased playi...
“For You have despised us, You have been exceedingly angry with us” (Lamentations 5:22).“For You have despised us, You have been exceedingly angry with us.” Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish...
“It was during the days of Aḥashverosh; that [hu] Aḥashverosh; that [hu] Aḥashverosh who reigned from India to Kush, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces” (Esther 1:1).1What foll...
“It was during the days of Aḥashverosh…” Rabbi Levi and the Rabbis, Rabbi Levi said: Aḥashverosh is Artaḥshasta. The Rabbis say: [He was called] Aḥashverosh, since anyone who remem...
Another matter: “One hundred and twenty-seven provinces” – Rabbi Yuda and Rabbi Neḥemya: Rabbi Yuda said: He conquered seven that were as difficult as twenty; he conquered twenty t...
“The elite of Persia and Media:” It is taught in the name of Rabbi Natan about these ten measures: There are ten portions of licentiousness in the world, nine in Alexandria and one...
Another matter: “The elite of Persia and Media” – sometimes Media precedes Persia and sometimes Persia precedes Media. When the throne is in Media, Persia is secondary to it; when ...
The fool vents all his spirit, and the wise will soothe it, restraining it” (Proverbs 29:11). “The fool vents all his spirit” – this is Aḥashverosh; “and the wise will soothe it, k...
“One hundred and eighty days” – the last day was like the first day. There was an incident involving a certain man whose name was Barbohin. Our Sages went to him regarding matters ...
“In the courtyard of the garden of the king's palace” – Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya: Rabbi Yehuda said: The garden was on the outside and the courtyard on the inside. Rabbi Neḥe...
“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 ...
“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...
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...
“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 ...
“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 ...
“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...
“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 ...
“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...
“Esther was taken to King Ahashverosh, to his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tevet, in the seventh year of his reign” (Esther 2:16). “Esther was taken [vat...
“The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and grace in his eyes more than all the virgins. He set the royal crown on her head, and made her queen in place...
“The matter was investigated, and it was revealed; the two of them were hanged on a gibbet and it was recorded in the book of chronicles before the king” (Esther 2:23).“The matter ...
“After these matters, King Aḥashverosh promoted Haman son of Hamedata the Agagite, and he raised him up and set his seat above all the princes who were with him” (Esther 3:1).“Afte...
Another interpretation: “After these matters” – it is written: “Though his haughtiness ascends to the heavens” – to the heights; “and his head reaches to the clouds”– the clouds2Th...
“It was contemptible in his eyes to lay hands on Mordekhai alone, for they had told him of Mordekhai’s people; Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were in the whole kingdom o...
“Haman said to King Aḥashverosh: There is one people that is scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from every peo...
“The king said to Haman: The silver is given to you, and the people are yours to do with them as you see fit” (Esther 3:11).“The king said to Haman: The silver [hakesef] is given t...
“The king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written in accordance with everything that Haman had commanded the king’s satraps, and the go...
“And in each and every province, any place where the word of the king and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews” (Esther 4:3).Is there great mourning and mino...
“Mordekhai told him everything that had befallen him [karahu]” (Esther 4:7). He said to Hatakh: ‘Tell her that the descendant of karahu6Amalek, the subject of the verse in (Deutero...
“It was on the third day, Esther donned royalty and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, facing the king’s palace, while the king was sitting on his royal throne in the t...
“Haman said: ‘Indeed, Queen Esther gave a feast and besides the king she did not bring anyone but me. And tomorrow too I am invited by her along with the king” (Esther 5:12).“Haman...
“Mordekhai returned to the king’s gate and Haman hastened home, mourning and covering his head” (Esther 6:12). Mordekhai returned to the king’s gate; [this phrase] teaches that he ...
Mordekhai returned to the king’s gate and Haman hastened home, mourning and covering his head” (Esther 6:12) – Mourning for his daughter, and covering his head because of what had ...
“Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had befallen him. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him: If Mordekhai, before whom you have begun to fall, is...
“The king rose in his fury from the wine banquet to the palace garden and Haman stood to plead for his life from Esther the queen, for he saw that the king has resolved to do him h...
The prophet Amos described a man who fled from a lion, only to be attacked by a bear, and when he finally made it home and leaned against the wall, a snake bit him (Amos 5:19). The...
Cyrus, king of Persia, began with one of the most generous decrees in biblical history. He ended with one of the most foolish. Esther Rabbah traces exactly where his words went wro...
