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Despite the close bond they had, they remained uncle and niece and were not married. This makes Esther 60 years younger than her cousin Mordecai. The spirit of divine inspiration descended on Esther shortly before she went to Ahasuerus, thus leading to her inclusion in the list of the seven women prophets(BTMegillah14a; 15a). And lest you think I am making an argument about gendered skills (i.e., what women do vs. what men do), the following from the late biblical scholar Tikva Frymer-Kensky is noteworthy: With these two queens, the Torah and Jewish history model another way of being successful in the world, both for men and women. Kings David and Solomon had many wives, some more influential than others, but they are never represented as ruling in their husbands stead. Esther, heroine and central figure in the Book of Esther of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The Queen was the oldest monarch to have reigned in Britain before she passed away in September 2022, aged 96. Am Yisrael Chai To hide her identity as a Jew, he tells her to go by the name of Esther. As early as 1215, Rabbi Menachem Ha-Hevroni wrote that while visiting the Galilee, he came across the tomb of Queen Esther, "who, during her lifetime, had instructed her son Cyrus to bring her there [for burial]". The verse (5:1) Esther put on royal apparel is interpreted as her assuming the spirit of prophecy (BTMegillahloc. You, O Father of orphans, stand at the right hand of this orphan, who trusts in Your compassion. Esther was ready to endanger herself and even to give her life to save her people, who therefore are called her people (4:8): to plead with him for her people(Ex. After an exhilarating victory, they declared the following day a holiday and (alluding to the lots Haman had cast) named it Purim, which is Hebrew for lots.. someone died doesn't mean they didn't exist. Given things for purification (Esther 2:9). Esther took place or at the very least was too young to remember 49). This tradition results from the desire to equate Esthers age with that of Abraham when he left his native land forThe Land of IsraelErez Israel upon Gods command. The Jews were well acquainted with the command of God, which stated that they must not bow down to false gods nor to those enemies of God who idolized them. Just as the myrtle is sweet-smelling but has a bitter taste, so Esther was sweet to Ahasuerus, but bitter to Haman (Esth. He became King of Persia in 485BC at the age of 33. This means she had been married to the king for approximately 40 years at the time of her death. Esther was born about 492BC and was 14 when she became Queen. She overtook Queen. The bleeding jar in Esthers story is significant because of the deep symbolism behind it. She was the wife of the Persian King Xerxes [aka "Ahasuerus" in many Bibles] who ruled Persia from 486 to 465 BC. tradition is that Queen Esther's tomb is in Hamadan, also known as In another exposition, she was given this name by the Gentiles, after the celestial body Istahar (BTLit. Anyway, there's no record of whether Esther was Other problems that also call into question the story's reliability include Mordecai being identified as sent into exile by Nebuchadnezzar - an event that must have place over a century before Xerxes assumed power. The monarch of Persia, King Ahasuerus, was wealthy and powerful. She was crowned about 55 years after the destruction of the First Temple, and fifteen years before the Second Temple was built. If her queenship was unprecedented in the second temple period, it was not unprecedented in the Jewish imaginationQueen Esther had made it possible to imagine a Jewish queen positively. Her jar represented her strength and her resilience and gives a powerful message of hope to all those facing oppression. Nonetheless, in the very same document in which the rabbis rule out the possibility of Jewish queens, the rabbis remember Queen Shelamzion Alexandra quite favorably. Esther was given seven maids to serve her in the harem; the Rabbis comment that she used them in order to count the seven days of the week [to know when the Sabbath fell, so that she could observe it even in the harem]. When Esther sought to deliver up Haman, she revealed her identity as a Jew in the act. The Jews honored God and knew that one should not bow down to Haman, or any of his gods, for it was a sign of idolatry and would directly break the command of God. The Book of Esther tells of Esther marrying King Ahasuerus of Persia and therefore becoming his queen. point). Yes, Mordechai was indeed Esthers cousin. Instead, Haman was hanged, and the Jews were given permission to destroy their enemies. Save the flock of Your pasture from these foes who have arisen against us, for nothing prevents You from winning a victory by many or by few. The combined symptoms in Esther signify that she was suffering from a serious psychiatric illness, but the precise diagnosis remains unclear. The regimen of rituals, songs and textual readings performed in a specific order on the first two nights (in Israel, on the first night) of Passover. Omissions? [8]Once there, she does not plead for help but carefully petitions the king, setting in motion a plan to undermine Haman and save the Jewish people.[9]. 16 September 2012. [12] Ilan, Esther, Judith and Susanna as Propaganda for Shelamzions Queenship,Integrating Women, 135. Although the Bible One tradition asserts that Esther used a resorbent, that is, she employed a contraceptive device to prevent any pregnancy by Ahasuerus. She never forgot her cousin Mordecai and she never forgot that she was one of God's children. Lit. Mordecai and Esther respond to this that the story in the Book of Esther was already recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Media and Persia(Esth. One day he overheard a conspiracy between two of the king's guards who wanted to assassinate Xerxes. [11] According to the colophon to Greek Esther, a delegation of Jews from Jerusalem went to Egypt with the translation of the story of Megillat Esther and asked the Jews of Alexandria to begin celebrating the festival of Purim. Mordecai held a position inside of the king's palace, and he went their every day to perform his duties. 10:3) was able to have interceded for the welfare of all his kindred (Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer, chap. Her reign lasted less than a decade but still longer than a two-term presidency. Princess Margaret, the Queen's younger sister, was born in 1930. On March 30, 2002, the Queen Mother died aged 101 years and 238 days old. Wake up to the day's most important news. cit.). Since the king had commanded Haman to have Mordecai dressed in the kings clothes, Esther ordered the bathing attendants not to work that day, so that Haman would be forced to serve Mordecai himself (Lev. Designation of the five scrolls of the Bible (Ruth, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther). Rachel is first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in Genesis 29 when Jacob happens upon her as she is about to water her father's flock. [12] Queen Shelamzion Alexandra certainly stood to benefit from Esthers precedent. Her son Charles, 73, is now king. them clearly. However, just because you don't know when An orphan raised by her uncle, young Esther was taken against her will as a beautiful virgin to Persian King Ahasuerus's harem. She reigned in the first century BCE, sixty years after the Hasmoneans achieved independence from the Seleucid Empire and a few decades before King Herod. Rabbah8:3). Three ministering angels were appointed to aid her at that moment: one made her head erect, one endowed her with charm, and one stretched out the scepter(BTMegillah15b). The recitation of Megillat Esther during the topsy-turvy holiday of Purim can distract us from the serious side of this story and Queen Esthers example. Theodor-Albeck], MS. Vatican, para. They were in no way penalized for being ruled over by a queen rather than a king.[5]. The day before, the 96-year-old queen pulled out of a virtual Privy Council meeting after her doctors advised her to rest. King Xerxes: King Xerxes married Esther when he was 41 years old. Seeing the Letter Tet in a Dream: 9th Anniversary, Study the Torah with Academic Scholarship, By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use, Jewish Queens: From the Story of Esther to the History of Shelamzion, https://thetorah.com/article/jewish-queens-from-the-story-of-esther-to-the-history-of-shelamzion. But to approach the king without being summoned was not only illegal, but it could very well result in death for impertinence. These actions demonstrated the kings respect and admiration for Esther and earned her the loyalty of her people. This book therefore has the same sanctity as the other books of Scripture. The Book of Esther reports that when Esther learned that Mordecai was wearing sackcloth, the queen was greatly agitated (4:4). Who is Jason crabb mother and where is she? 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. During Jacob's stay, he fell in love with Rachel . For the name of Esther, a number of etymologies are possible.1) Esther comes from the Persian "setareh," meaning "star".2) Esther comes from the Aramaic "istahar," meaning "moon." Updates? Ahasuerus consulted with Mordecai how to discover Esthers secret, and Mordecai advised him to arouse Esthers jealousy by inviting other women to him, thus motivating her to disclose her secret (BT Megillah 13a). Historians say there never was a Queen Vashti of Persia. Her thoughts are characterized by pressured speech, disorganized thought processes, confusion, and paranoia. The story of the underdog, of the weaker winning against the stronger, is the quintessential biblical and Jewish theme, but it is not often that Israel is figuredliterarily or in realityas a woman and still praised as pious, divinely appointed, and beloved.[13]. In this article: Her Name Early Life Palace Life Esther and Mordechai Save the King's Life The Rabbis perceived this going as having sexual connotations, which therefore had tragic consequences for Esther and for Mordecai(BTMegillah16a; see below: Esther Comes to the Rescue of Her People). Esther: A Queen Under Control. Why did she stay with him, rather than restart her life? A teacher walks into the Classroom and says If only Yesterday was Tomorrow Today would have been a Saturday Which Day did the Teacher make this Statement? 464 BC. In Shelamzions period, there were no precedents for powerful queens in Judeanot unless one counts Jezebel, the most notorious queen in Israelite history, or her daughter Athaliah. Do you, or does someone you know, demonstrate the same total commitment to a mission, even at the cost of sacrificing personal happiness? Rabbah15:6). She became the new wife of the king when his . How old was Queen Elizabeth II when she died? He was a Jew living in the Persian city of Susa, and he became a prime minister in the Persian court of King Ahasuerus. Esther was a good queen. Esther remained passive and allowed the King to rape her repeatedly. 2:7). Like the moon, that is born after thirty days, Esther, too, said(Esth. That being said, [1] In preparation for Purim and the reading of Megillat Esther, the story of this forgotten Jewish queen is worth recounting. No biblical law specifies that only men can reign, although hundreds of years after Shelamzions reign, the rabbis of would interpret Deuteronomy 17:14, which states You will set a king over you as a king, not a queen (Sifre Deuteronomy 157).[3]. The king did not believe in God but Esther did. In contrast, the BT also cites a tradition that Esther had a greenish [sallow] complexion, and therefore was called Hadassah; according to this tradition, Ahasuerus was drawn to her because she was endowed with great charm (BTMegillahloc. Verily, I seek Your mercy from window to window in the house of Ahasuerus. The Queen died in the afternoon of September 8, 2022. How old was The Queen Mother when she died? Esther also spoke of her merit for observing the womens commandments of the taking ofDuring the Temple period, the dough set aside to be given to the priests. Lit. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered flags at the Capitol to be flown at half-staff following the queen's death. She received her Ph.D. in religion from Princeton University. 10:2). 482 BC, so Daniel had likely been dead for about 25 years at this The night of their union, Ahasuerus loved Esther "above all women" and made her the Persian Empire's Queen. Another angel pushed Haman onto Esthers couch (BTMegillahloc. Nevertheless, this must not have an easy decision for her; just one generation before her, the wife of the Hasmonean King John Hyrcanus was starved to death by her son when she tried to remain queen. Lastly, Mordecai helped the Jews to establish their rights, which became to be known as the Purim festival. The Queen was the oldest monarch to have reigned in Britain before she passed away in September 2022, aged 96. Also called the "Festival of Mazzot"; the "Festival of Spring"; Pesah.Passover. cit.). Mordecai is promoted to the second highest ranking position in the empire, and Esther is given control of the household of Haman. Once upon a time a Jewish queen ruled the land. The. In addition, she serves as an example of how to effectively use your voice and influence to make a difference. [13] The analogy of Israel to a sinful adulteress in the prophets is more prominent. We need to put the Book of Esther into an historical context to better understand Esther's choice. As a result, the King promoted Mordechai to a high position in the court.