This week we continued our exploration of the book of Esther, from which we get the tale we read during our raucous Purim celebration. As was mentioned last week, the setting of the story is historically plausible and would have had resonance with the original audience. But the details of the story are not historically plausible, so a better categorization for the story is historical fiction.
Our Scholar-in-Residence, Professor David Sperling, earned his Ph.D. in Ancient Semitic Languages. From his deep trove of knowledge, he shared information about the named king in the story: King Ahasuerus. Ahasuerus is not a known king in Persian history, leading some people to believe the book of Esther is entirely fictional and has no historical basis. However, keeping in mind that the Torah scrolls do not have vowels, an argument can be made that the consonants in the name Ahasuerus are very close to the consonants in Khshayarsha, a known Persian king from c. 518–c. 465 BCE. When the scholar-scribes—known as the Masoretes—added vowels, they sometimes made a best-guess at the pronunciation of certain names, especially those names that had fallen out of style. Still, they made an effort by keeping the consonants the same or at least similar. The Greeks, in contrast, just assigned a whole new name to this king: Xerxes. This is not evidence that the story found in the book of Esther is historically accurate, only that it is historically plausible. And Rabbi Jaech was quick to point out that the king more widely known today as Xerxes the Great was certainly not the buffoon that our Purim spiel paints King Ahasuerus to be.
The story reflects values of the times in which they were written. Reading a story about young virgin women being paraded before the king so he can take his pick likely makes our skin may crawl, and it may grate against us today. Rabbi Jaech reminds us that the biblical stories span the human spectrum from the basest of instincts to the most sublime. As Reform Jews we approach the text with our modern minds to find what, if anything, deserves our further attention and what we can reject as being unaligned with our modern sensibilities.
Last week we learned that the opening chapter of the book of Esther has King Ahasuerus calling for Queen Vashti to appear before him, but she refuses. Fearing that all the women in the kingdom will follow Vashti’s lead and disobey their husbands, the king follows the advice of his advisors and banishes Vashti.
In chapter 2, the king finds himself alone. The king’s servants suggest that all the “beautiful young virgins be sought out . . . And let the maiden who pleases Your Majesty be queen” (Esther 2:2-4). One of the young virgins was the “shapely and beautiful” Esther (Esther 2:7), the niece of Mordecai. Mordecai was a Jew whose family was sent into exile by the Babylonians in 586 BCE (Esther 2:6).
According to the historian Herodotus (c. 484–c. 425), when a Persian king was ready to take a wife, an “all-call” would not have been issued to the kingdom. Rather, a wife would be chosen from among the daughters of Persian noble families.
The Babylonians forced community leaders, including noble people, into exile. By telling us that Mordecai’s family was forcibly exiled, the writer lets us know that he is from a well-regarded Jewish family. In fact, we are given the detail that Mordecai is the great-grandson of a Benjaminite named Kish (Esther 2:5-6). In another part of the Bible, we learn that another offspring of Kish was Saul—the first king of Israel (1 Samuel 9:1-2).
Before answering the call to appear at court, Mordecai advises Esther not to reveal that she is Jewish (Esther 2:10). Once inside, Mordecai does not simply abandon Esther to the king. He “would walk about in front of the court of the harem, to learn how Esther was faring and what was happening to her (Esther 2:11). Inside the palace, one of the guards looked kindly upon Esther and made sure she was well cared for (Esther 2:9). Each of the young virgins was given a full year of pampering and beautifying and then, one-by-one, was summoned to spend a night with the king. The king would only call back a woman who had captured his interest (Esther 2: 12-14). Esther was a woman who “won the admiration of all who saw her” (Esther 2:15), including the king! King Ahasuerus “loved Esther more than all the other women . . . So he set a royal diadem on her head and made her queen” (Esther 2:17).
We will be told in the next paragraph that Mordecai “sat in the palace gate” (Esther 2:19). The “gate” was not a modest entryway. It was a significant structure of the fortress where people were assigned to work. By telling us that Mordecai sat at the gate, the audience understands that he has an important position, likely one that comes with an window where he is able to watch the comings and goings of the royal city. It is unlikely that people did not know Mordecai was Jewish, making it unlikely that everyone did not already know Esther was Jewish. Here, we need to suspend disbelief.
In addition to making the women more attractive to the king, the one year of pampering would ensure that the women were not already pregnant before coming to court.
The description of the group of women, or harem members, trying to catch the king’s eye is based on reality. The 1st century BCE historian Diodorus of Sicily relates that the women of Alexander the Great’s harem would parade in front of him each night, so that he would select one with whom to spend the night. This part of the story also lets us know that Esther was quite a looker!
Part of the pampering process included beautifying with myrrh for six months (Esther 2:12). The Song of Songs is a collection of erotic love poetry (no matter what anyone else tries to convince you of). Passages 3:16, 4:6, 5:1 specify that myrrh is used while making love. As does Proverbs (7:17). It is indisputable that the pampering process for these young virgins was part of leading up to having sex with the king.
The final paragraph of chapter 2 tells us that, while sitting at the gate, Mordecai overheard two guards who were angry with Ahasuerus and plotted to kill him. Mordecai warned Esther of the plot, who then warned the king. Because Esther told the king that her uncle’s role as informant, both Esther and Mordecai are in the king’s good graces.
As has been noted several times on this blog, the Judaism we practice today is not the Judaism of the Torah with its sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem. Instead, the Judaism we practice today was developed by our ancient Rabbis. How did those Rabbis explain the fact that a nice, Jewish girl was went willingly to the bed of a king who worshipped a different god? It is understood that transgressions that preserve life are forgiven, but not in the case of idol worship or forbidden sexual relations. In the case of Esther, according to the Rabbis, she is forgiven for having relations with Ahasuerus because, during sex, Esther was as a “woman who is passive and merely submits” (Sanhedrin 74 a/b). The Rabbis are telling us that, since she did not enjoy sex with the king, she gets a pass. Rabbi Jaech pointed out that there is nothing in the biblical text to suggest that Esther did not enjoy sex with the king, or that the king did not enjoy sex with Esther.
The blog is Tara Keiter’s interpretation of the Temple Israel of Northern Westchester Torah Study session. Misquotes or misunderstandings in what Rabbi Jaech taught are the responsibility of Tara Keiter.