Parshat Tetzaveh - Purim 5773

7/29/2019 Parshat Tetzaveh - Purim 5773

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Parshat Tetzaveh Erev Purim 5773

Rabbi Shaanan Gelman

Regular Joe, For a Day

Everyone knows that the moment of truth when Esther discloses her

true identity to Achashveirosh is a critical moment for both Esther and

the Jews of Persia. But why didnt she tell him from the beginning? It is

not typical of a married couple to hold back on such secrets1!

Malbim notes that in the opening Chapter of the Megila, Vashtis title is

constantly changing from (""") to ("") .

Furthermore, asks the Malbim, why is it at all important to know that

Vashti made a feast? All of this seems irrelevant to the story which is

the execution of Vashti and therefore the need to replace her with

Esther.

A number of other peculiar details are found in the opening story:

She is brought involuntarily by the who are given names,why must we know their names?

Why was this viewed as such a disgrace to her, such that sheelected to be executed (or what was near certain to be a death

sentence) rather than appear before her king?

the words are seemingly out of place, why

not say: ?

1Furthermore, why didnt Achashveirosh press Esther for further information? As Rabbi Dvovid Fohrman asks in

his book The Queen You Thought You Knew, one would have assumed that at some point it would come up in

conversation!


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Why when refuses to come does the verse say "" , what is the point of the

words "" ?

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Before I present to you The Malbims answers to these questions, somebackground is necessary. How did Achashveirosh come to power?

Furthermore, who is Vashti and why does she act as if she has the

option to deny the Kings request?

The Malbim provides the following contextual and historical gloss:


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In ancient times, be it in Egypt, Persia, Media or Babylonia, there

existed two ways in which a King would come to power:

1) The nation would elect him as the King, or

2) He would come to power by way of war, conquering a piece of land.

The first method had its limitations; the King would have to consult

advisors when enacting certain decrees, when issuing taxes or when

declaring war upon another country. The second method was generally

considered as existing without any limits, a King who came to power by

force does not have boundaries to his power. The treasury would be at

his disposal, there would be no minister of finance, and when it came

to the law, the King was Judge Jury and Executioner.

Which type of monarchy did the King of Persia run?

Achashveiroshs beginnings were far more humble than one might

assume, he began quite small, eventually through his wealth he ruled

over Media and Persia, and ultamately he came to conquer all 127

provinces to make up his empire. Initially though, those conquests

were not set in stone, after all the provinces may have technically been

under in his jurisdiction but they remained under the influence of the

.

After capturing those many cities and provinces, he performed an act

which was intended to solidify the empire under his rule; he married

Vashti, a descendent and heiress to Nevuchadnezzer, King of Babylonia.

Through her, he had hoped, the entire kingdom would fall into the

hands of Achashveirosh.


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In arguing that that Achashveiroshs rule was not absolute, Malbim

points to the fact that until this point in history the official

was situated in but by wedding the was moved to

:

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"",

,"",

". ,,,,,"

,,,,,,,",

",

",,

,,,

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This, explains the Malbim, is the meaning of "

" , that in the beginning he was not a king,

but rather a ruler of provinces.

",'"


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He had hoped people would forget his modest origins and would come

to see him as the absolute and sole authority figure. But his rise to

power came about too quickly, and the people couldnt quite come to

terms with the fact that this you child had ascended to such heights.

",,,

"

But all of this presents Achashveirosh with a serious problem. The King

realizes that his true rise to greatness was not the product of his own

making; rather it was only achieved by dint of his illustrious and well-

heeled spouse.

And so, something had to be done to solidify his newfound power

under his name as opposed to his wife:

Achashveirosh elects to have a feast in the third year of his reign. Some

historians point out that this was in fact his (celebrating his

marriage to Vashti). Others still suggest that this feast was intended as

a public declaration of his dominion over the world. He therefore uses

it as an opportunity to show off his wealth to the other leaders. At the

feast there is a contest of sorts which arises:

; ,

And while the king is busy flexing his muscles the men become

increasingly more intoxicated as the level of the conversation descends

to the point of decadence and lewdness. Achashveirosh now opines

my wife is more beautiful than anyone elses queen.


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Why does he invite his wife to appear in such a manner? Because he

wants to reduce Vashti to a beautiful woman, and wants to strip her,

literally, of any other virtue she may have. What makes her great is not

her wealth or her lineage, rather, her good looks!

By reducing her to a piece of eye candy Achashveirosh hopes to

solidify his position in the world, and to allay his inner most fear, that

everything he has and has ever accomplished is on account of his wifes

family:

"""

And so, we can now appreciate the fact that Achashveirosh must

constantly confer with his advisors before making a ruling afterall,

Achashveirosh did not have complete control because his power was

merely the by-product of a marriage!

If only he can alter that image, and make it seem like Vashti was his

conquest and not his prize, then Achashveirosh would be able to

impress the other boys at his party and rule with authority!

,,"

",,",

,",

,


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The plan would have been perfect, if only Vashti had acquiesced. But,

alas, she denies him and with a little bit of clever scheming on behalf of

, Achashveirosh is left with no choice but to remove Vashti as the

Queen.

With this in mind we can now answer the questions we laid out in the

beginning:

Why does the Megila sometimes refer to her as and other

times as ?

Whenever the King wishes to demean her he refers to her as

, implying that she is Vashti, who happens to be the Queen.

When she exhibits independence from her King, she is referred to as

, such as her refusal to appear:

, , ,

Here she is first and foremost the Queen, and is only referred to

secondly by her proper name.

,,,",,

,,,

,,,

,,,

",:


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He attempts to humiliate her and subdue her by asking her to wear his

crown.

He asks that she don the crownso as to say Vashti is my queen, she

is important because of my role, and not the other way around:

()

:

And this is why we find such a peculiar emphasis on " " (Before

the King) as well as - she was not

only asked to subdue herself and her familys prestige to the will of her

husband, but she was beckoned by the eunuchs, a most shameful form

of messenger, not befitting of a Queen2.

In Chapter 2, Achashveirosh finds himself a new wife, Esther, in hopes

that she will be the new and improved Vashti, with no allegiances and

no prestige of her own, and he takes her and makes her wear the

crown, the ultimate symbol of dominance and subjugation, the very

item Vashti refused to wear:

()

:2

Later on when Haman is beckoned to the second feast and Achashveirosh has his suspicions about him, he is also

called to the Kings court by the .


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()

:

Mordechai, understanding that this was critical to the decision making

process of Achashveirosh (having either seen or heard second hand

about the spectacle with Vashti) advises Esther not to tell the King

anything about her past, not just because of a fear of anti-Semitism but

because Achashveirosh needs to feel like he is in power and no other

foreign voices are bearing influence on his government3.

() :

Mordechai new that Axhashveirosh was fragile in this department, that

he couldnt handle a woman who had anything else important in her

life accept for perfume and wearing her husbands crown!

Weak leaders cant handle being around other people with talent, they

cant stand it when they are not at the center of everyones world and

they are intimidated by the success of their peers.

3Rabbi Fohrman goes one step further and reasons that it is entirely possible that he knew Esther was Jewish, but

this was fine with him, so long as she didnt deem her ancestry important.

But all of this comes to a crashing halt when Esther is forced to disclose her big secret. And we can further

appreciate why Esther was so frightened to reveal her l ineagenot because Achashveirosh wasnt aware, but

rather because their entire marriage was founded upon the assumption that it didnt matter to Esther.

Rabbi Fohrman describes Esther as Mother Persia, suddenly she expresses a dual loyalty this to Achashveirosh

is the most frightening thing of all.

It is also what Haman warns against there is a nation amongst us who is

different than us, a 5th

column who has differing customs and laws! Perhaps, they may come to ignore your laws

and not pay your taxes!?


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We find this in work and in our community people are insecure and

feel threatened by the success of others. But what is even more

upsetting is that we find this within families as well.

Brothers and sisters, parents and children, and husbands and wives

who cannot stomach someone elses moment in the limelight.

There are spouses out there who have a hard time accepting that their

significant other has other interests. They see their loved one as a

threat rather than a source of pride. Often they try to stifle the

uniqueness, and force them into a silence, subduing them with the

weight of a crown. In such homes, one has to tiptoe around certaintypes of conversations, lest they upset the King or celebrate the

accomplishments of anyone else in the family.

Every mother in-law and daughter-in-law, before they can come of age

in their relationship, must learn to complement the other and draw out

their unique qualities. The new wife should remember that just

because her husband loves his mommys kugel, it should not be viewed

as a personal affront.

If hearing the praise of someone else in your field makes you burn up

inside, if you disdain the honoree at every dinner you attend, than

perhaps you have an ounce of what Achashveirosh felt in his own heart.

Judaism however celebrates the opposite, we recognize and appreciate

the uniqueness in others. Like Rabbi Akiva, who after achieving renownand amassing a following like no other Rabbi in history was able to turn

around and acknowledge his wifes contribution .

And so on Purim we react to the selfishness and small mindedness of

Achashveirosh, and we find meaningful ways to bring out the best in


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others, and to make the ultimate concession that we need them in our

lives. We eat together and exchange gifts, as well as changing our

clothing, because we dont have to put on our serious face at all times.

For one sacred day a year, we dont have to be the King, we can letsomeone else shine and have their moment.

And when I receive Mishloach Manot at my seuda I am declaring to my

friend that his or her contribution has helped make this meal. By taking

his gift with a smile I am letting him know that he is more than just the

wretched guest in my palace!

A Rebbe of mine used to say on Purim, means thatthe miracle of Purim has to be (forever). We cannot just pretend

that we need others and put them up on a pedestal for one day, rather,

we need this attitude always.

Imagine what our family conversation would be like if we were actually

happy to hear about their day, their struggles and their minor

successes! Imagine what our friendships would be like if we boosted

each other up and stopped tearing one another down. And imagine

what the workplace would look like, if I didnt assume that everyone

was after my job and my bonus4!

It is this frame of mind, a mentality of true and genuine

that we seek to engender on Purim; that I can be a regular Joe, and

allow someone else to be King for a Day.

4John Gray in Men are from Mars Woman are from Venus writes that ordinarily men are afraid to seek advice

from their fellow, as it functions as an admission of weakness. But that when a man builds up the courage to ask

his friend for advice, it is not viewed in a negative light, in fact the mutual respect between the two grows and one

does not become subordinate to the other in the process, as opposed to what we might have assumed.

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Parshat Tetzaveh - Purim 5773