Esther's Religious Identity/2

A Portrait of Esther

Exegetical Approaches

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Observant Jewess

Sources:SeptuagintEsther 2:20Esther section C, vss. 12-30About the Septuagint, Targum PeshittaTargum Peshitta Esther 2:20, Bavli Megillah13a13b14aAbout the Bavli, First Targum of Megillat Esther2:92:20About First Targum of Megillat Esther, Second Targum of Megillat Esther2:9About Second Targum of Megillat Esther, Esther Rabbah6:88:7About Esther Rabbah, Kohelet Rabbah8:1:5About Kohelet Rabbah, Midrash Tehillim22:16About Midrash Tehillim, Midrash Panim AcherotVersion B Parashah 2About Midrash Panim Acherot, Otzar HaMidrashim(Eisenstein, p.60)About Otzar HaMidrashim, R. Saadia GaonEsther 2:20Esther 3:5About R. Saadia Gaon, Lekach TovEsther 2:10Esther 2:20About R. Toviah b. Eliezer, R. Yosef KaraEsther Version A 2:8-9Esther Version A 2:8-9About R. Yosef Kara, Ibn EzraEsther Version A 2:9Esther Version A 4:16Esther Version A 5:8Esther Version B 2:8Esther Version B 2:8Esther Version B 2:10About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, R. Elazar HaRokeachEsther 2:10Esther 3:134:16About R. Elazar HaRokeach,¹ Tosafot HaShalemEsther 2:10:1About Ba'alei HaTosafot, R. Avraham SabaR. Avraham Saba Eshkol HaKopher Esther 2:5-7

Keeping Mitzvot:

• Esther kept Mitzvot – While many of these commentators² say explicitly that Esther kept all the Mitzvot, the others only mention specific commandments that she observed such as Shabbat, Kashrut, Niddah, and Biur Chametz.³
• Esther was forced not to – RashiMegillah 13a s.v. כתליAbout R. Shelomo Yitzchaki⁴ claims that Esther was compelled not to keep Mitzvot in the palace, but apparently assumes that when she was in Mordechai's house she kept everything.

How did Esther keep Mitzvot:

• Shabbat
• Hid the fact – Rava in Bavli Megillah13a says that Esther was able to keep Shabbat because she had seven maidservants, one for each day of the week. One explanation of his words is that the seventh woman was not suspicious of Esther's behavior on Shabbat, being unaware that it was different from the way she acted all week long.⁵
• Others kept her secret – Esther might have revealed her observance to Hegai or her servants, but they kept it to themselves.  According to some they did so because Hegai himself was Jewish and the seven maidens had been converted by Esther.⁶
• Kashrut – Rav and R. Yochanan in the Bavli Megillah13a13b14a say Hegai gave Esther Kosher food.  R"A Kohen explains that Hegai believed that non-Kosher food is a cause of brazenness.⁷  Alternatively, as above, Hegai and the maids might have been Jewish and kept her secret.

Marrying Achashverosh – See the various answers in Esther's Relations with Achashverosh, including that the ends justify the means, and Esther was forced to be taken to the palace.  Bavli Megillah, Second Targum of Megillat Esther, R. Saadia, Ibn Ezra, and R"A Saba all take the latter position.

Esther's name – Ibn Ezra suggests that Esther is a translation of Hadassah in Persian.  It is the predominant name in the Megillah because this was the name she was known by in the palace.  It is likely that she chose to do so as part of her attempts to hide her Jewish identity.⁸

Concealing identity – Ibn Ezra suggests Mordechai's commandment was meant to ease Esther's keeping of Mitzvot.  Had Achashverosh known her Jewish identity he would have watched carefully and force her not to.  See Concealing Esther's Religious Identity for additional opinions.

Religious identity of the whole nation – There are two contradicting portraits of the nation in Esther Rabbah 7:12 and 7:13.  Esther can be a sample for the whole nation, following 7:12 where Haman complains to Achashverosh about the Jews who keep Shabbat and Moadim, or as the only righteous woman in a nation looking to fill their desires, like in 7:13.  All these commentators explain the same of Mordechai that he also kept Mitzvot.

Absence of Hashem in the Megillah – The absence of Hashem does not connote a lack of religiosity, but might rather be to prevent desecration of Hashem's name.⁹

Biblical parallels – These commentators present Esther similarly to the impression one gets of Daniel.

Assimilated Persian

Sources:R. Y"S ReggioEsther pp. 6-8Esther pp. 15-16About R. Yitzchak Shemuel Reggio¹⁰, R. Yaacov Medan¹¹

Keeping Mitzvot – According to this approach, Esther was not an observant Jew.  R. Reggio points out that there is no evidence in the Megillah of her attempting to keep any of the commandments, and by hiding her identity she just made it harder to do so.  Since if she would have announced to everyone that she was Jewish, like Daniel did, then she would have been able to ask for Kosher food.  In addition, the Megillah does not mention that Mordechai warned Esther before he separated from her not to betray her faith, as one would have expected of a religious Jew.

Marrying Achashverosh – Esther might have had no problem marrying Achashversoh and even desired the glory of being chosen as queen.  See similarly, Radak in Esther's Relations with Achashverosh that Esther went willingly.

Esther's name – The name Esther is the name of a Persian god,¹² and it is possible that Esther changed her original name, Hadassah, to the more Persian name.  By Yosef (Bereshit 41:45) and Daniel (Daniel 1:7), they are given their second names by Paroh or the minister, though by Esther it just says plainly "הֲדַסָּה הִיא אֶסְתֵּר" (Esther 2:7).

Concealing identity – R. Reggio says Mordechai thought that her religion would hinder her chances of becoming queen.  Alternatively, R. Medan suggests Esther was embarrassed by her Jewish identity and wanted to conceal it.

Religious identity of the whole nation – R. Medan points out that the people of Persia at the time of the story were people who had the opportunity to return to Israel with the proclamation of Cyrus, but decided not to.  This, perhaps, suggests that they were not the most committed of Jews.

Absence of Hashem in the Megillah – This position might suggest that the absence in the scroll reflects the absence of Hashem in Esther and the nation's lives.

Biblical parallels – One can view Yosef as a parallel to this portrait of Esther.¹³  Both try to deny their origins, being important figures in the king's palace, though eventually they have to deal with their root and return to their nations.  Yosef is called Tzafenat Paneach, tries to disguise himself to his brothers, and even says explicitly "Hashem has made me forget... my parental home".

Purpose of the Megillah – The Megillah can be coming to teach that one can not assimilate totally, rather anti-Semitism will always follow.

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² See the Septuagint, Peshitta, First Targum of Megillat Esther, Midrash Tehillim, Rasag, Lekach Tov, Ibn Ezra, and R"A Saba.

³ Rokeach says that Esther requested that the nation fast for three days so that she could atone for her three sins, sleeping with Achashverosh, causing Hatach to be killed, and eating non-Kosher foods.  The assumption is that these were her only sins, and otherwise she observed the commandments.

⁴ Rashi says this regarding Kashrut, in explaining Shemuel in the Bavli who says Hegai fed Esther pig, that she was forced to eat it and therefore she wasn't punished. There are additional ways to understand Shemuel, like Tosafot that Esther was fed pig but she didn't eat it, and an opinion cited in the Arukh that "קדלי דחזירי" is a vegetable.

⁵ Alternatively, Rava is simply saying that having different servants enabled Esther to keep track of the day of the week so she would know when it was Shabbat.

⁶ See Otzar HaMidrashim(Eisenstein, p.60)About Otzar HaMidrashim. R. Eliezer AshkenaziEsther 2:9About R. Eliezer Ashkenazi  brings evidence that the maids were Jewish from Esther 4:16 which mentions that they also fasted. If they had been gentiles why would they be fasting for the saving of Jews? As opposed to Otzar Midrashim, he maintains that they were born Jewish and not that they had been converted.

⁷ R. Eliezer of Worms suggests that she herself requested Kosher food, but it wasn't seen as suspicious because she feared that non-Jews might poison her food out of jealousy while the Jews who had never been considered for the position of queen would not.

⁸ R. Yosef Kara explains differently that Hadassah was the word in Shushan to say "נַעֲרָה", and Esther was her original and only name.  It is possible he doesn't say like Ibn Ezra's interpretation, as to avoid her changing her name, like the Children of Israel in Egypt who were saved for not changing their names.

⁹ See R. Saadia in his introduction to the Megillah, that it was going to be stored in the royal archives and if Mordechai and Esther would have mentioned Hashem's name in the Megillah, the Persians would have switched it to their gods, therefore they stuck to not mentioning it at all.

¹⁰ R. Reggio is not explicit, but seems to say that all Mordechai cared about was that Esther will be queen, and therefore he told her to hide her identity which makes it harder to keep Kosher and observe Mitzvot.  He notes that Mordechai and Esther didn't call out proudly that they were Jewish, like Yonah and Daniel, though it isn't clear from him that they were assimilated.

¹¹ In his article, ""ומרדכי לא יכרע ולא ישתחוה" – מדוע?", Hadassah Hi Esther (1997): 151-170.

¹² Also Mordechai parallels to the name of a Babylonian idol, Marduch.

¹³ There are contrasting portraits of Yosef if he tried to assimilate and be Egyptian or he kept his Jewishness even in the exile.