Esther's Religious Identity/2

A Portrait of Esther

Exegetical Approaches

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Observant Jewess

Sources:Bavli Megillah13a13b14aAbout the Bavli, First Targum of Megillat Esther2:20About First Targum of Megillat Esther, Esther Rabbah6:87:127:13About Esther Rabbah, Kohelet Rabbah8:1:5About Kohelet Rabbah, Midrash Tehillim22:16About Midrash Tehillim, Ibn EzraEsther Version A 2:9Esther Version A 4:16Esther Version A 5:8Esther Version B 2:8Esther Version B 2:8About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, Yalkut Shimoni1053About Yalkut Shimoni

Keeping Mitzvot:

• Esther kept Mitzvot – Midrash Tehillim and Ibn Ezra say explicitly that Esther kept all the Mitzvot, while the rest of the Midrashim talk about specific Mitzvot that she followed like Shabbat, Kashrut, Niddah, and Biur Chametz.
• Esther was forced not to – Rashi Megillah.¹  Esther was compelled not to keep Mitzvot in the palace, but when she was in Mordechai's house she seemingly kept everything.

How did Esther keep Mitzvot:

• Shabbat
• Hid the fact – Rava in the Bavli Megillah understands that there seven women, one for each day of the week, and one explanation² of the Bavli is that the seventh woman was not suspicious of Esther because that is how she thought she must act all week long.
• 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.³
• Kashrut – Rav and R. Yochanan in the Bavli Megillah say Hegai gave Esther Kosher food.  R"A Kohen explains that Hegai believed that non-Kosher food is a cause of brazenness.⁴  Alternatively, as above, Hegai and the maids might have been Jewish and kept her secret.

Marrying Achashverosh

Esther's name – R. Tanchum HaYerushalmi suggests that the reason this is the predominant name in the Megillah is not because it was Esther's preferred name, but 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.

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.

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.

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.⁵

Biblical parallels

Assimilated Persian

Sources:R. Y"S ReggioEsther pp. 15-16About R. Yitzchak Shemuel Reggio

Keeping Mitzvot – According to this approach, Esther was not an observant Jew.  There is no evidence in the Megillah of her attempting keep any of the commandments.  This is stark contrast to Sefer Daniel which makes a point of showing how Daniel and his friends were loyal to the Torah.

Marrying Achashverosh – Esther might have had no problem marrying Achashversoh and might have even desired the glory of being chosen as queen.

Esther's name – The name Esther is the name of a Persian god, 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 – It is possible that Esther was embarrassed by her Jewish identity and wanted to conceal it.  Alternatively, she thought that her religion would hinder her chances of becoming queen.

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

¹ 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.

² One can just simply say it helped Esther keep track of which day is Shabbat.

³ See Midrash Esther. R. Eliezer Ashkenazi brings Esther 4:16 as evidence for the women being Jewish because otherwise why would they be fasting for the saving of Jews. He maintains that they were born Jewish and not that they had been converted.

⁴ 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.

⁵ 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.