Megillah 15b (טו:) — the Talmud in English

For Rav Ḥisda said: This -

Mordecai -

came with wealth [a term denoting wealth],

for Haman had sold himself to Mordecai in exchange for loaves of bread many days earlier, as it is brought in the Midrash .

And this -

Haman -

came

with poverty [a term denoting poverty ].

Rav Pappa said: And they called

Haman:

a slave sold for loaves [

loaves of bread].

“Yet all this is worth nothing to me.” This teaches that all the treasures of that wicked man were engraved

they were

upon his heart .

And when

he saw

Haman

Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate, he said: “Yet all this is worth nothing to me” .

And Rabbi Elazar said that Rabbi Ḥanina said: In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will be a crown upon the head of each and every righteous person. As it is stated: “On that day the Lord of Hosts shall be a crown of glory, etc.” [

and this is the continuation of the verse [Isaiah 28:5–7]: “...and a diadem of beauty for the remnant of His people, and for a spirit of judgment to him who sits in judgment, and for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. But these also have erred through wine, and through strong drink have gone astray; priest and prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up by wine, they have gone astray through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment”]].

What is the meaning of: “A crown of glory and a diadem of beauty”?

For those who do His will [

His desire]

and who await His glory.

Could this apply to everyone

who does His will, so that he will be a crown, even if he acts arrogantly?

The verse states: “For the remnant of His people,” meaning one who makes

himself as insignificant

as things that are not important; so too, he does not act arrogantly.

“And for a spirit of judgment” -

this is one who judges his inclination,

who judges his spirit.

“And for him who sits in judgment” -

this is one who judges a true judgment according to its truth .

“And for strength” -

this is one who overcomes his inclination .

“Those who turn back the battle” -

those who engage in debate in the battle of Torah.

“At the gate” -

these are Torah scholars, who rise early and remain late in synagogues and study halls.

That is the meaning of “at the gate”: they become like gatekeepers, opening the doors early and remaining there until the time when they are closed.

The Attribute of Justice said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe! In what way are these different -

Israel -

from these -

the nations of the world, such that these qualities exist among Israel but not among the nations of the world?

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to it: Israel engaged in Torah,

whereas

the nations of the world did not engage in Torah .

The Attribute of Justice said to Him

:

“But these also have erred through wine, and through strong drink have gone astray; they stumble in judgment” .

“Stumbling”

means only Gehinnom, as it is stated: “And this shall not be a stumbling block for you” [

as above, 14b].

And “judgment”

means only

judges, as it is stated: “And he shall pay it according to the judges.”

It is written:

“And she stood in the inner court of the king’s palace.” Rabbi Levi said: Once she reached the house of idols,

the Divine Presence departed from her .

Esther said

:

“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”

Perhaps You judge an inadvertent act -

as an intentional one ,

and an act under duress [

for even though I come to him of my own accord, it is still under duress ]] -

as a willing act?!

Or perhaps because I called him

Ahasuerus

a dog ,

as it is stated: “Deliver my soul from the sword, my only one from the power of the dog,”

and I did not show proper honor to royalty ?

Esther returned

and

called him

Ahasuerus

a lion. As it is stated: “Save me from the lion’s mouth” .

It is written:

“And it happened, when the king saw Esther the queen

she found favor in his eyes.”

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Three ministering angels appeared to her

Esther

at that moment. One -

who raised her neck; and one -

who drew a thread of grace over her; and one -

who stretched out the scepter .

And how far

was the scepter stretched?

Rabbi Yirmeya said: It was originally two cubits

the scepter, and the angel

made it twelve

cubits long.

And some say: He made it sixteen

cubits long.

And some say: He made it twenty-four

cubits long.

In a baraita it was taught: He made it sixty

cubits long .

And you likewise find this with the maidservant of Pharaoh’s daughter.

For it is written: “And she sent her maidservant and took it,” and we expound that her hand was stretched many cubits so that she could take the basket from the Nile.

And you likewise find this with the teeth of the wicked. For it is written: “You have broken the teeth of the wicked,” and Reish Lakish said: Do not read “shibbarta,” -

rather, “shirbavta.”

This is what happened with Og, king of Bashan: He uprooted a mountain three parasangs wide in order to cast it upon Israel and placed it upon his head. The Holy One, blessed be He, sent ants, and they bored into it. Og sought to remove it from his neck, but his teeth stretched out in both directions, and he could not remove it.

Since the verse could have written “the tooth of the wicked,” but it wrote “the teeth of the wicked,” we expound that his teeth stretched sixty cubits. The yod of “teeth,” and the yod and mem of “wicked,” have a numerical value of sixty.

Rabba bar Ufaran said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer, who heard it from his teacher, and his teacher from his teacher:

He

made it two hundred

cubits long .

It is written:

“And the king said to Esther the queen: What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, and it shall be granted.”

And this is how we expound the verse: Up to

half the kingdom -

but not the entire kingdom ,

and not something that separates

from the kingdom. And what is it? -

the building of the Temple ,

which is at the center of the world . That is, they began building the Temple in the days of Cyrus, but Cyrus changed his mind and ordered the work halted. And Ahasuerus, who came after him, also halted the work and did not permit it to be rebuilt.

It is written:

“Let the king and Haman come to the banquet.”

The Sages taught: What did Esther see, that she invited Haman

to the banquet?

Rabbi Eliezer says: She set traps for him. As it is stated: “Let their table before them become a trap” .

Rabbi Yehoshua says: She learned it from her father’s house .

As it is stated: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him bread, etc.” .

Rabbi Meir says: So that Haman would not take

a

counsel -

and rebel .

Rabbi Yehuda says: So that they would not recognize that she was Jewish.

Rabbi Neḥemya says: So that the Jewish people would not say: We have a sister in the king’s palace, and would divert

their

attention from seeking mercy.

Therefore, she invited Haman, so that they would suspect that she loved and drew close the enemies of the Jewish people, and they would increase their pleas for mercy.

Rabbi Yosei says: So that Haman would be

available to

her at all times,

and perhaps she would be able to cause him to stumble before the king.

Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya says: Perhaps the Omnipresent will notice

that I, too, am drawing close the enemies of the Jewish people [Alternatively, that I need to flatter this wicked man and slight my own honor. Rashi]—

and He will perform a miracle for us.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa says:

Esther said,

I will show him

Haman

a friendly face,

so that the king would suspect us, and

he and she would be killed.

Rabban Gamliel says:

Ahasuerus

was an unstable king,

and he would retract his word. Esther said: Perhaps I can entice him to kill Haman, and he will be appeased. And if Haman is not present before us, the opportunity will pass and he will change his mind.

Rabban Gamliel said: We still need the

words of Rabbi Eliezer the

Modaei.

As it was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Eliezer the Modaei says: His jealousy of the king, his jealousy of the ministers.

That is, she aroused the jealousy of the king and the ministers against him, as they envied him because she had invited only him.

Rabba said:

This invitation of Haman to the banquet was in accordance with what is written:

“Before the breaking

comes pride”.

Abaye and Rava both say:

This is in accordance with the verse written concerning Belshazzar and his company, who returned from the war, sat down to drink, became drunk, and Belshazzar was killed that same day:

“When they are heated, I will set their feasts”.

Here, too, she invited Haman to the banquet, for through the feast of the wicked, calamity came upon them.

Rabba bar Avuha encountered Elijah. He said to him: In accordance with whose view did Esther see fit to act in this manner,

inviting Haman?

He said to him: In accordance with all the tannaim and all the amoraim

above.

It is written:

“Haman recounted to them the glory of his wealth and the multitude of his sons.”

And how many constituted the multitude of his sons?

Rav said: There were thirty

.

Ten

of them

died

[that is, they were killed, as it is written: “And the ten sons of Haman they killed,”],

and ten—

were hanged,

and ten—

went begging from door to door.

But the Rabbis say: Those who went begging from door to door—

there were seventy. As it is written: “Seventy are hired for bread”; do not read ‘seva’im’

[a word meaning satiated]—

but ‘shiv’im’.

And Rami bar Abba said: Altogether, there were two hundred and eight. As it is stated: “And the multitude of his sons.”

And we raise an objection: But

“the multitude”

has a numerical value of two hundred and fourteen?!

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: “Rav” is written defectively, without a vav.

“On that night the king’s sleep was disturbed.” Rabbi Tanḥum said: The sleep of the King of the universe was disturbed

to take vengeance.

But the Rabbis say: The upper realms were disturbed,

as angels were frightening him throughout the entire night and saying to him: “Ungrateful one! Repay the favor to the one who performed it for you!” And through this,

the lower realms were disturbed,

that is, the king.

Rava said:

The sleep of

the actual King Ahasuerus was disturbed.

For

something occurred to him, and he said: What

is this

that I see before me, that Esther invited Haman? Perhaps they are taking counsel against that man

[he was referring to himself]

to kill him!?

He then said: If so,

was there

no man who loved me

[and who loved me]

who would inform me?!

He then said: Perhaps there is someone who performed a favor for me, and I did not repay him. For this reason people refrain—

and do not inform me.

Immediately, “He said to bring the book of records, the chronicles,

and let them be read

before the king.”

As it is written: “And let them be read”

this teaches that they

were

read on their own.

It is written:

“And he found

written.”

But it should have said, “And he found

a writing,” to indicate that it had been written beforehand, since “a writing” implies that it had already been written, whereas “written”

— -

implies that it had now been written anew?!