We continue with the third pasuk of Megilat Esther, which describes the party that Ahashverosh made in third year of his kingdom:
בִּשְׁנַ֤ת שָׁלוֹשׁ֙ לְמָלְכ֔וֹ
in the third year of his reign,
עָשָׂ֣ה מִשְׁתֶּ֔ה
He made a banquet
Who was there?
לְכָל־שָׂרָ֖יו וַעֲבָדָ֑יו חֵ֣יל ׀ פָּרַ֣ס וּמָדַ֗י הַֽפַּרְתְּמִ֛ים וְשָׂרֵ֥י הַמְּדִינ֖וֹת לְפָנָֽיו׃
all the officials and courtiers,
the administrators and dignitaries of Persia and Media, (these two countries shared the power of the kingship)
And the nobles and the governors of the all provinces in his service.
Yesterday we discussed the principle that each pasuk of the Megillah relates to the miracles. So, what’s the miracle here? Why list all the people at a party that took place a few thousand years ago?
To answer this, we have to look at the essence of our story- Vashti gets killed, Esther takes over, Esther saves the Jewish people. If Vashti was still the queen, then there wouldn’t be anyone there to save the Jewish people. So Vashti has to get killed, but it has to be done in a seemingly natural way. However, as you may recall, Vashti was the (great) granddaughter of Nevuchadnezzar, and she was Ahashverosh’s claim to fame, his great trophy. Why would he kill her? Something really bad would have to happen, like her embarrassing him in public. But how public can public be?
In the days before Twitter and Instagram and other social media, how can one little deed in a palace turn into a world crime great enough to have her killed?
The only way to do so is to have a party with an unprecedented number of dignitaries invited; with every single country’s ambassador present, along with the wives to watch it happen.
With so many witnesses, it would be impossible to squash the news.
It’s important to note here, in pasuk 3, that G-d put this all into Ahashverosh’s head:
A- That he needed a throne (which led him to move to Mordechai’s town)
B- That he needed to make a big party to show off the throne
And then, at the very party he made to show how much he was in control, his wife insulted him in front of so many people that he had to kill her.
Without this aspect, that we read in pasuk 3, that so many people were present at the party, it would not have happened. This is everything.
In pasuk ד,
בְּהַרְאֹת֗וֹ
He showed
אֶת־עֹ֙שֶׁר֙ כְּב֣וֹד מַלְכוּת֔וֹ
the wealth and honor of his kingdom
וְאֶ֨ת־יְקָ֔ר תִּפְאֶ֖רֶת גְּדוּלָּת֑וֹ
And the beauty/glory of the wondrous greatness that he had
יָמִ֣ים רַבִּ֔ים שְׁמוֹנִ֥ים וּמְאַ֖ת יֽוֹם׃
for many days, 180 days.
What the importance of this?
In the beginning of Parashat Tisaveh, which we always read around the time of Purim (this is not a coincidence) the clothing of the Kohen Gadol is described. There it says you should make clothing לכבוד ולתפארת - for the honor and glory of Aharon Hakohen,
Similarly, here it says
עֹ֙שֶׁר֙ כְּב֣וֹד מַלְכוּת֔וֹ and יְקָ֔ר תִּפְאֶ֖רֶת גְּדוּלָּת֑וֹ
these words are very similar to the descriptions of the Kohen’s clothing, and the Gemarah in Masechet Megillah tells us that in fact, Ahashverosh came to the party in the clothing of the Kohen Gadol!
There’s another reason Ahashverosh was celebrating. It was well known that after the Bet HaMikdash was destroyed, the Jewish prophet said that the Babylonians would be wiped out after 70 years, and the Jews would return. What was not clear was when the 70-year count started.
According to Ahashverosh’s count, the 70 years were up, and he threw the party to celebrate that G-d had not rebuilt the Bet HaMikdash or redeemed the Jews. It wasn’t just to celebrate the throne.
He was showing off to everyone, including the Jews, that he was the leader and that he’d be there for even longer, because the Jews weren’t coming back. And to really stick it in their faces, he came out wearing the clothing of the Kohen Gadol. It seemed like nothing happened as a result. But something did happen. The granddaughter of the last Babylonian king, the one who destroyed the Bet HaMikdash, was killed at that party. That was the end of the royal Babylonian lineage. So, the 70 year prophecy did come true, but not like Ahashverosh thought it would. (And as an aside, the Bet HaMikdash was in fact rebuilt 70 years after the exile, but there were different exiles, so there were different counts).
Ahashverosh thought that he was celebrating the fact G-d was not in control, but in actuality, G-d started the whole process of redemption at that very party, and made it so that Ahashverosh was the one that made it happen.
To recap, we learn two important lessons from these 2 pesukim:
1- G-d put into Ahashverosh’s head to invite all those people to the party, in order to maximize his embarrassment by Vashti so that he’d kill her.
2- The party that was intended to celebrate the downfall of the Jews was actually what G-d used to start the redemption.
Have a great day.