Megillah, Daf Yod Gimmel, Part 2
Introduction
The Talmud continues to give midrashic explanations of the Megillah.
אשר הגלה מירושלים. אמר רבא: שגלה מעצמו.
"Who had been carried away from Jerusalem" (Esther 2:6).
Rava said: That he went into exile of his own accord.
According to Rava Mordecai went into exile on his own accord he was not forced into exile like the others sent into exile with Yechoniah who are described in this verse.
ויהי אמן את הדסה, קרי לה הדסה, וקרי לה אסתר.
תניא, רבי מאיר אומר: אסתר שמה, ולמה נקרא שמה הדסה – על שם הצדיקים שנקראו הדסים, וכן הוא אומר +זכריה א‘+ והוא עמד בין ההדסים.
רבי יהודה אומר: הדסה שמה, ולמה נקראת שמה אסתר – על שם שהיתה מסתרת דבריה, שנאמר אין אסתר מגדת את עמה וגו‘.
רבי נחמיה אומר: הדסה שמה, ולמה נקראת אסתר – שהיו אומות העולם קורין אותה על שום אסתהר.
בן עזאי אומר: אסתר לא ארוכה ולא קצרה היתה אלא בינונית, כהדסה.
רבי יהושע בן קרחה אמר: אסתר ירקרוקת היתה, וחוט של חסד משוך עליה.
"And he brought up Hadassah" (Esther 2:6). She is called Hadassah and she is called Esther.
1) It has been taught: Esther was her proper name. Why then was she called Hadassah? After the righteous who are called myrtles (hadasim), for so it says, "And he stood among the myrtle trees" (Zechariah 1:8).
2) R. Judah says: Hadassah was her name Why then was she called Esther? Because she concealed [masteret] the facts about herself, as it says, "Esther did not make known her people or her kindred" (Esther 2:20).
3) R. Nehemiah says: Hadassah was her name. Why then was she called Esther? All peoples called her so after Istahar.
4) Ben Azzai said: Esther was neither too tall nor too short, but of medium size, like a myrtle.
5) R. Joshua b. Korha said: Esther was green, and there was an aura of kindness (hesed) about her.
Esther seems to have a second name Hadassah. The rabbis in this baraita discuss the meanings of these two names, and which one was her "real" name and which was a nickname based on one of her qualities. I will go through these one at a time.
1) A hadas is a myrtle. This connects the midrash to a verse from Zechariah where the prophet sees an angel standing among the myrtle trees. Esther is righteous like a myrtle.
2) R. Judah plays on a pun between "Esther" and "masteret" to hide. Esther received her nickname by hiding her origins from Ahashverosh.
3) R. Nehemiah notes that the name Esther is like the word "Istahar." According to Rashi this relates to the moon, which in Aramaic is called "sahar." She was as beautiful as the moon.
4) Ben Azzai says she was of average height, like a myrtle.
5) R. Joshua b. Korha says she was green! Like a myrtle. But he also works in a pun that she had "hesed," kindness, which is a pun on the myrtle.
כי אין לה אב ואם – ובמות אביה ואמה, למה לי? אמר רב אחא: עיברתה – מת אביה, ילדתה – מתה אמה.
"For she had neither father nor mother And when her father and mother died" (Esther 2:7). Why did it need to say this again?
R. Aha said: When her mother became pregnant with her, her father died; when she was born, her mother died.
The Megillah twice notes that Esther’s mother and father had died why the repetition? R. Aha answers that Esther was a sort of "super-orphan," her father having died when her mother became pregnant and her mother dying right after giving birth.
ובמות אביה ואמה לקחה מרדכי לו לבת, תנא משום רבי מאיר: אל תקרי לבת אלא לבית, וכן הוא אומר +שמואל ב‘ י"ב+ ולרש אין כל כי אם כבשה אחת קטנה אשר קנה ויחיה ותגדל עמו ועם בניו יחדו מפתו תאכל ומכסו תשתה ובחיקו תשכב ותהי לו כבת, משום דבחיקו תשכב הוות ליה (לבת) +מסורת הש"ס: [כבת]+? אלא (לבית) +מסורת הש"ס: [כבית]+ – הכי נמי לבית.
"And when her father and mother died, Mordecai took her for his own daughter" (Esther 2:7).
A Tanna taught in the name of R. Meir: Do not read "for a daughter [le-bat]," but "for a house (i.e. wife) [le-bayit]." Similarly it says: "But the poor man had nothing save one little ewe lamb, which he had brought up and reared; and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it ate of his own bread, and drank from his cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter" (II Samuel 12:3). Because it lay in his bosom, was it like a daughter to him? Rather what it means is like a wife; so here, it means a wife.
The rabbis read Mordecai as marrying Esther, not adopting her. We should note that the rabbis encouraged niece marriage and were not at all repulsed by it. The idea that Mordecai married Esther is based on a pun, an intentional re-reading of a word. In Hebrew and Aramaic the word for "house" bayit, can also mean "wife." This sounds like the word for daughter "bat" which allows the rabbis to read the Megillah as saying that Mordecai married Esther, rather than adopting her as a daughter. The same word "le-bat" is used in II Samuel when Nathan the prophet rebukes David for taking Batsheva, Uriah’s "little lamb."
ואת שבע הנערות וגו‘ – אמר רבא: שהיתה מונה בהן ימי שבת.
"And the seven maidens who were meet to be given to her" (Esther 2:9):
Rava said: [They were seven so that] she could count the days of the week by them.
Esther was given seven servant girls so she could count the week by them. I wonder if she named them, Sunday, Monday . Most importantly, she could use the girls to know when it was Shabbat. Rava is in essence saying that although she was in the king’s house, she still preserved Shabbat.
וישנה ואת נערותיה וגו‘, אמר רב: שהאכילה מאכל יהודי. ושמואל אמר: שהאכילה קדלי דחזירי. ורבי יוחנן אמר: זרעונים, וכן הוא אומר +דניאל א‘+ ויהי המלצר נושא את פתבגם… ונותן להם זרעונים.
"And he treated her better than her maidens" (Esther 2:9).
Rav said: [This means that] he gave her Jewish food to eat. Shmuel however said, it means that he gave her pieces of pork. And R. Yohanan said that he gave her legumes, and so it says, "So the steward took away their food and gave them legumes" (Daniel 1:16).
The rabbis read the verse as if it states that Hagai, the head of Ahashverosh’s harem, treated Esther better than the other maidens. But the rabbis ask how so. Rav says that he gave her kosher food. This is somewhat remarkable considering that he did not yet know that she was a Jew. Shmuel says he gave her fatty pieces of pork, which was considered a special treat. Rashi says that she ate the pork while other commentators say that she did not. R. Yohanan says he gave them legumes, the same food that was given to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah in Belshazzar’s court. This refers to a story where these Jews refuse to eat the kings non-kosher food. The steward fears that they will get sick from not eating well. Daniel says that all they needed was legumes. After eating only legumes for ten days, they looked better and healthier than all of the youth that ate the king’s food. Just goes to show you, "Beans are good for your heart."