Post date: Feb 20, 2013 5:11:22 AM
Gam Vashti hamalkah asisah mishtei nashim
Vashti the queen also made a feast for the women
(1:9)
The Gemara (Megillah 11a) tells us that Balshatzar miscalculated the 70 years that the Jews would be in exile, donned the clothes of the Kohain Gadol at a party he threw, and promptly died. Achashveirosh did the same, yet we find that it was his wife, Vatshti, died. The Ben Yehoyadah asks why earlier it was the perpetrator who was punished, but in the latter case it was the perpetrator’s wife that was punished?
He explains that it was Balshatzar’s making the calculation and donning the clothes of the Kohain Gadol that caused Achashveirosh to act as he did. This made Balshatzar an accomplice in Achashveirosh’s actions. Vashti’s death was actually a punishment for both of them, as she was the end of the line of Balshatzar’s progeny, and she was Achashveirosh’s wife.
The word ‘Mishtei’ spelled in our pasuk with a Heh at the end, meaning ‘party,’ sounds the same as if it were spelled with a Yud at the end, meaning ‘from two.’ This hints to us that Vashti was punished on account of two people—Balshatzar and Achashveirosh.
[Zvi Fleisher @ ShemaYisrael.com]
Esther hamalka
Esther the queen
(5:2)
The very first time Esther is referred to as ‘the queen’ isn’t until (halfway through the Megillah when) she approaches Achashveirosh uninvited. If it took this long for the Megillah to finally invoke her title, what transpired to elicit this long awaited honor?
R. Efraim Waxman citing the Bnei Yisaschar points out that the gematriah of ‘malka’ is 95, which is also the gematriah of ‘Haman.’ It was only at this point that Esther finally became a true force capable of counteracting Haman. By boldly and courageously risking her life by approaching Achashveirosh uninvited to plead on behalf of Klal Yisrael, she took the first offensive step toward defeating Haman.
She had now earned the honor of being referred to by the Megillah as ‘Esther hamalka’ for having fulfilled the first task towards saving the Jewish people, which was the very reason she was in that position to begin with.
[Inside Purim]