Post date: Feb 19, 2013 4:6:15 AM
Al kisei malchuso asher b’Shushan habirah
On his royal throne which was in Shushan the capital
(1:2)
When Achashveirosh took over as ruler, the capital city was in Bavel. He wanted to have the throne from Shlomo Hamelech brought to him so that he would have the most royal of thrones to sit on. However, Shlomo Hamelech’s throne was no ordinary throne. To sit on it, one had to be the ruler of the entire world, and a worthy ruler at that. Anyone unworthy of sitting on it risked life and limb (literally) if he attempted to do so. (Just ask Pharaoh the Lame--he can tell you all about that.) Since using Shlomo’s throne wasn’t practical, Achashveirosh had a replica made by the artisans in Shushan. It was a task of grand proportions, and after three years, the job was finally completed. However, the task of moving the newly completed throne to Bavel proved to be impossible due to its incredible weight. Therefore, Achashveirosh decided that the logical solution to this predicament was to move the entire capital to his new throne in Shushan.
The Megillah makes a point of telling us that this was ‘Kisei malchuso,’ it was specifically Achashveirosh’s replica of the royal throne, not to be mistaken for the most royal of thrones that only the true ruler of the entire world would have sat on.
This also sheds some light on why Achashveirosh was making a party in the third year of his reign. It had taken three years for the throne to be completed, and once that was done, the capital was moved to Shushan. So three years after he became king, Achashveirosh was finally able to inaugurate Shushan has his capital.
Hashem always arranges for the remedy before He puts an illness or punishment into place. That being the case, we can now understand why Achashveirosh’s throne is highlighted at the very beginning of the Megillah. This wasn’t just an attempt to paint a picture of where the story was taking place along with a list of the important features of the location. The throne was an intrinsic piece of the puzzle. It was the throne that brought everyone to Shushan. Mordechai and Esther were the key parts of the remedy that the Jews would need for the ailment that was Haman’s decree. And instead of making Mordechai the Tzadik have to travel from Shushan to Bavel, to save the Jews, Hashem worked it out that the capital came to Mordechai! The Chafetz Chaim adds that it was certainly more honorable to burden the Reshaim, Haman and Achashveirosh, with the task of coming to the Tzadik, Mordechai, than to have it the other way around.
[Inside Purim]